65 questions. Try each one, then open the answer to check yourself and read the explanation.
Study the map of ADUM DISTRICT to answer this question. The direction of Ohewo from Ipiga is
Answer: B (South-West)
Ohewo lies to the west and slightly south of Ipiga, so it is south-west of Ipiga.
Study the map of ADUM DISTRICT to answer this question. Which of the following is a confluence town?
Answer: B (Oju)
Oju stands where streams join the main river.
Study the map of ADUM DISTRICT to answer this question. Which of the following crops is likely to be cultivated in the are liable to flooding?
Answer: A (Rice)
Rice needs waterlogged land, so it suits areas liable to flooding.
Study the map of ADUM DISTRICT to answer this question. The feature marked X can be described as
Answer: B (a meander)
At X the river swings in a pronounced loop: a meander.
Study the map of ADUM DISTRICT to answer this question. The direction of flow of River Pam is
Answer: D (South-East)
River Pam runs from Ipoya in the west past Adum and then turns south-east towards Ipiga and the flood plain.
Study the map of ADUM DISTRICT to answer this question. Then likely occupation of the people in Ipiga is
Answer: B (farming)
Scattered cultivation symbols surround Ipiga.
Study the map of ADUM DISTRICT to answer this question. The settlement of Ipoya can be described as
Answer: A (linear)
Ipoya's buildings stretch in a line along the road.
Study the map of ADUM DISTRICT to answer this question. The feature marked A - B can best be described as
Answer: A (concave slope)
From A to B the contours are wide apart at the bottom and close together near the top, so the slope is gentle below and steep above: concave.
Study the map of ADUM DISTRICT to answer this question. The bearing of Ohewo from Adum is approximately
Answer: A (225°)
Ohewo lies south-west of Adum, about equally far south as west, so its bearing is about 225°.
Use the table for a station: Month J F M A M J J A S O N D; Temperature (°C) 22, 22, 23, 24, 28, 30, 31, 31, 29, 30, 24, 24; Rainfall (mm) 32.5, 52.0, 132, 225, 270, 310, 354, 416, 221, 31.0, 11, 02.1. The annual range of temperature for the station is
Answer: B (9°C)
Range = highest (31°C) − lowest (22°C) = 9°C.
Use the table for a station: Month J F M A M J J A S O N D; Temperature (°C) 22, 22, 23, 24, 28, 30, 31, 31, 29, 30, 24, 24; Rainfall (mm) 32.5, 52.0, 132, 225, 270, 310, 354, 416, 221, 31.0, 11, 02.1. Which of the following pairs of weather instruments were used to collect the data for the station?
Answer: C (A thermometer and a rain gauge)
The table gives temperature (thermometer) and rainfall (rain gauge).
What is the approximate distance of town X from the equator, if it is located on latitude 14°N?
Answer: A (1555 km)
Each degree of latitude is about 111 km: 14 × 111 ≈ 1555 km.
When a warm ocean current meets a cold ocean current, they produce
Answer: C (fog)
Warm moist air over the warm current is chilled by the cold water, causing fog (as off Newfoundland).
The distance of Planet Mercury from the sun is about
Answer: C (57 million km)
Mercury's average distance from the sun is about 58 million km.
The most distant planet from us is
Answer: D (Pluto)
Pluto (then counted as a planet) is the farthest from the sun and the earth.
Which of the following is not a proof that the earth is spherical?
Answer: C (Varying lengths of day and night)
Varying lengths of day and night result from the tilt of the axis and revolution, not from the earth's shape.
The latitudes which mark the limits of the apparent movement of the overhead sun are the
Answer: C (Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn)
The overhead sun moves between 23½°N and 23½°S.
Weathering, erosion, transportation and deposition are processes of
Answer: C (denudation)
Denudation is the general wearing down of the land by all these processes.
Which of the following factors does not affect the salinity of the oceans?
Answer: D (Shape of the ocean floor)
Salinity depends on evaporation, fresh-water inflow and mixing; the shape of the ocean floor does not change it.
Six's thermometer is used to measure
Answer: C (minimum and maximum temperature)
Six's thermometer records both the highest and lowest temperatures reached.
The maximum temperature recorded for Station X in a particular day was 14°C while the minimum temperature was - 4°C. The diural range of temperature for the day was
Answer: D (18°C)
Range = 14 − (−4) = 18°C.
"It is warm and dusty, originates from the Sahara and reaches its lowest southward extent in the January". The above text describes the
Answer: B (Tropical Continental airmass)
The dry, dusty harmattan from the Sahara is the tropical continental air mass, which reaches farthest south in January.
Heavy rainfalls are often associated with
Answer: B (cumulonimbus clouds)
Towering cumulonimbus clouds give heavy showers and thunderstorms.
Which of the following gases is most abundant in the atmosphere?
Answer: D (Nitrogen)
Nitrogen makes up about 78% of the air.
Marble, slate and gneiss are
Answer: A (metamorphic rocks)
All three form when existing rocks are changed by heat and pressure.
Which of the following is not a process of wind erosion?
Answer: C (Hydraulic action)
Hydraulic action is the force of moving water, not wind.
Compressional forces are mainly responsible for the formation of
Answer: A (fold mountains)
Compression squeezes rock layers into folds.
The instrument used for measuring the speed of wind is called
Answer: A (cup anemometer)
A cup anemometer measures wind speed; a wind vane shows direction.
Coastal erosion can be prevented by
Answer: C (the stabilization of sandy and muddy beaches by coastal vegetation)
Plants hold beach sand and mud together so waves remove less of it.
Coastlines washed by cold currents normally have
Answer: B (scanty rainfall)
Cold currents cool and stabilise the air, so little rain falls (e.g. Namib coast).
A continental shelf is economically important because it
Answer: A (is a good fishing ground)
Shallow, sunlit shelf waters are rich in plankton and fish.
The most important action in the A horizon of a soil profile is
Answer: A (eluviation)
In the A horizon water washes minerals downwards (eluviation); they collect in the B horizon (illuviation).
All the following farming practices result in soil erosion except
Answer: D (mixed cropping)
Mixed cropping keeps the ground covered and protects the soil.
Which of the following features are associated with a river capture? I Misfit river II River terraces III Elbow of capture IV Wind gap
Answer: A (I, III and IV)
River capture leaves an elbow of capture, a misfit (beheaded) stream and a dry wind gap; terraces come from rejuvenation.
Which of the following is not a method by which rivers transport their eroded materials?
Answer: C (Attrition)
Attrition is wearing down of the load by collision (erosion), not a way of carrying it.
Which of the following sea routes carries the heaviest traffic?
Answer: B (The North Atlantic sea route)
The North Atlantic route links the industrial regions of Western Europe and North America and carries the most traffic.
The biosphere contains all the following except
Answer: B (rocks)
The biosphere is the zone of living things; rocks belong to the lithosphere.
Land and sea breezes on a continental scale are called
Answer: B (monsoons)
Monsoons are seasonal reversals of wind caused by the differential heating of continents and oceans.
The Mediterranean type of climate is best suited for
Answer: B (fruit growing)
Hot dry sunny summers ripen citrus, grapes and olives.
Which of the following vegetation types is associated with the sub-equatorial type of climate?
Answer: A (Rain forest)
The sub-equatorial (Guinea coast) climate has heavy rain and high temperature, which support rain forest.
Which of the following shows the correct sequence in food chain?
Answer: C (Plants → herbivores → carnivores → decomposers)
Energy flows from plants to plant-eaters, then to flesh-eaters, and decomposers break down dead matter.
One of the major characteristics of heavy industries is that they
Answer: D (require high capital outlay)
Heavy industries need huge investment in plant and machinery.
A country is said to be land-locked when
Answer: D (she has no direct access to the sea)
A land-locked country has no coastline.
Which of the following is a major hinderance to HEP production in Africa?
Answer: A (Inadequate capital)
Africa has many good sites and rivers, but building dams and power stations needs capital that is scarce.
One advantage of inland water-ways is that
Answer: C (goods are transported cheaply)
Water is a natural route needing little upkeep, so bulky goods move cheaply.
Which of the following is a demerit of low population density?
Answer: C (Inadequate labour force)
Too few people means a shortage of workers to develop resources.
The most difficult problem facing lumbering in Zaire is that the
Answer: C (economic trees are not found in pure stands)
Useful trees are scattered among many other species, so finding and extracting them is costly.
Which of the following vegetation types is found only in the Northern hemisphere?
Answer: C (Tundra)
Tundra occurs along the Arctic fringes; there is almost no comparable land at those latitudes in the southern hemisphere.
One effects of rural-urban migration on the source region is
Answer: C (rural depopulation)
Villages lose people, especially young adults, when they move to towns.
(a) Highlight three advantages and three disadvantages of water transport. (b) Explain any four factors that hinder the use of water transport.
(a) Advantages: cheapest way to carry bulky goods over long distances; natural routes need little maintenance; carries very large loads; relatively safe; links countries and continents. Disadvantages: slow; not flexible (only where there is water, not door to door); high cost of ships and ports; affected by weather and seasons; unsuitable for perishable goods without refrigeration.
(b) Seasonal flow of rivers (low water in the dry season); rapids, waterfalls and cataracts; floating weeds (water hyacinth); silting and sandbars at river mouths and harbours; frozen waterways in winter; shallow and narrow channels; lack of capital for ports and dredging; insecurity.
Explain how each factor stops boats moving.
(a) Explain the term settlement. (b) Describe four characteristics of an urban settlement. (c) Outline four functions which an urban settlement can perform for a rural settlement.
(a) A settlement is a place where people live and carry out activities, made up of buildings and the routes linking them; it ranges from a single homestead to a city.
(b) Large population and high density; most people work in secondary and tertiary jobs; many social amenities (schools, hospitals, water, electricity); well-planned roads and transport; tall buildings and varied land use; heterogeneous population; administrative and commercial functions.
(c) Market for farm produce; supply of manufactured goods; services such as hospitals, secondary schools and banks; employment; administration; spread of innovation and information; transport links.
Contrast urban features with rural ones.
(a) Define the following terms: (i) optimum population; (ii) over-population; (iii) population density; (b) The total population of country Q in the year 1998 was 4 million. If the land area of country Q is 400,000 km2, calculate the population density of country Q. (c) Highlight four disadvantages of the population density calcuated in 3(b) above on the economy of country Q.
(a)(i) Optimum population is the number of people that, with the available resources and technology, gives the highest possible standard of living.
(ii) Over-population is when the population is too large for the available resources, so living standards fall.
(iii) Population density is the average number of people per unit area (persons per km²).
(b) 4,000,000 ÷ 400,000 = 10 persons per km².
(c) The low density means: shortage of labour; resources left undeveloped; small home market for industries; high cost of providing roads, schools and other services to scattered people; low government revenue; difficulty in defence and administration.
Density = population ÷ area, with units.
For candidates in Nigeria: (a) Draw an outline map of Nigeria. On the map, locate and name; (i) the Gulf of Guinea; (ii) the Bight of Bonny; (iii) latitude 14°N; (iv) the country to the Western border; (v) the Federal Capital Territory. (b) Describe the size and location if Nigeria in relation to other countries of West Africa.
(a) Gulf of Guinea south of Nigeria; Bight of Bonny in the south-east (off Port Harcourt/Calabar); latitude 14°N along the northern border with Niger; Republic of Benin on the western border; FCT (Abuja) in the centre.
(b) Size: about 923,768 km²; one of the largest countries in West Africa (about one-seventh of the region's area), larger than Ghana several times; the most populous country in Africa. Location: between latitudes 4°N and 14°N and longitudes 3°E and 15°E; in the eastern part of West Africa; bordered by Benin (west), Niger (north), Chad (north-east), Cameroon (east) and the Atlantic/Gulf of Guinea (south).
Give both latitude-longitude position and neighbouring countries.
For candidates in Nigeria: (a) Draw a sketch map of Nigeria. On the map, locate and name' (i) the Mid-West industrial zone; (ii) the South-East industrial zone; (iii) the North-Central industrial zone; (iv) one important town in each zone in 5(a)(i) – (iii) above. (b) Highlight three problems facing manufacturing industries in Nigeria. (c) Suggest solutions to any two of the problems highlighted in 5(b) above.
(a) Mid-West: Benin City, Warri, Sapele; South-East: Port Harcourt, Aba, Onitsha, Enugu; North-Central: Kaduna, Jos, Zaria, Kano.
(b) Erratic power supply; inadequate capital; poor transport; shortage of raw materials and spare parts; shortage of skilled labour; competition from imports; low purchasing power; political instability and insecurity; poor management.
(c) Improve and diversify power supply; provide loans and attract investment; improve roads and railways; develop local sources of raw materials; train workers; ban or tax competing imports; good governance and security.
Make each solution match one named problem.
For candidates in Nigeria: (a) Draw a sketch map of Nigeria. On the map, locate and name; (i) The Eastern Railway Line; (ii) four major stations along the railway line in 6(a)(i) above. (b) Outline three advantages of rail transportation in Nigeria. (c) Highlight three limitations of rail transportation in Nigeria.
(a) Eastern line: Port Harcourt-Aba-Umuahia-Enugu-Makurdi-Lafia-Kafanchan-Kaduna (branch Kafanchan-Jos-Bauchi-Gombe-Maiduguri); stations e.g. Port Harcourt, Aba, Umuahia, Enugu, Makurdi, Kafanchan.
(b) Carries bulky goods cheaply over long distances; carries many passengers at low fares; relatively safe; reduces pressure on roads; links producing areas with ports; less affected by weather.
(c) Narrow gauge and slow trains; inadequate and old engines and coaches; poor maintenance; limited network not reaching many areas; not flexible (no door-to-door service); poor management; competition from road transport.
Mark the line with cross-ticks and name the stations in order.
(a) Draw a sketch map of Africa. On the map, show and name one area of any two of the following (i) Equatorial climate; (ii) Mediterranean climate; (iii) Hot Desert climate; (iv) Tropical Continental climate (b) Highlight four characteristics of the Equatorial climate (c) Outline three ways in which forest vegetation is of economic importance in Africa
(a) Equatorial: Congo Basin, Guinea coast; Mediterranean: north-west Africa (Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco) or the south-west Cape; hot desert: Sahara, Kalahari/Namib; tropical continental: savanna belt of West Africa and Sudan.
(b) High temperature all year (about 27°C); small annual range (2-3°C); heavy rainfall (over 1,500-2,000 mm) well spread through the year with double maxima; high humidity; convectional thunderstorms in the afternoon; no real dry season.
(c) Timber for export and local use; raw materials for industries (plywood, pulp, furniture); fuelwood and charcoal; food, medicine and fruits; employment; habitat for wildlife and tourism; foreign exchange.
Shade climate regions clearly with a key.
(a) List three plantation crops in Africa. (b) Outline four ways in which plantation agriculture is important. (c) Highlight three differences between plantation agriculture in West Africa and East Africa.
(a) Rubber, oil palm, cocoa, tea, coffee, sisal, sugarcane, bananas, tobacco.
(b) Earns foreign exchange; provides employment; raw materials for industries; government revenue; brings in modern methods and research; development of infrastructure (roads, housing, hospitals) in rural areas; improved quality of produce.
(c) West Africa: mostly owned by governments or Africans and smaller in size; East Africa: largely established by Europeans (settlers) and very large estates. West Africa grows rubber, oil palm, cocoa; East Africa grows tea, coffee, sisal, pyrethrum. West Africa plantations in lowland forest; East Africa on cooler highlands. Fewer plantations in West Africa because of tsetse, land tenure and climate; East Africa had more foreign capital.
Compare ownership, crops and location in (c).
(a) Draw an outline map of Africa. On the map, locate and name, (i) one are important for the mining of each of coal, diamond and gold; (ii) one important town in two of the areas in 9(a)(i) above (b) Highlight three ways in which the minerals in (a)(i) above are of economic importance to Africa. (c) Outline two problems associated with mining in Africa.
(a) Coal: Enugu (Nigeria), Witbank (South Africa), Hwange/Wankie (Zimbabwe); diamond: Kimberley (South Africa), Kasai/Mbuji-Mayi (DR Congo), Sierra Leone (Koidu), Botswana (Orapa); gold: Witwatersrand (Johannesburg), Obuasi/Tarkwa (Ghana).
(b) Foreign exchange; government revenue; employment; raw materials and energy for industry (coal for power and steel); growth of towns and infrastructure; attracts investment.
(c) Land degradation and pollution; lack of capital and technology; exhaustion of deposits; fall in world prices; poor transport; smuggling and illegal mining; labour unrest and mining accidents.
Give a named area and town for each mineral.
(a) Explain the term error of closure. (b) Highlight any four sources of error of closure in closed traverse survey. (c) Outline two measures that could be taken to avoid an error of closure.
(a) Error of closure is the gap between the starting point and the finishing point of a closed traverse when it is plotted, showing that the traverse fails to close exactly on its origin.
(b) Inaccurate measurement of lengths; wrong reading or booking of bearings; faulty or badly set instruments; local magnetic attraction (iron objects, power lines) deflecting the compass; errors in plotting (scale, protractor); sagging or stretched tape.
(c) Check and calibrate instruments before use; take forward and back bearings to check readings; measure each line twice; keep magnetic materials away from the compass; plot carefully and check booking.
Define the error, then list causes and the checks that prevent them.
(a) If the time in London is 08.00 hours GMT and the local time in Addis Ababa is 12.00 noon on what longitude is Addis Ababa? (b) Write explanatory notes on the following: (i) Time zones; (ii) Standard Times; (iii) International Dateline
(a) Time difference = 12.00 − 08.00 = 4 hours; 4 × 15° = 60°; Addis Ababa is ahead of GMT so it is east: 60°E (in this question's figures).
(b)(i) Time zones: the world is divided into 24 zones each about 15° of longitude wide; places in one zone keep the same time; neighbouring zones differ by one hour; large countries (USA, Russia) have several zones.
(ii) Standard time: the time adopted for a whole country or zone, usually the local time of a central meridian, to avoid confusion of each town keeping its own local time; e.g. West Africa Time (GMT+1) based on 15°E.
(iii) International Date Line: roughly follows the 180° meridian, bent to avoid land; crossing it eastwards one repeats a day (subtract a day), crossing westwards one gains a day (add a day).
Remember 15° = 1 hour and east is ahead of Greenwich.
(a) Define the term vulcanicity. (b) Describe the mode of formation and appearance of a volcanic plateau. (c) Highlight four effects of vulcanicity.
(a) Vulcanicity is the process by which molten rock (magma) and gases are forced into the earth's crust or out onto its surface.
(b) Formation: very fluid basic (basaltic) lava pours quietly out of long fissures rather than a central vent; it spreads widely before cooling; repeated flows pile up layer upon layer over a large area. Appearance: extensive, high, flat or gently undulating surface; steep edges often cut by rivers into step-like slopes; dark basalt rock weathering into fertile soils, e.g. Deccan plateau, Columbia-Snake plateau, Jos Plateau (Biu).
(c) Formation of new landforms (mountains, plateaux, islands); fertile volcanic soils; destruction of life and property; minerals and building stone; hot springs and geysers for geothermal power; tourism; air pollution and climate change from ash; earthquakes and tsunamis.
For (b) give both how it forms and what it looks like.
(a) Explain the term soil erosion. (b) Write notes on soil erosion under the following headings: (i) causes (ii) effects (iii) methods of pevenetion
(a) Soil erosion is the removal of the top layer of soil by agents such as running water, wind and moving ice, often speeded up by human activities.
(b)(i) Causes: heavy rainfall and runoff; steep slopes; strong winds in dry areas; deforestation and bush burning; overgrazing; poor farming methods (ploughing up and down slopes, continuous cropping); mining and construction.
(ii) Effects: loss of fertile topsoil and lower crop yields; gullies destroy farmland, roads and buildings; silting of rivers and dams; flooding; desertification; poverty and migration.
(iii) Prevention: afforestation and stopping bush burning; contour ploughing and terracing; cover crops and mulching; crop rotation and fallowing; controlled grazing; shelter belts against wind; proper drainage and check dams on gullies.
Write a few points under each of the three headings.
(a) Describe three characteristics of forest vegetation. (b) Outline three ways in which vegetation is important as an environmental resource. (c) Highlight two problems that may arise from over-utilization of vegetation resources.
(a) Tall trees with closed canopies in layers; many species, often not in pure stands; evergreen broad leaves (tropical) or needle leaves (coniferous); buttress roots, climbers and epiphytes; dense undergrowth where light reaches.
(b) Source of timber, fuelwood and building materials; food, fruits and medicinal herbs; raw materials for industries (paper, furniture); protects soil from erosion; habitat for wildlife; influences climate and supplies oxygen; tourism and research.
(c) Deforestation and soil erosion; extinction of plant and animal species; desertification; disturbance of the water cycle and climate change; scarcity of fuelwood and timber.
Separate uses of vegetation from the harm of over-use.
(a) State any four factors that determine the temperature of a place. (b)(i) List the two climatic elements used as the basis of Koppen's classification. (ii) Identify the main climatic groups in Koppen's climatic classification.
(a) Latitude; altitude (temperature falls about 6.5°C per 1,000 m); distance from the sea (continentality); ocean currents; prevailing winds; aspect of slopes; cloud cover; nature of the surface/vegetation.
(b)(i) Temperature and precipitation (rainfall).
(ii) A: tropical rainy climates; B: dry climates; C: warm temperate (mesothermal) rainy climates; D: cool snow-forest (microthermal) climates; E: polar (ice) climates; (H: highland).
Give Koppen's groups with their letters.
(a) Explain the term Karst topography. (b) Name any four features found in Karst regions. (c) Highlight five characteristics of Karst regions.
(a) Karst topography is the distinctive landscape formed on thick, well-jointed limestone (or chalk) by solution, with few surface streams and many underground features (named after the Karst region of Slovenia/Yugoslavia).
(b) Swallow holes/sink holes; dolines and uvalas; poljes; clints and grikes (limestone pavement); caves and caverns; stalactites, stalagmites and pillars; limestone gorges; dry valleys; resurgent streams.
(c) Little or no surface drainage; underground streams and caves; bare rocky surface with thin soils; scanty vegetation; dry valleys; steep gorges and cliffs; rock highly jointed and soluble; sparse population.
Name features with their correct terms and describe the dry, rocky surface.