59 questions. Try each one, then open the answer to check yourself and read the explanation.
Study the map of EDAFA DISTRICT to answer this question. If the map is reduced to half its original size, the scale will be
Answer: B (1 : 200,000.)
Halving the map doubles the denominator: 100,000 × 2 = 1 : 200,000.
Study the map of EDAFA DISTRICT to answer this question. River Eda flows from
Answer: A (Southeast to Northwest.)
The land is high in the south-east (over 1,000 m) and low in the north-west (100 m, area liable to flooding), so the river flows from south-east to north-west.
Study the map of EDAFA DISTRICT to answer this question. What is the bearing of Uzen from EDAFA?
Answer: B (210°)
Uzen lies south-west of EDAFA, a little more south than west, giving a bearing of about 210°.
Study the map of EDAFA DISTRICT to answer this question. The settlement of EDAFA is more important than Uzen because of the presence of a
Answer: B (school.)
Both towns have a market, but only EDAFA has a school (and a church).
Study the map of EDAFA DISTRICT to answer this question. What is the name of the feature marked P on the map?
Answer: C (Knoll)
P is a small, low, rounded hill shown by a single closed contour: a knoll.
Study the map of EDAFA DISTRICT to answer this question. The highest point on the mapped area is
Answer: D (1150m.)
The trigonometrical station in the south-east is marked 1150.
Study the map of EDAFA DISTRICT to answer this question. Which part of the map has the lowest elevation?
Answer: A (North West)
The 100 m contour and the area liable to flooding are in the north-west.
Study the map of EDAFA DISTRICT to answer this question. The main type of vegetation in the North Western part of the map is
Answer: B (forest.)
The north-west is covered with tree (forest) symbols.
Study the map of EDAFA DISTRICT to answer this question. The South Eastern part of the mapped area is suitable for
Answer: C (animal rearing.)
The south-east is high land covered with grassland symbols, good for grazing animals.
The solar system comprises
Answer: C (the sun and its nine planets.)
The solar system is the sun and the planets that go round it (nine, when Pluto was still counted as a planet).
The angle of difference formed between the True North and Magnetic North is known as
Answer: A (magnetic declination.)
The angle between true north and magnetic north is the magnetic declination (variation).
If the time in town X on longitude 15°E is 1.00pm on Saturday, what will be the time in town Y on longitude 75°W?
Answer: D (7.00 am on Saturday)
Difference = 15 + 75 = 90° = 6 hours; Y is west, so its time is behind: 1.00 pm − 6 h = 7.00 am Saturday.
The mineral contents of the upper part of the earth's crust are collectively called the sial because it is composed mainly of
Answer: C (silica and alumina.)
SIAL = SIlica + ALumina.
The lowest layer of the atmosphere is the
Answer: B (troposphere.)
The troposphere is next to the earth's surface; weather happens there.
Which of the following is the most abundant by total volume within the atmosphere?
Answer: C (Nitrogen)
Nitrogen makes up about 78% of the air.
A rock through which water cannot easily pass is termed
Answer: D (impermeable.)
Impermeable rocks do not let water pass through.
Use the diagram (number of people in villages X, Y and O) to answer this question. The diagram above is a
Answer: D (bar graph.)
Separate rectangular bars whose heights show quantities make a bar graph.
Which of the following is the most effective agent of coastal erosion?
Answer: B (Sea Waves)
Breaking waves do most of the erosion of coasts by hydraulic action, abrasion and attrition.
Aw in Koppen's classification of climate refers to
Answer: B (Tropical.)
In Köppen's scheme A is a tropical climate (coolest month above 18°C) and w means a dry winter season: tropical wet-and-dry (savanna).
Which of the following does not encourage the formation of rainfall?
Answer: C (Descending wind)
Descending air is compressed and warms, so it cannot reach dew point and form rain.
Use the diagram (hard rock over soft rock, with features P, X and A) to answer this question. The feature marked P is a/an
Answer: A (waterfall.)
P marks the water dropping over the edge of the hard rock: a waterfall.
Use the diagram (hard rock over soft rock, with features P, X and A) to answer this question. The feature marked X is a/an
Answer: C (plunge pool.)
X is in the hollow scoured out at the foot of the fall: the plunge pool.
Use the diagram (hard rock over soft rock, with features P, X and A) to answer this question. The feature marked A is a/an
Answer: C (eroded debris.)
A marks the broken rock material lying in the pool at the foot of the fall: eroded debris.
The most permanent physical property of the soil is its
Answer: B (texture.)
Texture (the sizes of sand, silt and clay particles) changes very little over time.
Desert areas experience high daily range of temperature because
Answer: B (the sky is cloudless.)
With no clouds the ground heats strongly by day and loses heat quickly at night.
Which of the following is a warm ocean current?
Answer: A (The Mozambique Current)
The Mozambique Current flows south from the warm tropics along East Africa; the others are cold.
Air pollution is caused by all the following except
Answer: A (evapo-transpiration.)
Evapo-transpiration only adds water vapour to the air; it does not pollute it.
The acacia tree is commonly found in the
Answer: C (savannah lands.)
The umbrella-shaped, drought-resistant acacia is typical of the savanna.
Which of the following in the lower atmosphere is of little use to man, plants and animals?
Answer: D (Argon)
Argon is an inert gas that living things do not use.
The dynamic and interdependent complex interaction of soil, climate and vegetation with its animal population is called
Answer: B (ecosystem.)
Living things interacting with their non-living environment form an ecosystem.
A built-up area consisting of a number of towns or cities merged together yet maintaining their individual identities is termed a/an
Answer: D (conurbation.)
Merged towns that keep their own identities form a conurbation.
Which of the following are true of most large cities? I. They have large plantations II. They are capital cities III. They are religious centres IV. They are commercial centres
Answer: A (II and IV)
Most large cities are capitals and commercial centres; they do not have plantations and are not mainly religious centres.
Which of the following is not a plantation crop in West Africa?
Answer: B (Wheat)
Wheat is a temperate crop grown on small irrigated plots in West Africa, not on plantations.
Aluminium is used largely in the
Answer: A (aviation industry.)
Aluminium is light and strong, so it is used mainly to build aircraft.
Light industries predominate in West Africa because of
Answer: A (inadequate capital.)
Light industries need little capital, and capital is scarce in West Africa.
Possible solutions to the problem of soil erosion in the highlands of West Africa include all the following except
Answer: A (indiscriminate felling of trees.)
Cutting down trees exposes the soil and causes erosion.
Which of the following is not a common farming system in West Africa?
Answer: C (Terracing)
Terracing is rare in West Africa; bush fallowing, crop rotation and subsistence farming are widespread.
The busiest and most important ocean trade route is
Answer: C (north Atlantic route.)
The North Atlantic route links the great industrial regions of Western Europe and North America.
The dry winds that blow out of the Sahara Desert towards the Southern parts of West Africa is known as
Answer: D (harmattan.)
The dry, dusty north-east trade wind from the Sahara is the harmattan.
In which of the following periods is the harmattan dominant in West Africa?
Answer: C (November to January)
The harmattan is strongest during the dry season from about November to January.
Which of the following types of weathering is common in humid tropical areas?
Answer: C (Hydrolysis)
Heat and plenty of water favour chemical weathering such as hydrolysis.
Which of the following countries records the highest annual rainfall?
Answer: A (Liberia)
Liberia, on the wet West African coast, receives over 4,000 mm in places; the others are largely desert.
When was the treaty which formally established ECOWAS signed?
Answer: D (May 28th 1975)
The ECOWAS treaty was signed in Lagos on 28 May 1975.
In which of the following countries is tourism the leading industry?
Answer: B (The Gambia)
Tourism, based on beaches and winter visitors from Europe, is a leading industry of The Gambia.
(a) (i) Define the term migration. (ii) Name four types of migration in Africa. (b) Outline any four causes of migration in Africa. (c) Suggest any three ways by which migration can be reduced in Africa.
(a)(i) Migration is the movement of people from one place to another to live, temporarily or permanently.
(ii) Rural-urban; rural-rural; urban-urban; urban-rural; seasonal; international (emigration/immigration); nomadic.
(b) Search for jobs and better income; education; better social amenities in towns; wars, conflicts and political unrest; natural disasters (drought, floods, famine); population pressure on land; religious persecution or pilgrimage; marriage and family; pastoral nomadism.
(c) Provide social amenities in rural areas (water, electricity, schools, hospitals); rural industries and jobs; improve agriculture and give loans to farmers; political stability and good governance; poverty alleviation programmes; quick response to disasters; laws on immigration.
Link solutions to the causes.
(a) Write notes on: (i) dispersed settlement; (ii) linear settlement. (b) Explain any four factors that favour the location of settlements. (c) Outline any three functions of urban settlement.
(a)(i) Dispersed settlement: houses scattered singly or in small groups, far apart, separated by farmland; common in rural farming areas with plenty of land, security and water everywhere; few amenities; e.g. parts of the middle belt.
(ii) Linear settlement: houses arranged in a line along a road, railway, river, coast or valley; houses face the route with farms behind; easy access to transport and trade.
(b) Water supply; fertile land; relief (flat, well-drained, flood-free, defence sites on hills); route centres and nodal points; mineral resources; good climate; security/defence; ports and harbours; government policy (capitals).
(c) Administrative; commercial (markets, banks); industrial; educational; health; religious; residential; transport; recreational and cultural.
Give an example for each type.
(a) Highlight five advantages that air transport has over other means of transportation. (b) Explain five problems limiting air transportation in your country.
(a) Fastest means of transport; not blocked by mountains, seas, deserts or forests; good for perishable, light and valuable goods; reaches remote areas; links countries and continents quickly; comfortable; good for emergencies, mail and tourism; little infrastructure needed between airports.
(b) (Nigeria) High cost of aircraft, fuel and fares; few modern airports and poor facilities; bad weather (harmattan haze, storms) disrupts flights; accidents and poor safety record; shortage of skilled personnel; poor management and corruption; carries only small loads; few routes and connections; power failures at airports; insecurity.
Explain each problem with your country in mind.
(a) Draw an outline map of Nigeria. On the map, mark and name: (i) latitudes 5°N, 13°N and longitude 8°E; (ii) one area with rainfall of about 600 mm; (iii) one area with rainfall between 2000 mm and 3050 mm; (iv) One town in each of the areas in (ii) and (iii) above. (b) Describe the rainfall pattern in Nigeria.
(a) Map: latitude 5°N near the coast (Niger Delta), 13°N across the far north (Sokoto, Kano area, through Katsina), longitude 8°E through Kano/Kaduna and Calabar area; about 600 mm in the far north (e.g. Sokoto, Katsina, Maiduguri, Nguru); 2000-3050 mm on the south-east coast (Port Harcourt, Calabar, Warri, Bonny).
(b) Rainfall decreases from the coast (over 2,000 mm) to the north (under 500 mm); the length of the rainy season falls from about 8-12 months in the south to 3-4 months in the north; the south has two peaks (double maximum) with the 'August break', the north has one peak (single maximum) in August; rain comes with the south-west monsoon (tropical maritime air mass); the north-east has the least; rainfall is mainly convectional, with relief rain on highlands (Jos, Obudu).
Label the latitudes with their values.
(a) Draw a sketch map of Nigeria. On the map, show and name: (i) the North Central Highlands; (ii) the rivers Niger and Benue. (b) Name two export crops and four food crops of the North Central Highlands. (c) Describe the North Central Highlands under the following headings: (i) agricultural activities; (ii) problems of development.
(a) Map with the North Central Highlands (Jos Plateau and surrounding high plains of Hausaland, in Plateau, Kaduna, Kano, Bauchi area); River Niger entering from the north-west to Lokoja and the delta; River Benue from the east joining at Lokoja.
(b) Export: cotton, groundnuts, soya beans, ginger, tobacco. Food: maize, guinea corn (sorghum), millet, yams, Irish potatoes, acha, rice, vegetables.
(c)(i) Mixed farming; grain and root crops; Irish potatoes and temperate vegetables on the cool plateau; cattle rearing by the Fulani (tsetse-free, cool); dry season irrigated farming (fadama); dairy farming (Vom).
(ii) Poor, leached, eroded soils (mining spoils); subsistence farming; pests (locusts) and diseases (river blindness, meningitis); poor roads in rugged areas; ethnic and farmer-herder conflicts; mining wasteland; inadequate capital.
Mark both rivers with their confluence at Lokoja.
(a) Draw a sketch map of Nigeria. On the map, locate and name: (i) Jos Plateau, Oban Hills and Mandara Mountains; (ii) Rivers Ogun and Gongola. (b) Describe the location and size of Nigeria. (c) Highlight three economic importance of highlands to the economy of Nigeria.
(a) Map: Jos Plateau (centre-north), Oban Hills (south-east near Calabar, Cross River), Mandara Mountains (north-east on the Cameroon border); River Ogun (south-west, flowing to Lagos lagoon); River Gongola (north-east, tributary of the Benue).
(b) Nigeria lies in West Africa between latitudes 4°N and 14°N and longitudes 3°E and 15°E; bordered by Benin (west), Niger (north), Chad (north-east), Cameroon (east) and the Atlantic Ocean/Gulf of Guinea (south); area about 923,768 km²; about 1,100 km north-south and 1,300 km east-west; largest population in Africa.
(c) Source of rivers and HEP sites; minerals (tin and columbite on Jos Plateau); cool climate for tourism, settlement and temperate crops (Jos, Obudu Cattle Ranch); grazing land; forests and wildlife; climatic and defence barriers; relief rainfall.
Give both latitude and longitude extent.
(a) Draw an outline map of Africa. On the map, show and name: (i) the Kainji Dam; (ii) Aswan Dam; (iii) Drakensberg Mountains. (iv) the Atlas Mountains. (b) Outline five importance of hydroelectric power to the economy of African countries.
(a) Map: Kainji Dam on the River Niger in western Nigeria; Aswan (High) Dam on the Nile in southern Egypt; Drakensberg Mountains in south-east South Africa/Lesotho; Atlas Mountains in north-west Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia).
(b) Cheap, renewable power for industries; electricity for homes and towns; rural electrification; reduces use of fuelwood and saves forests; reservoirs used for irrigation, fishing and transport; flood control; employment; tourism; export of power earns foreign exchange (e.g. Ghana to Togo/Benin); attracts industries such as aluminium smelting (Tema).
Mark the dams on the correct rivers.
(a) Draw a sketch map of Africa. On it show and name: (i) Cameroun Highlands; (ii) Fouta Djallon Highlands; (iii) one important river that takes its source from any of the highlands named in (a)(i) and (ii) above. (b) Highlight four ways in which rivers are important to the economy of Africa. (c) Outline three problems limiting the use of African rivers.
(a) Map: Cameroun Highlands on the Nigeria-Cameroon border; Fouta Djallon in Guinea; river: Niger, Senegal or Gambia (from Fouta Djallon) or Benue (from Cameroun Highlands).
(b) Transport and navigation; hydro-electric power; irrigation; fishing; domestic and industrial water supply; tourism and recreation; fertile floodplains for farming; boundaries.
(c) Rapids, waterfalls and cataracts; seasonal fluctuation in volume; sandbars and silting at mouths; water weeds (water hyacinth); flow through sparsely populated areas; diseases (river blindness, bilharzia); lack of capital for development.
Show the river starting in the highland you named.
(a) Identify any four factors that favour lumbering in Democratic Republic of Congo. (b) Explain any four problems of lumbering in Democratic Republic of Congo. (c) Outline two ways in which any of the problems in (b) above could be solved.
(a) Large area of tropical rainforest in the Congo basin; valuable hardwoods (mahogany, sapele, limba, ebony); rivers (Congo and tributaries) for floating logs; ports such as Matadi and Boma; cheap labour; demand at home and abroad; foreign investment.
(b) Trees of the same species are scattered, making extraction costly; hardwoods are heavy and many do not float; dense undergrowth, swamps and poor roads hinder access; rapids and waterfalls on rivers; heavy rainfall and tropical diseases; political instability and insecurity; shortage of capital and skilled labour; deforestation and slow regeneration.
(c) Build feeder roads and use modern machinery; reafforestation and selective felling; train workers and attract investment; improve security; use of lorries and rail where rivers are unnavigable.
Explain each problem fully.
(a) Describe each of the following instruments used in chain surveying. (i) Ranging poles; (ii) Arrows. (b) With the aid of a diagram, show how you would overcome an uncompleted building which poses an obstacle to chaining.
(a)(i) Ranging poles: straight round poles of wood or light metal, about 2-3 m long; painted in alternate bands (red and white or black and white) about 50 cm wide so they are seen from far; pointed metal shoe at one end to push into the ground; used to mark stations and line up the chain line.
(ii) Arrows: thin steel pins about 38 cm long; one end sharp to stick into the ground, the other bent into a ring for carrying; often tied with red cloth to be seen; usually 10 in a set; used to mark the end of each chain length and count chains.
(b) Method of parallel lines (the building blocks both sight and chaining): choose A and B on the chain line before the building; set out equal perpendiculars AC and BD (with a cross staff or 3-4-5 triangle); range and chain the line CD past the building to points E and F; set out perpendiculars EG and FH back to the chain line, equal to AC; G and H then lie on the original chain line and the hidden length BG equals DE; continue chaining from G, checking that G, H and the line beyond are in line. Diagram showing the chain line, the building, the four equal perpendiculars and the parallel line CDEF.
Show the equal perpendiculars clearly on the diagram.
(a) (i) Name any two types of rainfall. (ii) State the region where each of the two types of rainfall named in (a)(i) above is prevalent. (b) Write explanatory notes on the formation of the two types of rainfall named in (a)(i) above.
(a)(i) Convectional, relief (orographic), frontal (cyclonic).
(ii) Convectional: equatorial regions and tropics in summer (e.g. Congo basin, southern Nigeria). Relief: windward sides of mountains near coasts (Cameroon Mountain, Fouta Djallon, western Europe). Frontal/cyclonic: temperate mid-latitudes (Western Europe, North America).
(b) Convectional: strong heating of the ground; warm moist air rises in convection currents; it expands and cools to dew point; condensation forms cumulonimbus clouds; heavy afternoon showers with thunder and lightning.
Relief: moist wind from the sea is forced up a mountain; it cools and condenses on the windward side giving heavy rain; air descends the leeward side, warms and is dry (rain shadow).
Frontal: warm air meets cold air at a front; the lighter warm air rises over the cold air; it cools and condenses, giving widespread steady rain.
Diagrams help but are not required.
Use the table below to answer the questions that follow
Months: J, F, M, A, M, J, J, A, S, O, N, D
Rainfall (mm): 10, 80, 20, 18, 5, 50, 40, 40, 90, 20, 50, 40
(a) Calculate the: (i) annual rainfall; (ii) mean annual rainfall. (b) Name the instruments used in measuring the following weather elements: (i) pressure; (ii) sunshine; (iii) rainfall; (iv) temperature (c) Describe four effects of climate on agriculture.
(a)(i) Annual rainfall = 10 + 80 + 20 + 18 + 5 + 50 + 40 + 40 + 90 + 20 + 50 + 40 = 463 mm.
(ii) Mean (monthly) rainfall = 463 ÷ 12 = 38.6 mm.
(b) Pressure: barometer (mercury or aneroid) / barograph; sunshine: Campbell-Stokes sunshine recorder; rainfall: rain gauge; temperature: thermometer (maximum and minimum / Six's thermometer).
(c) Rainfall decides which crops grow and when planting is done (e.g. root crops in wet south, grains in drier north); temperature controls crop growth and the growing season; drought and floods destroy crops; humidity favours pests and diseases; climate decides the type of livestock (cattle in drier tsetse-free north); sunshine needed for ripening and drying of crops (cocoa, groundnut); strong winds damage crops; seasons decide farming calendar and need for irrigation.
Show the addition before dividing.
(a) Explain the processes of wind erosion. (b) With the aid of a diagram, describe the features of a barchan dune.
(a) Deflation: wind lifts and blows away loose dry sand and dust, lowering the surface and forming hollows; abrasion (corrasion): sand grains carried by wind blast and scour rock surfaces, especially near the ground, forming rock pedestals, yardangs, zeugens; attrition: grains carried by wind knock against one another and become smaller and rounded.
(b) Crescent-shaped (moon-shaped) dune lying across the wind direction; gentle convex windward slope; steep concave leeward (slip) face; horns point downwind; up to about 30 m high; moves forward as sand is blown up the windward side and slides down the slip face; found singly or in groups on flat desert floors. Diagram (plan and section) showing wind direction, horns, windward and leeward slopes.
Label wind direction on the diagram.
(a) Write explanatory notes on the following: (i) springs; (ii) caverns. (b) Highlight four ways in which limestone is important to man.
(a)(i) A spring is a natural outflow of underground water at the surface; it forms where the water table meets the surface, where permeable rock rests on impermeable rock, along faults, or in limestone areas where underground streams come out (resurgent/vauclusian springs). Types: valley, scarp-foot, dyke, fault springs, hot springs.
(ii) Caverns are large underground caves in limestone formed by carbonation: rainwater with carbon dioxide dissolves the rock along joints and bedding planes; underground streams widen them; may contain stalactites, stalagmites and pillars; e.g. Carlsbad Caverns (USA).
(b) Raw material for cement (Ewekoro, Nkalagu, Obajana); building stone; making lime for agriculture to reduce soil acidity; flux in iron and steel making; chalk; glass, paper and chemical industries; tourist attractions (caves); limestone areas good for grazing; water from springs.
Explain how each feature forms.
(a) Name the types of power derived from each of the following sources: (i) water; (ii) coal; (iii) natural gas; (iv) the sun (b) Write explanatory notes on the types of power obtained from water and sun under the following headings: (i) specific places of production; (ii) method of production; (iii) uses.
(a) Water: hydro-electric power; coal: thermal electricity (and steam power); natural gas: thermal (gas-turbine) electricity; sun: solar power/energy.
(b) Hydro-electric power: (i) Kainji, Jebba, Shiroro (Nigeria), Akosombo (Ghana), Kariba, Aswan, Inga; (ii) a dam stores water in a reservoir; water falls through pipes (penstocks) and turns turbines that drive generators; electricity is sent through transmission lines; (iii) lighting, industries, domestic appliances, irrigation pumps.
Solar power: (i) sunny dry areas, e.g. northern Nigeria (Sokoto, Kano), deserts, many rural installations; (ii) solar panels (photovoltaic cells) turn sunlight into electricity stored in batteries, or solar collectors heat water; (iii) street lights, water heating, drying crops, pumping water, powering rural homes, telecommunication masts, calculators and watches.
Treat water and sun separately under the three headings.