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Assam HS Higher Secondary Geography study materials
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Assam HS Higher Secondary Geography practice questions

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Question 1Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

In cold mountainous regions, water trapped in joints of rock expands on freezing and prises the rock apart. This mechanical weathering process is known as:

  1. Frost wedging Correct answer.
  2. Hydrolysis
  3. Exfoliation
  4. Carbonation

Explanation

Water expands by about nine per cent when it turns to ice, so repeated freeze–thaw cycles in joints and bedding planes exert pressure that prises the rock apart. The process is purely mechanical, produces angular blocky debris and is most effective where temperatures oscillate around freezing point. Carbonation and hydrolysis, by contrast, are chemical processes.

Question 2Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

In a well-developed soil profile, the uppermost layer consisting mainly of fresh and partly decomposed plant litter is designated as the:

  1. B horizon
  2. C horizon
  3. O horizon Correct answer.
  4. A horizon

Explanation

The O horizon is the organic layer lying at the surface, dominated by leaf litter, twigs and humus in various stages of decay. Below it the A horizon is mineral topsoil mixed with humus, the B horizon is a zone of illuviation where clay, iron and aluminium accumulate, and the C horizon is weathered parent material.

Question 3Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

A river entering a sea or lake loses velocity and deposits its suspended load, building a fan-shaped plain known as a:

  1. Moraine
  2. Oxbow lake
  3. Delta Correct answer.
  4. Levee

Explanation

Where a river reaches standing water its velocity falls abruptly, so the finer load settles out and builds a delta that progrades into the basin. Deltas are typically distributary networks with topset, foreset and bottomset beds, as seen where the Brahmaputra and its distributaries enter the Bay of Bengal.

Question 4Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

An air parcel at sea level has a temperature of 25°C. Assuming the normal environmental lapse rate of 6.5°C per kilometre, its temperature at an altitude of 3 km would be about:

  1. 12.0°C
  2. 5.5°C Correct answer.
  3. 8.5°C
  4. 19.5°C

Explanation

The environmental lapse rate gives a fall of 6.5°C for every kilometre of ascent, so over three kilometres the temperature drops by 6.5 × 3 = 19.5°C. Subtracting this from the sea-level value of 25°C leaves 5.5°C. The figure 19.5°C is the total cooling, not the final temperature.

Question 5Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

Because of the Coriolis effect, a freely moving air mass in the Southern Hemisphere is deflected:

  1. to its left, whatever the direction of motion Correct answer.
  2. vertically upward, forming a low-pressure core
  3. towards the equator along the pressure gradient
  4. to its right, whatever the direction of motion

Explanation

The Coriolis force arises from the rotation of the Earth and deflects moving air to the left of its path in the Southern Hemisphere and to the right in the Northern Hemisphere. It is zero at the equator and increases with latitude and wind speed, and it alters direction only, never speed.

Question 6Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

A dendritic drainage pattern typically develops where the underlying rock is:

  1. a single conical volcanic cone
  2. uniformly resistant and structurally undisturbed Correct answer.
  3. folded into parallel ridges of hard and soft strata
  4. limestone with a dense network of solution channels

Explanation

A dendritic pattern resembles a branching tree and forms on rocks of uniform resistance with no dominant structural control, so tributaries join the main stream at all angles. Where structure dominates, other patterns appear, such as trellis on folded strata, radial on a cone and karstic on intensely jointed limestone.

Question 7Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

Water rises to the surface without pumping in an artesian well because the:

  1. well is drilled into an impermeable clay layer
  2. pumping has lowered the cone of depression around the borehole
  3. confined aquifer is recharged in an area higher than the well head Correct answer.
  4. aquifer is unconfined and lies above the local water table

Explanation

An artesian well taps a confined aquifer whose recharge area lies at a higher elevation, so the potentiometric surface stands above the ground at the well site and water flows out under its own pressure. The aquifer must be sandwiched between impermeable layers and be inclined so that recharge can occur updip.

Question 8Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

Laterite soils, found on hill slopes in parts of Assam, are generally poor for agriculture chiefly because they:

  1. form under arid conditions where evaporation exceeds rainfall
  2. contain excessive calcium carbonate and are strongly alkaline
  3. consist of coarse sand with almost no clay or iron
  4. are rich in iron oxides but leached of nitrogen and humus Correct answer.

Explanation

Laterites develop under hot, wet conditions where intense leaching removes silica, bases and nitrogen while iron and aluminium oxides are left behind, giving a hard, reddish, acidic and infertile material. They need heavy manuring and irrigation before they can be cropped, and they harden irreversibly on exposure.

Question 9Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

The abrupt onset of the southwest monsoon over Assam around the first week of June is best explained by:

  1. northward migration of the ITCZ with a strong cross-equatorial jet Correct answer.
  2. eastward passage of a western disturbance along the Brahmaputra valley
  3. southward shift of the subtropical jet and expansion of the Siberian high
  4. weakening of the Mascarene high and reduced evaporation over the Arabian Sea

Explanation

During late May and early June the Intertropical Convergence Zone moves north over the Gangetic plain, the Tibetan plateau heats strongly, and the low-level cross-equatorial jet (the Somali jet) strengthens, drawing moist maritime air inland. The resulting burst of monsoon current reaches northeast India and produces the sudden onset of heavy rain over Assam.

Question 10Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

Which statement about seismic body waves is correct?

  1. S waves travel faster than P waves and reach a seismograph first
  2. S waves are transverse and cannot pass through liquids Correct answer.
  3. Surface waves pass through the Earth's interior and arrive first
  4. P waves are transverse and cannot pass through the outer core

Explanation

S waves are transverse, with particle motion perpendicular to the direction of propagation, and they cannot be transmitted through fluids because these have no rigidity. This is why the outer core, being liquid, blocks S waves beyond about 103° from the epicentre and produces the S-wave shadow zone. P waves are longitudinal and travel through solids, liquids and gases.

Question 11Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

A tabular body of igneous rock that has solidified parallel to the bedding planes of the surrounding sedimentary strata is called a:

  1. laccolith
  2. dyke
  3. sill Correct answer.
  4. batholith

Explanation

A sill is an intrusive sheet injected along bedding planes, so it lies parallel to the strata. A dyke cuts across bedding, a laccolith is dome-shaped and arches the overlying rocks, and a batholith is a huge deep-seated intrusion.

Question 12Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

Among the mineral particles of soil, the size class that retains the greatest amount of water and dissolved nutrients is:

  1. sand
  2. gravel
  3. silt
  4. clay Correct answer.

Explanation

Clay particles are the smallest mineral fraction and have an enormous surface area relative to their mass, giving high water-holding capacity and cation exchange. Sand and gravel are coarse and drain freely, while silt is intermediate between them and clay.

Question 13Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

The line of highest ground that separates the drainage of two adjacent river basins is known as a:

  1. drainage divide Correct answer.
  2. thalweg
  3. confluence
  4. water table

Explanation

A drainage divide runs along the crest between basins, so rainfall on either side flows into different stream systems. A thalweg is the deepest line of a channel, the water table is the upper surface of saturation, and a confluence is a junction of two streams.

Question 14Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

A deep, broad valley with steep sides and a flat floor, commonly formed by mountain glaciers, is best described as:

  1. a gorge
  2. a U-shaped valley Correct answer.
  3. a V-shaped valley
  4. a meander scar

Explanation

Glacial abrasion and plucking widen and deepen a pre-existing valley, producing the characteristic U-shaped cross-profile with steep walls and a broad floor. Rivers tend to cut narrow V-shaped valleys or gorges, and meander scars are floodplain features.

Question 15Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

In the atmosphere, the layer in which temperature rises with increasing altitude because of ozone absorption of ultraviolet radiation is the:

  1. thermosphere
  2. troposphere
  3. mesosphere
  4. stratosphere Correct answer.

Explanation

Ozone concentrated in the stratosphere absorbs ultraviolet radiation and heats this layer, so temperature increases upward. The troposphere generally cools with height, the mesosphere also cools upward, and the thermosphere is heated mainly by absorption of very short-wave radiation.

Question 16Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

A stream whose channel intersects the water table and therefore receives a continuous inflow of groundwater is called a:

  1. intermittent stream
  2. braided stream
  3. gaining stream Correct answer.
  4. losing stream

Explanation

In a gaining stream the water table stands above the channel bed, so groundwater seeps into the channel and sustains base flow. A losing stream lies above the water table and leaks water downward, while an intermittent stream does not flow continuously throughout the year.

Question 17Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

The fertile, frequently renewed soils that dominate the Brahmaputra floodplain in Assam are classified mainly as:

  1. peaty soils
  2. black cotton soils
  3. laterite soils
  4. alluvial soils Correct answer.

Explanation

Repeated deposition of silt and sand by the Brahmaputra and its tributaries produces deep alluvial soils that are renewed almost every flood season. Laterite soils occur on higher hill slopes, black cotton soils are typical of the Deccan lava region, and peaty soils form in waterlogged organic-rich sites.

Question 18Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

A waterfall is most likely to develop where a river flows from:

  1. a wide valley into a narrow valley
  2. a meandering reach into a straight reach
  3. one uniform rock type into another of the same resistance
  4. a resistant band onto softer rock Correct answer.

Explanation

Differential erosion is the key; the resistant layer forms a steep step while the softer rock downstream is worn back, creating a fall. Uniform rock resistance or a simple change in valley width does not by itself produce the abrupt vertical drop.

Question 19Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

Tropical cyclones rarely form within about 5° of the equator mainly because there:

  1. the Coriolis force is too weak to spin the vortex Correct answer.
  2. the tropopause is too high for strong convection
  3. subsidence from the subtropical high is too intense
  4. sea surface temperatures are too low throughout the year

Explanation

A tropical cyclone needs low-level convergence to acquire rotation; within a few degrees of the equator the Coriolis parameter is near zero, so the vortex cannot spin up. Warm seas, a high tropopause, and weak shear favour such storms elsewhere, so these do not explain the equatorial gap.

Question 20Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

A sharp break in the longitudinal profile of a river, often marked by rapids or a waterfall, most commonly records:

  1. a former point of sediment deposition in a delta
  2. the maximum depth of the channel at bankfull stage
  3. a fall in base level or a resistant rock band Correct answer.
  4. the boundary between the zone of aeration and saturation

Explanation

A knickpoint marks a local steepening where the river has not yet smoothed its profile; rejuvenation after a base-level fall or crossing resistant rock produces such a step. It migrates upstream by erosion until the profile regains a graded form.

Question 21Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

At a convergent boundary where an oceanic plate descends beneath another oceanic plate, the resulting paired landform features are a:

  1. mid-ocean ridge and a rift valley
  2. continental shelf and a passive margin
  3. deep-sea trench and a volcanic island arc Correct answer.
  4. transform fault and a linear seamount chain

Explanation

At an ocean–ocean convergent boundary, one plate subducts beneath the other, producing a deep-sea trench. Water released from the descending slab lowers the mantle melting point, generating magma that rises to form a volcanic island arc parallel to the trench.

Question 22Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

Which instrument uses a pair of matched thermometers, one with a dry bulb and one with a wet bulb, to determine relative humidity?

  1. Psychrometer Correct answer.
  2. Aneroid barometer
  3. Cup anemometer
  4. Tipping-bucket rain gauge

Explanation

A psychrometer consists of a dry-bulb thermometer and a wet-bulb thermometer; evaporation from the wet bulb lowers its reading, and the temperature difference gives relative humidity. Barometers measure atmospheric pressure, anemometers measure wind speed, and rain gauges measure precipitation.

Question 23Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

The ratio of direct surface runoff to total rainfall in a catchment, usually expressed as a percentage, is called the:

  1. base flow index
  2. runoff coefficient Correct answer.
  3. infiltration capacity
  4. field capacity

Explanation

The runoff coefficient is the fraction of rainfall that appears as direct surface runoff, often expressed as a percentage; it reflects catchment characteristics such as slope, soil, and land cover. Infiltration capacity is the maximum rate at which soil absorbs water, field capacity is water retained after drainage, and base flow index describes groundwater contribution.

Question 24Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

The accumulation of soluble salts in the upper horizons of soils in arid and semi-arid regions, often producing a white surface crust, is known as:

  1. Salinization Correct answer.
  2. Laterization
  3. Gleization
  4. Podzolization

Explanation

Salinization occurs in arid and semi-arid regions where evaporation exceeds precipitation, so soluble salts are drawn upward and accumulate near the surface, often as a white crust. Podzolization, laterization and gleization are different soil-forming processes associated with cool humid, tropical humid and waterlogged conditions respectively.

Question 25Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

A sea cave eroded completely through a headland so that it opens at both ends is best described as a:

  1. sea arch Correct answer.
  2. blowhole
  3. wave-cut platform
  4. sea stack

Explanation

A sea arch forms when wave erosion extends a cave through a headland so that it opens on both sides. Continued erosion may collapse the arch to leave a sea stack, while a blowhole is a vertical vent from a cave to the cliff top and a wave-cut platform is the flat rock shelf left at the base of a retreating cliff.

Question 26Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

The leeward side of a mountain range often experiences arid conditions mainly because the air there is:

  1. descending and warming, reducing relative humidity Correct answer.
  2. forced to rise and cool, increasing condensation
  3. deflected by the Coriolis force and becomes stationary
  4. cooled by contact with a cold ocean current

Explanation

When moist air is forced over a mountain range, it cools and condenses on the windward side. On the leeward side the air descends, warms adiabatically, and its relative humidity falls, producing a rain shadow with arid conditions.

Question 27Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

On a storm hydrograph, lag time is measured from the:

  1. peak of rainfall to the peak of discharge Correct answer.
  2. start of rainfall to the start of rising limb
  3. peak discharge to the end of recession
  4. beginning of base flow to the storm peak

Explanation

Lag time is the delay between the peak of rainfall and the peak of stream discharge in a storm hydrograph. A short lag time indicates rapid runoff, often due to impermeable surfaces, steep slopes or poor vegetation cover.

Question 28Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

Which soil conservation measure is most appropriate on steep cultivated hill slopes in Assam to reduce sheet erosion?

  1. Burning crop residues before sowing
  2. Continuous monoculture of row crops
  3. Contour bunding along the slope Correct answer.
  4. Deep ploughing directly down the slope

Explanation

Contour bunding follows the slope's contours, slowing surface runoff and increasing infiltration, which reduces sheet erosion on steep cultivated land. Ploughing downslope, burning residues and continuous monoculture all expose soil or weaken structure and therefore accelerate erosion.

Question 29Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

The Walker circulation is an east–west atmospheric overturning cell that is centred over the:

  1. subtropical North Atlantic Ocean
  2. tropical Pacific Ocean Correct answer.
  3. northern Indian Ocean
  4. circumpolar Southern Ocean

Explanation

The Walker circulation is an east–west overturning cell in the tropical Pacific, with rising air over the warm western Pacific and sinking air over the cooler eastern Pacific. Its fluctuations are linked to El Niño and La Niña.

Question 30Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

In fluvial geomorphology, base level is best defined as the:

  1. lowest level to which a stream can erode its bed Correct answer.
  2. average discharge of a stream during the dry season
  3. upper limit of groundwater recharge in a drainage basin
  4. gradient at which sediment transport begins

Explanation

Base level is the lowest level to which a stream can erode its bed. Sea level is the ultimate base level, while a lake, resistant rock band or the floor of a larger valley can act as a temporary local base level.

Question 31Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

Marble is a metamorphic rock that forms mainly from the metamorphism of which parent rock?

  1. limestone Correct answer.
  2. basalt
  3. granite
  4. shale

Explanation

Marble is a non-foliated metamorphic rock composed mainly of recrystallized calcite. It forms when limestone is subjected to heat and pressure, so limestone is the parent rock.

Question 32Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

In a limestone karst region, a funnel-shaped depression formed by solution along joints is called:

  1. a drumlin
  2. a sinkhole Correct answer.
  3. a yardang
  4. an esker

Explanation

A sinkhole is a solutional depression in limestone, formed where acidic water enlarges joints by dissolving calcium carbonate. Yardangs are wind-eroded desert ridges, whereas drumlins and eskers are glacial landforms.

Question 33Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

The temperature to which a parcel of air must be cooled at constant pressure for it to become saturated is called:

  1. the wet-bulb temperature
  2. the dew point temperature Correct answer.
  3. the environmental lapse rate
  4. the dry-bulb temperature

Explanation

The dew point is the temperature at which air reaches saturation for a given moisture content and pressure. Cooling below the dew point leads to condensation, cloud formation, or dew.

Question 34Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

At a transform plate boundary, such as the San Andreas Fault, the dominant tectonic process is:

  1. sea-floor spreading at a mid-oceanic ridge
  2. subduction of oceanic lithosphere beneath a continental plate
  3. lateral shearing as two plates slide past each other Correct answer.
  4. upwelling of mantle material at a hotspot

Explanation

At a transform boundary, lithospheric plates move horizontally past each other, producing strike-slip faulting and shallow earthquakes. Subduction, sea-floor spreading, and hotspots occur at convergent, divergent, and intraplate settings respectively.

Question 35Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

An oxbow lake forms when:

  1. a river deposits coarse sediment at its mouth to build a delta
  2. a waterfall retreats upstream by undercutting resistant rock
  3. a meander loop is severed from the main channel at a neck cutoff Correct answer.
  4. a kettle depression is left by a melting block of glacial ice

Explanation

An oxbow lake is a crescent-shaped body of water left when a river cuts through the narrow neck of a meander. The old loop is abandoned as the main channel takes the shorter, straighter course.

Question 36Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

For an artesian well to flow without pumping, the well must tap:

  1. fractured granite with no recharge area and a falling water table
  2. a confined aquifer with a potentiometric surface above the well head Correct answer.
  3. an unconfined aquifer whose water table lies below the well head
  4. a sealed aquifer with impermeable layers and no stored water

Explanation

An artesian well flows naturally when it penetrates a confined aquifer whose potentiometric surface stands higher than the well head. The pressure in the confined aquifer drives water upward to that level.

Question 37Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

In a well-developed soil profile, the horizon that commonly shows maximum accumulation of illuvial clay, iron oxides, or aluminium oxides is the:

  1. A horizon
  2. C horizon
  3. B horizon Correct answer.
  4. O horizon

Explanation

The B horizon is a zone of illuviation, where clay, iron oxides, aluminium oxides, and other materials washed down from overlying horizons accumulate. The O horizon is organic litter, the A horizon is the surface mineral layer, and the C horizon is weathered parent material.

Question 38Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

The heavy summer rainfall at Cherrapunji and Mawsynram in Meghalaya is chiefly explained by:

  1. a rain shadow produced by the high Himalaya to the north
  2. convection within the ITCZ without any orographic lifting of moist air
  3. forced ascent of the Bay of Bengal branch over the Khasi Hills Correct answer.
  4. the descending limb of the Walker circulation over the Indian Ocean

Explanation

The Bay of Bengal branch of the summer monsoon carries moist air northward and is forced to rise over the Khasi Hills. This orographic lifting produces intense relief rainfall at Cherrapunji and Mawsynram.

Question 39Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

Urbanization of a catchment typically changes its storm hydrograph in which way?

  1. Higher peak discharge and a shorter lag time Correct answer.
  2. Lower peak discharge and a longer lag time
  3. Higher peak discharge and a longer lag time
  4. Lower peak discharge and a shorter lag time

Explanation

Urbanization replaces vegetation and soil with impervious surfaces and drains, so rainfall reaches stream channels faster. This raises the peak discharge and shortens the lag time between rainfall and peak flow.

Question 40Physical Geography: Geomorphology, Climatology, Hydrology and Soils

A hanging valley is best explained as:

  1. a tributary trough whose floor lies above the main glacial trough Correct answer.
  2. a river valley buried beneath a large landslide dam
  3. a wind-scoured rock depression on a high desert plateau
  4. a drowned river valley produced by a postglacial rise in base level

Explanation

A hanging valley is a tributary glacial trough that joins a deeper main trough high above its floor. The main glacier eroded more deeply, leaving the tributary valley floor suspended above the main valley.

Question 41Human Geography: Population, Settlement and Economic Activities

In the demographic transition model, which stage is described as the high stationary stage, where birth and death rates are both high and the population stays nearly constant?

  1. Stage II (high birth rate, falling death rate)
  2. Stage III (falling birth rate, low death rate)
  3. Stage I (high birth rate, high death rate) Correct answer.
  4. Stage IV (low birth rate, low death rate)

Explanation

Stage I is the high stationary stage: birth rates and death rates are both high, so natural increase is negligible and the total population rises and falls with famines, epidemics and floods. Rapid growth belongs to Stage II, where death rates fall while birth rates stay high, and growth slows again in Stage III as births decline.

Question 42Human Geography: Population, Settlement and Economic Activities

Which of the following is an example of a quaternary economic activity?

  1. Jute milling in a riverside mill town
  2. Retail sale of cloth in a weekly village market
  3. Fishing in the Brahmaputra
  4. Research and software design in a knowledge park Correct answer.

Explanation

Quaternary activities involve the creation, processing and transmission of information and knowledge, such as research, consultancy, education and software design. They are separated from primary extraction, secondary manufacturing and tertiary services, which handle goods and routine services rather than specialised knowledge.

Question 43Human Geography: Population, Settlement and Economic Activities

A village whose houses are strung out in one continuous row along a road, canal or river levee is an example of

  1. a rectangular settlement
  2. a dispersed settlement
  3. a linear settlement Correct answer.
  4. a circular settlement

Explanation

Linear settlements develop where building is confined to a single line, usually a road, canal, railway or a raised levee ridge. In the Brahmaputra floodplain, villages often follow the natural levees in this way because only the higher ridges escape annual flooding.

Question 44Human Geography: Population, Settlement and Economic Activities

A district has a total population of 9,00,000, a total area of 3,000 square kilometres and a net sown area of 1,500 square kilometres. Its physiological density is

  1. 600 persons per square kilometre Correct answer.
  2. 150 persons per square kilometre
  3. 450 persons per square kilometre
  4. 300 persons per square kilometre

Explanation

Physiological density divides the population by the cultivated land area rather than by the total area, so it measures the pressure of people on farmland. Here 9,00,000 divided by 1,500 square kilometres gives 600 persons per square kilometre of net sown area.

Question 45Human Geography: Population, Settlement and Economic Activities

Which of the following is a push factor behind rural-to-urban migration in Assam?

  1. Higher daily wages in urban construction work
  2. Improved hospitals and specialist doctors in the city
  3. Better colleges and universities available in the city
  4. Repeated flood and bank erosion destroying village homes and farmland Correct answer.

Explanation

Push factors are adverse conditions at the place of origin that compel people to leave, such as floods, riverbank erosion, crop failure or land scarcity. Pull factors are the attractions of the destination, which draw migrants towards jobs, education and health facilities.

Question 46Human Geography: Population, Settlement and Economic Activities

Sugar mills are located close to sugarcane fields mainly because

  1. cane is bulky and loses weight and sucrose in transit, so it is crushed near the fields Correct answer.
  2. the industry needs cheap hydro-electricity found only in rural areas
  3. refined sugar is heavier than sugarcane, so the industry is market-oriented
  4. sugar is highly perishable and must be sold within a day of production

Explanation

Sugar manufacture is a weight-losing, or bulk-reducing, industry: the raw material is far heavier and bulkier than the finished product, and cut cane loses sucrose quickly. Crushing it near the fields therefore saves transport cost and preserves quality, which is why mills cluster in cane-growing tracts.

Question 47Human Geography: Population, Settlement and Economic Activities

In a country the largest city has 12 million people and the second largest has 3 million. Judged against the rank-size rule, this urban system

  1. forms a well-balanced urban hierarchy
  2. conforms closely to the rank-size rule
  3. shows no recognisable urban hierarchy
  4. is strongly primate, the largest city dwarfing the second Correct answer.

Explanation

The rank-size rule predicts that the second city should have about half the population of the largest, that is roughly 6 million here. An actual figure of 3 million is far below this expectation, so the largest city dominates the system, which is the defining feature of primacy.

Question 48Human Geography: Population, Settlement and Economic Activities

A country's population has 30 per cent below 15 years of age, 60 per cent between 15 and 64 years and 10 per cent aged 65 and above. Its dependency ratio is about

  1. 40 dependants per 100 persons of working age
  2. 50 dependants per 100 persons of working age
  3. 17 dependants per 100 persons of working age
  4. 67 dependants per 100 persons of working age Correct answer.

Explanation

The dependency ratio divides the population outside the working ages (under 15 plus 65 and over) by the working-age population, then multiplies by 100. Here (30 + 10) divided by 60 gives about 0.67, that is roughly 67 dependants for every 100 persons aged 15 to 64.

Question 49Human Geography: Population, Settlement and Economic Activities

The Human Development Index combines achievement in which set of dimensions?

  1. Birth rate, death rate and rate of natural increase
  2. Gross domestic product, inflation and unemployment
  3. Literacy, share of urban population and road length
  4. Life expectancy at birth, schooling, and gross national income per capita Correct answer.

Explanation

The Human Development Index measures average achievement in three basic dimensions: a long and healthy life, measured by life expectancy at birth; knowledge, measured by mean and expected years of schooling; and a decent standard of living, measured by gross national income per capita at purchasing power parity.

Question 50Human Geography: Population, Settlement and Economic Activities

Nucleated or compact villages are most likely to develop in areas where

  1. farm plots are so scarce that each family must live on its own land
  2. flat fertile plains let many households cluster and farm the surrounding fields Correct answer.
  3. the terrain is rugged and every family needs a large isolated holding
  4. people practise transhumance and move with their herds each season

Explanation

Nucleated settlements form where flat, fertile land and dependable water allow many households to live together in one cluster and cultivate the fields around it; security and defence needs can reinforce the pattern. Dispersed settlement, by contrast, accompanies isolated farmsteads, rugged terrain or very scattered plots.