Europe’s population will remain relatively stable between 1996 and 2025

3 India’s population will triple between 1996 and 2025.

Base your answers to questions 42 and 43 on the cartogram

below and on your knowledge of social studies.
42 A cartogram provides useful information because

it can accurately represent

(1) the actual size of various nations

(2) the topography of an area

(4) trade and travel routes

nations has the smallest population?

(2) Mexico (4) Argentina

Base your answers to questions 37 and 38 on the

graph below and on your knowledge of social studies.
37 The graph shows that between 1950 and 2000 the

world’s population increased by approximately

(1) 1 billion (3) 6 billion

(2) 4 billion (4) 8 billion
38 What is one explanation for the great change in

the world population between 1950 and 2000?

(1) Family planning was successful.

(2) There was an absence of war and conflict.

(4) Famine and other natural disasters increased.

Base your answer to question 46 on the graph below and on your knowledge of social studies.

46 Which statement can be supported by the information in the graph?

(1) The population of the world remained the same from A.D. 1 to A.D.

1650.

from 1000 to 1500.

(3) The population growth rate decreased during the period from 1650

to 1800.

36 A negative impact of the use of modern technology

is that

1 levels of air and water pollution often increase

2 economic opportunities are frequently limited

3 contacts with other cultures decrease

4 international trade is limited

37 In Latin America, the deforestation of the

Amazon rain forest has led to

1 the maintenance of a traditional way of life

2 the discovery of new medicines

3 overpopulation in rural regions

43 Which environmental issue most concerns Central

Africa, the Amazon River Basin, and the Malay Peninsula?

(1) nuclear contamination (3) overpopulation

(2) desertification (4) deforestation
June 2002

49 • Failure of the potato crop contributes to

• Continued drought overtakes farmlands in Africa.

• Herders search for an oasis for their animals.

Which conclusion can be drawn from these statements?

(1) People can control their environments to suit their needs.

(2) Environmental conditions often cause people to migrate.

(3) Geography has a positive impact on people.

(4) Climatic conditions have led to an even distribution

of population.

42 • Nuclear accident at Chernobyl in the former

Soviet Union

• Dumping of toxic waste in the ocean

• Cutting down the rain forest in Africa and

South America

(2) The fall of the Soviet Union has caused

severe environmental hazards.

(3) Technology has helped the world stop polluting

the environment.

(4) Only nations that create environmental problems

will suffer from them.
Global Problems

Environment

Regents Practice
Jan. 2003

42 During the late 20th century, in which area did

deforestation become a serious problem?

(1) Great European Plain

(3) Deccan Plateau

(4) Great Rift Valley
Jan. 2003

45 The problems created by the deterioration of the

Earth’s ozone layer and increases in the amounts

of acid rain suggest a worldwide need for

(1) rapid industrialization of developing economies

(2) better health-care programs

(3) nuclear-powered electric generating facilities

(4) stricter pollution regulations
June 2003

44 In the 1990s, what was the most severe threat to

the physical environments of Brazil, Costa Rica,

and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire)?

(1) spread of urban centers

(2) nuclear waste disposal

(3) increased immigration

(4) destruction of the rain forests
Jan. 2004

40 The global problems of pollution, acid rain, and

the breakdown of the ozone layer indicate a need

for

(2) increased urbanization

(3) a balance of trade between nations

(4) an increase in space exploration

Base your answer to question 42 on the cartoon

42 The concern expressed in this cartoon is most

closely related to the consequences of

(1) rapid migration of animals to the Northern Hemisphere

(2) further exploration of the Arctic Ocean

(3) industrialization and the burning of fossil fuels

(4) slow economic growth in developing nations

40 Deforestation, acid rain, and the greenhouse

effect are major world problems that indicate a

need for

(2) the development of mass transit systems in

developing nations

(3) an increase in the worldwide production of oil

(4) a reduction in crop production in some areas

of the world

41 • Chernobyl experiences nuclear disaster.

• Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) deplete the ozone layer.

• Rivers and seas are polluted throughout the world.

(2) Today’s environment renews itself.

(3) Only developing nations have environmental problems.

(4) Most environmental problems originate in Europe.

39 How do some Latin American governments

justify the destruction of the rain forests?

(1) Cattle raising, farming, and mining in the rain

forest will help the economy.

(2) Manufacturers no longer use the latex

produced by the trees of the rain forest.

(3) People who live in the rain forest are moving to the cities.

(4) Drug trafficking will decrease when the

protection of the rain forests is gone.

Aug. 2006

Base your answer to question 38 on the diagram

below and on your knowledge of social studies.
38 Which conclusion based on the ecological cycle

shown in this diagram is most valid?

(1) Grain yields increase as the amount of land

reclaimed increases.

(3) Grain production has no impact on the

environment.

(4) Natural disasters have little effect on grain

production.

Aug. 2006

39 ● Egypt builds the Aswan Dam to control

flooding and produce hydroelectric power.

● China builds the Three Gorges Dam to control

flooding and improve trade.

● Brazil builds the Tucuruí Dam in the tropical

rain forest to produce hydroelectric power.
Which conclusion can be drawn from these

statements?

(2) Monsoons are needed for the development of

societies.

(3) Topography creates challenges that societies

are unable to overcome.

(4) Land features influence the development of

diverse belief systems.
Global Problems

Human Rights

Regents Practice
Aug. 2000

34 What would a study of the recent civil wars in

Cambodia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Rwanda

show about these conflicts?

1 Ethnic conflict was not a factor in the late 20th

century.

these disputes.

4 Civilians were not affected by these disputes.

47 One way in which Maximilien Robespierre,

Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, and Saddam Hussein

are similar is that these leaders all

2 followed the teachings of Karl Marx

3 supported the ideals of the European Enlightenment

4 obtained their goals through the use of passive resistance

38 Which term is often used to describe the actions

of Adolf Hitler in Germany and Pol Pot in

Cambodia?

(1) nonalignment

(2) neocolonialism

(3) scorched-earth policy

(4) genocide
Jan. 2002

42 One way in which the partition of India in 1947

and the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1992 are similar

is that after each event

(1) stable democratic governments were established

(2) problems arose between ethnic and religious groups

(3) economic prosperity produced high standards

of living

(4) traditional beliefs were abandoned for

Western ideas
June 2002

45 In the 1990s, the troubled relations between

Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland

and between Serbs, Croats, and Muslims in the

Balkans helped illustrate the

(1) difficulties of resolving ethnic and religious conflicts

(2) inequalities created by expanding free markets

and global trade

(3) conflict created by the collapse of the Warsaw Pact

(4) results of the failure of dictatorial governments

Global Problems

Human Rights

Regents Practice
Jan. 2003

47 Which title best completes this partial outline?

(2) Causes of Industrialization

(3) Reasons for Colonialism

(4) Reasons for Cultural Borrowing

Base your answers to questions 47 and 48 on the excerpt below and on your knowledge of social studies.

treatment or punishment. . . .

includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. . . .

— The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
47 In which time period of Western history did thinkers first express these ideas in written

form?

(2) Reformation (4) Middle Ages

(1) Anwar Sadat and Charles DeGaulle

(2) Corazon Aquino and Margaret Thatcher

(3) Jawaharlal Nehru and Reza Pahlavi

25 Since the late 1940s, Northern Ireland, India, and

Israel have all faced which common problem?

(1) the need to adjust to a post-communist

political system

(2) continued violent confrontations between

different religious groups

(3) economic depression that resulted from rapid

industrialization

(4) overpopulation of urban centers

31 Pol Pot, Joseph Stalin, and Slobodan Milosevic were

similar in that each leader supported actions that

(1) modernized their economies

(2) introduced democratic ideas

(3) supported minority rights

36 “Women of Kuwait Demand the Right to Vote”

“Property Inheritance Still Limited for Women of

Nepal”

“Women in Jordan Form Alliance to Increase

(2) Women are not active in political issues.

(3) Women have achieved equality in the area of

education.

(4) Communist governments have insured equal

rights for women.

33 During World War I, which group of people were

victims of genocide?

(1) Arabs in Egypt

(2) Palestinians in Syria

(3) Algerians in France

41 • The people of Kashmir demand separation

from India.

• The people of East Timor vote for

independence from Indonesia.

• The Tibetans resent control of their country by

China.

• The Kurds want to establish their own

different peoples to achieve

(1) free-market systems

(2) democratic governments

(3) social equality

(4) self-determination

Global Problems

Human Rights

Regents Practice
June 2004

43 The late 20th-century conflicts in Rwanda,

Yugoslavia, and India were similar in that each

was caused by the

(1) deforestation conducted by multinational companies

(2) collapse of communism

(3) intervention of United Nations peacekeeping forces

(4) rivalries between ethnic groups
Aug. 2004

Base your answer to question 50 on the statements below and on your knowledge of social studies.

— Universal Declaration of Human Rights, United Nations, 1948

— Kevin Bales, Disposable People, University of California Press, 1999

(1) All governments have taken active steps to end slavery.

(2) The United Nations has solved the problem of slavery.

(3) The number of enslaved persons has increased dramatically since 1948.

38 In the late 20th century, what was a problem

common to the Balkans, Rwanda, and Indonesia?

(1) disposal of nuclear waste

(3) drought and famine

(4) overcrowding of urban centers
Jan. 2005

50 Conflicts between Hutu and Tutsi, Ottoman

Turks and Armenians, and Soviets and Ukrainian

kulaks all resulted in

(1) establishment of new governments

(2) international intervention

(4) cultural interdependence

34 The Armenian massacre, the Holocaust, and the

Rape of Nanking are examples of

(1) appeasement policies

(2) resistance movements

(3) Russification efforts

42 The treatment of the Armenians by Ottoman

Turks in the late 19th and early 20th centuries

and the treatment of Muslims by the Serbs of

Yugoslavia in the 1990s are both examples of

(1) coalition rule

(2) liberation theology

(3) universal suffrage

48 During the 20th century, global attention was

drawn to the Armenians of the Ottoman Empire,

the Tutsis of Rwanda, and the Muslims of Kosovo

because these groups were all victims of

(1) nuclear power accidents

(3) environmental disasters

(4) the AIDS epidemic
Aug. 2006

45 The Armenian Massacre, the “killing fields” of

the Khmer Rouge, and Saddam Hussein’s attacks

against the Kurds are examples of

(1) apartheid

(2) enslavement

(4) forced collectivization

38 “‘We Blew It’: Nike Admits to Mistakes Over Child Labor”

“UN Envoy Makes Plea for War on Global Poverty”

“International Literacy Decade Targets Women”

(1) higher education issues

(3) cultural literacy

(4) individual responsibility
Jan. 2007

49 Which pair of leaders used political purges,

including the killing of opposition groups, as a

means of maintaining control of the government?

(1) Sun Yixian (Sun Yat-sen) and Emperor Hirohito

(2) Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong

(3) Simón Bolívar and Bernardo O’Higgins

Jan. 2001

Base your answers to questions 43 and 44 on the

cartoon below and on your knowledge of social studies.
43 Which group is represented by the skulls in this

1996 cartoon?

1 Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during World War I

2 dissidents in the Soviet Union during the 1930’s

3 anti-Maoists in China during the 1960’s