Deck 4: Latin America

Question 1

What city in Latin America was designed to be,and is an example of a sustainable city?

A) Mexico City, Mexico
B) Buenos Aires, Argentina
C) Quito, Ecuador
D) Curitiba, Brazil
E) Santiago, Chile

Answer 1

D

Question 2

What material(s)provided the initial wealth of many countries in the Andes Mountains?

A) silver
B) gold
C) copper
D) iron
E) all of the above

Answer 2

E

Question 3

How many residents does a city need in its metropolitan area to qualify as a megacity?

A) 1 million
B) 5 million
C) 10 million
D) 15 million
E) 20 million

Answer 3

C

Question 4

What is the source of approximately 70 percent of Mexico City's water?

A) aquifers
B) lakes
C) atmospheric condensers
D) rivers surrounding the basin
E) exotic rivers

Question 5

Where are the people of Latin America concentrated?

A) in cities and on the coasts
B) in cities
C) along river valleys
D) on the coasts
E) along river valleys and on the coasts

Question 6

Which of the following is NOT one of the innovations that Curitiba,Brazil,has implemented in order to plan its growth in a more environmentally friendly fashion?

A) the construction of drainage canals to channel excessive runoff
B) widespread availability of public transportation
C) a low-tech recycling program
D) the setting aside of natural drainage areas as parks
E) exportation of 25% of its population to surrounding rural areas

Question 7

Which of the following statements about squatter settlements in Latin America is NOT true?

A) They are unplanned.
B) They do not have utilities.
C) They are especially vulnerable to natural hazards.
D) They provide adequate housing.
E) Many urban dwellers (especially poor people) live there.

Question 8

What is the name of the mountain chain that extends the length of South America's west coast?

A) Alps
B) Sierra Nevada
C) Andes
D) Himalayas
E) Alta

Question 9

Which Latin American country is most closely associated with deforestation?

A) Colombia
B) Brazil
C) Ecuador
D) Peru
E) Chile

Question 10

Which of the following environmental problems is associated with Mexico City and Santiago?

A) deforestation
B) degradation of farmlands
C) desertification
D) air pollution
E) grassification

Question 11

What are the boundaries of Latin America?

A) Panama in the north to Argentina in the south
B) The Rio Grande in the north to Tierra del Fuego in the south
C) San Salvador in the north to Montevideo in the south
D) The Amazon River in the north to Puntas Arenas in the south
E) Tijuana in the north to the La Plata River in the south

Question 12

Historically,these places have been underused as areas of settlement in Latin America,especially compared to settlement patterns in other regions.

A) on shields
B) on plateaus
C) in intermontane basins
D) along major rivers
E) in the highlands

Question 13

What is the greatest threat to biodiversity in Latin America?

A) deforestation
B) grassification
C) farmland degradation
D) air pollution
E) desertification

Question 14

What are the two largest cities in Latin America?

A) Bogota, Colombia and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
B) Mexico City, Mexico and Sao Paulo, Brazil
C) Quito, Ecuador and Caracas, Venezuela
D) Buenos Aires, Argentina and Santiago, Chile
E) Lima, Peru and Manaus, Brazil

Question 15

Over the last 40 years,approximately what percentage of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest has been destroyed?

A) 5%
B) 10%
C) 20%
D) 30%
E) 40%

Question 16

How long are the Andes Mountains?

A) about 500 miles
B) about 2,000 miles
C) about 3,000 miles
D) about 5,000 miles
E) about 10,000 miles

Question 17

Curitiba (Brazil's "green city")has all of the following elements EXCEPT

A) squatter settlements.
B) drainage canals.
C) parks.
D) an extensive bus system.
E) a low-tech, but effective recycling program.

Question 18

What is grassification?

A) the depletion of native grasses on the Argentine prairie
B) the conversion of tropical forest into pasture
C) the Latin American term for suburbanization
D) a project by the Bolivian government to protect further soil erosion on mountain slopes by planting native grasses
E) the conversion of the Altiplano of Latin America into grasslands

Question 19

What percentage of the world's plant and animal species are found in the Amazon rainforest?

A) 50%
B) 40%
C) 30%
D) 20%
E) 10%

Question 20

What makes the Amazon River distinctive?

A) It is the world's longest river.
B) It is the world's largest river by volume.
C) It is the world's muddiest river.
D) It is the world's widest river.
E) It is the world's fishiest river (has the most fish).

Question 21

Urban primacy occurs when

A) a country's population is greater than 80 percent urban.
B) a country implements a policy to reduce urban sprawl.
C) a country has a city three to four times larger than any other city in the country.
D) the number of people residing in cities has exceeded that of those residing in rural areas.
E) people in cities receive lower tax rates.

Question 22

What evidence demonstrates the resilience of the Indian cultures in Latin America?

A) the presence of Indian-run gambling casinos throughout the region
B) architectural ruins
C) Amerindian majorities in all countries of Latin America
D) the survival of Amerindian languages in the region
E) a thriving Amerindian movie industry

Question 23

Which of the following is NOT found in the Latin American city model?

A) zone of workers' housing
B) CBD
C) perif rico
D) spine
E) market

Question 24

In the Latin American city model,what land use is located along the "spine"?

A) squatter settlements
B) superior services, roads, and transportation
C) the colonial core of the city
D) a ring road or beltway surrounding the city
E) unpaved roads

Question 25

Throughout most of the 20ᵗʰ century,Latin America experienced ________ population growth rates.

A) high
B) increasing
C) stagnant
D) plummeting

Question 26

In Latin America,what did agrarian reform accomplish?

A) Toxic wastes were cleaned up from the land.
B) A new system for planning and land use was established.
C) A township and range system for administering the land was instituted.
D) Land was redistributed, giving some to peasants.
E) Land was annexed for cities.

Question 27

What is the major reason for the preference for urban life in Latin America?

A) The indigenous peoples of Latin America left a legacy of urban life.
B) Governments provide tax breaks for city dwellers.
C) Under the colonial rule of Spain and Portugal, people living in cities had higher social status and greater economic opportunity.
D) The cost of farmland is very high.
E) The governments of Latin America prohibit living outside of cities as a way to limit urban sprawl.

Question 28

Which country in Latin America sends the largest number of legal immigrants to the United States?

A) Chile
B) Colombia
C) El Salvador
D) Mexico
E) Brazil

Question 29

What is urban primacy?

A) the largest city in a country
B) a country's capital city
C) a condition in which a country contains a city that is three to four times larger than any other city in the country
D) the city within a country that is the primary center of economic activity
E) all of the above

Question 30

Which of the following was NOT an element of the effort to open the Brazilian Amazon for settlement?

A) highway construction
B) a new capital
C) state-sponsored mining operations
D) subsidies to large cattle ranches
E) quick distribution of land titles to small farmers

Question 31

What factor was most crucial to the survival of the remaining indigenous people of Latin America?

A) land
B) water
C) energy
D) education
E) jobs

Question 32

What is a mestizo?

A) a person of mixed European and Indian ancestry
B) a member of the majority ethnic group in Peru
C) a Portuguese word for peasant
D) a member of the working class in Bolivia
E) an immigrant to Latin America

Question 33

A system wherein peasants farm small plots of land for their own subsistence is referred to as

A) encomienda.
B) ejidos.
C) latifundia.
D) minifundia.
E) plantations.

Question 34

What country of Latin America has the region's largest population?

A) Argentina
B) Colombia
C) Mexico
D) Bolivia
E) Brazil

Question 35

Which country in South America has long attracted Bolivian and Paraguayan laborers?

A) Brazil
B) Chile
C) Argentina
D) Colombia
E) Peru

Question 36

Why did Japanese people migrate to Latin America?

A) to flee a famine after a major failure of the rice crop in Japan
B) to work in the coffee and sugar plantations and mines
C) to establish a rice industry in Peru
D) to establish a colony in the region
E) to convert Latin Americans to the Shinto faith

Question 37

Four countries in Latin America have more than 75 percent of the region's population. Which of the following is NOT one of the four?

A) Venezuela
B) Brazil
C) Mexico
D) Colombia
E) Argentina

Question 38

What is El Niño?

A) a political party in Peru
B) the president of Mexico
C) a distinctive weather pattern
D) a lake in Nicaragua
E) the highest peak in the Andes Mountains

Question 39

The average number of children born to women in Latin America has been decreasing over the last two decades for all of the following reasons,EXCEPT

A) increased participation of women in the workforce.
B) rural-to-urban migration.
C) greater availability of birth control.
D) promotion of family planning programs.
E) government-imposed financial penalties for large families.

Question 40

Which of the following was NOT a major reason for the rural-to-urban migration in Latin America?

A) increased mechanism of agriculture
B) increased population pressure
C) equal rights for women
D) consolidation of agricultural lands
E) disappearance of jobs in rural areas

Question 41

Approximately how many people today are employed in maquiladoras in Mexico?

A) 275,000
B) 500,000
C) 750,000
D) 1 million
E) 4.5 million

Question 42

What Latin American country is the world leader in coffee production?

A) Costa Rica
B) Colombia
C) Brazil
D) Ecuador
E) Mexico

Question 43

What is the ethnicity of the majority of people in Latin America?

A) blanco (European)
B) mestizo (mixed race)
C) indo (Indian)
D) negro (black)
E) Asian

Question 44

What are Colombia's FARC and ELN?

A) acts that were established to facilitate free trade throughout Latin America
B) insurgency groups that are financed mainly by the Latin American drug trade
C) acronyms for newly established territories in the western Amazon
D) Latin American television stations that are viewed by millions in the region
E) an international finance and environmental organization, respectively, in Latin America

Question 45

Which of the following is an example of syncretic religion in Latin America?

A) Christian saints replaced pre-Christian gods.
B) the celebration of Carnival in Brazil
C) The Mayan practice of paying tribute to underworld spirits is replicated through building shrines to favorite Catholic saints.
D) An important religious symbol in Mexico is a dark-skinned virgin who became the patron saint of Mexico.
E) all of the above

Question 46

What language is the second-most common in Latin America?

A) Portuguese
B) Spanish
C) English
D) Quechua
E) Aymara

Question 47

Which Amerindian group lived in the Valley of Mexico,the site of modern day Mexico City?

A) Maya
B) Aztec
C) Miskito
D) Garifuna
E) Yanomama

Question 48

With respect to the success of maquiladoras,which of the following is NOT one of Mexico's competitive advantages?

A) inexpensive labor
B) its membership in NAFTA
C) its location along the U.S. border
D) less stringent environmental regulations
E) abundant raw materials

Question 49

By what name do we know the Mexican assembly plants that line the border between Mexico and the United States?

A) Altiplano
B) maquiladora
C) machismo
D) marianismo
E) Patagonia

Question 50

What is dollarization?

A) a price reduction strategy where everything within a country is sold at a rounded dollar amount
B) the complete elimination of U.S. currency from a nation's economy
C) making the denominations of local currency identical to those in U.S. currency
D) the process by which a country in whole or in part adopts the U.S. dollar as its official currency
E) the practice of a country's using the U.S. banking system for its transactions

Question 51

After a century-and-a-half of colonization,what was the size of the indigenous population of Latin America?

A) twice its original size
B) two-thirds its original size
C) one-half its original size
D) one-quarter its original size
E) one-tenth its original size

Question 52

What trade block is the most important one in Latin America?

A) Andean Group
B) CACM
C) Mercosur
D) LAFTA
E) EU

Question 53

In recent years,what kind of economic activity has Costa Rica been attracting?

A) banana plantations
B) high-tech firms
C) automobile manufacturing
D) logging
E) banking

Question 54

Why did the number of people employed in Mexican maquiladoras begin to drop after 2001?

A) Pull factors in the U.S. caused many of the workers to migrate there.
B) The Mexican government instituted tougher environmental standards for the maquiladoras.
C) The terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement changed, making the maquiladoras less desirable.
D) China became more popular for labor-intensive work because of its lower wages.
E) The World Trade Organization changed its international labor policies.

Question 55

Historically,what has been the policy of most countries regarding Indian languages in Latin America?

A) Most countries actively supported Indian languages.
B) Most countries had no policy regarding Indian languages.
C) Until recently, many countries actively discouraged Indian languages.
D) Countries in the north discouraged Indian languages, while those in the south had no policy.
E) Every country discouraged Indian languages, except Brazil, which encouraged them.

Question 56

What goal did the Treaty of Tordesillas accomplish?

A) divided South America between Spain and Portugal
B) ended the Spanish-American War
C) established the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
D) ended the Mexican revolution of 1910
E) gave possession of Puerto Rico to the United States

Question 57

Neoliberal economic development calls for all of the following EXCEPT

A) privatization.
B) boosting exports.
C) decreased restrictions on imports.
D) increased social spending for the poor.
E) direct foreign investment.

Question 58

Which European country had a territorial conflict with Argentina over the Falkland Islands in the early 1980s?

A) Spain
B) Portugal
C) Germany
D) France
E) the United Kingdom

Question 59

Which of the following countries is NOT a member of the North American Free Trade Agreement?

A) Cuba
B) United States
C) Canada
D) Mexico
E) This is a trick question - they are ALL members of NAFTA.

Question 60

When the countries of Latin America regained their independence,who were the leaders?

A) leaders of indigenous tribal groups
B) European elites born in the Americas
C) newer immigrants from Asia
D) leaders who had previously been loyal to the colonial powers
E) a mix of European elites born in the Americas and indigenous peoples

Question 61

Desertification is the greatest threat to biodiversity in Latin America.

Question 62

El Niño usually arrives along coastal Ecuador and Peru in December and often brings devastating blizzards.

Question 63

What is import substitution?

A) a policy that encourages domestic industry by imposing high tariffs on all imports
B) a policy that substitutes imports for domestic products
C) a policy of choosing among imports from several different countries
D) a policy in which a country negotiates to have its products imported by international trade partners
E) an international trade policy for members of the Latin American Free Trade Association

Question 64

Buenos Aires,Argentina,is a megacity because its population is greater than 10 million.

Question 65

Curitiba,Brazil has been promoted as a sustainable city.

Question 66

The Llanos is the steppe region of Argentina,described as "the end of the world."

Question 67

Smog is a serious problem in Mexico City.

Question 68

The mountain chain that extends the length of South America's west coast is the Sierra Nevada range.

Question 69

The Altiplano is the high-altitude plateau where the Andes Mountains reach their greatest width.

Question 70

Aquifers are the main source of water in Mexico City.

Question 71

The Amazon River is the world's largest river by volume.

Question 72

What is dependency theory?

A) the idea that governments should provide a safety net for their citizens
B) the idea that people of the world should depend on each other
C) the idea that the expansion of European capitalism created Latin America's underdevelopment
D) the idea that the rich should allow the poor to depend on their assistance
E) the idea that people should not allow themselves to become dependent on outside assistance

Question 73

About half of the world's known plant and animal species are found in Patagonia in South America.

Question 74

Chile experienced an 8.8 magnitude earthquake in February 2010.

Question 75

The Amazon Rainforest is located (mostly)in Argentina.

Question 76

Grassification is the conversion of tropical forest into lawns of new residential settlements.

Question 77

Chile has not been able to implement policies that would reduce its smog problem.

Question 78

Squatter settlements in Latin America and elsewhere are unplanned and have no utilities.

Question 79

Brazil and Uruguay are located on the Altiplano of South America.

Question 80

In most Latin American countries

A) divorce is legal.
B) abortion is legal.
C) the government discourages family planning.
D) women cannot obtain loans.
E) all of the above