Topic 1 AP Exam Practice
Multiple-Choice Questions
Questions 1 to 3 refer to the passage below.
“For the underprivileged billions in the forgotten world, hunger has been a constant companion, and starvation has all too often lurked in the nearby shadows. To millions of these unfortunates, who have long lived in despair, the Green Revolution seems like a miracle that has generated new hope for the future. . . .
The Green Revolution has won a temporary success in man’s war against hunger and deprivation; it has given man a breathing space. If fully implemented, the revolution can provide sufficient food for sustenance during the next three decades. But the frightening power of human reproduction must also be curbed; otherwise the success of the Green Revolution will be ephemeral [temporary] only.”
Norman Borlaug, agricultural scientist, 1970
1. According to this excerpt from his Nobel lecture, Dr. Borlaug feared that
- (A) the Green Revolution had not succeeded in reducing world hunger
- (B) scientists had gone too far in altering plant species
- (C) the world’s population would begin to decline due to efforts to curb hunger
- (D) global population could once again overtake the available food supply
2. One criticism of the process discussed in this passage is that
- (A) engineering cannot change a grain’s genetic characteristics
- (B) it ignores new techniques of irrigating and fertilizing farmlands
- (C) it could increase the number of pollinating insects, such as bees and beetles
- (D) its costs make small farmers unable to compete with large-scale farming
3. Which most directly led to the increase in food supply as part of the Green Revolution?
- (A) The colonization of Africa by several European powers and resulting control over food production
- (B) The crossbreeding and genetic engineering of crops, such as wheat, rice, and other grains
- (C) The decolonization of Africa and subsequent repurposing of arable farmlands for the production of cereal grains
- (D) The domestication of new types of beasts of burden to help farm laborers cultivate land
Short-Answer Questions
1. Use the passage below to answer all parts of the question that follows.
“Gender equity is defined by the World Health Organization as, ‘the fairness and justice in the distribution of benefits and responsibilities between women and men,’ (Euro.who.int., 2002). When women can have control over their fertility, they have control of their lives which creates a society where gender equity can occur with all genders benefiting from the same resources. Contraceptive use promotes gender equality by improving the accessibility of education, employment and health care to women. If women are using contraception to postpone or prevent a pregnancy from occurring, they are able to stay in school and seek gainful employment upon completion.
Family planning is deeply influenced by inequality because the caliber of medical care between men and women is just not the same across the board. These gender differences are greater where women have relatively lower socioeconomic status than that of men (WHO, 2011; Nelson, 2011). It stands to reason that gender inequality intersects with other social determinants of health, such as race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status, to produce health disparities between men and women that are similar to social divisions within society (WHO, 2008).”
Linda Hanes, The Birth of Development: The Social, Economic and Environmental Advantages to Contraceptive Use on a Global Scale, 2016
2. Answer all parts of the question that follows.