These ten questions cover sectors, location choice, demand and supply, production networks and trade-offs. All data are invented for practice and labelled as such.
They run from easier to harder. Write your answer and your reason before you open the working.
Questions
1. Classify each activity as primary, secondary, tertiary or quaternary: (a) a crew catches fish; (b) a plant cans the fish; (c) a shop sells the cans; (d) a team designs new recyclable packaging.
Show answer
(a) Primary: takes a resource from nature. (b) Secondary: changes the fish into a product. (c) Tertiary: a retail service. (d) Quaternary: the output is a design, which is knowledge.
2. A sawmill stands beside a forest in the countryside. A student calls it primary. Explain the error.
Show answer
The student used location. A sawmill cuts logs into planks, so it changes a raw material into a product, which is secondary. Felling the trees would be primary.
3. An invented town has 80 000 workers: primary 12 000, secondary 20 000, tertiary 44 000, quaternary 4 000. Find the percentage in each sector.
Show answer
12 000 ÷ 80 000 = 15%. 20 000 ÷ 80 000 = 25%. 44 000 ÷ 80 000 = 55%. 4 000 ÷ 80 000 = 5%. Total: 15 + 25 + 55 + 5 = 100%, which checks.
4. Factory X is 30 km from its market and Factory Y is 45 km. Transport costs RM0.40 per tonne per kilometre, and each sends 5 000 tonnes a year. Find the yearly transport cost for each and the difference.
Show answer
X: 30 × 0.40 = RM12 per tonne, × 5 000 = RM60 000. Y: 45 × 0.40 = RM18 per tonne, × 5 000 = RM90 000. Difference: 90 000 − 60 000 = RM30 000 a year.
5. A resource shows a farm is 3 km from a river and 40 km from the nearest town. Write two Factor, evidence, effect sentences explaining why the site suits a market garden.
Show answer
“The farm is 3 km from the river (evidence), so irrigation water can be pumped a short distance (effect), which keeps running costs low (link).” “The nearest town is 40 km away (evidence), so a market exists within a one-day delivery, although transport costs will matter (effect and a limit).”
6. An invented region has electricity supply of 800 GWh and demand of 920 GWh in a year. State the result and give it as a percentage of supply.
Show answer
920 − 800 = 120 GWh, a deficit. 120 ÷ 800 = 0.15, so 15% of supply.
7. An invented area has food supply of 1 250 tonnes and demand of 1 000 tonnes. Give the surplus as a percentage of demand, then as a percentage of supply.
Show answer
Surplus = 250 tonnes. As a percentage of demand: 250 ÷ 1 000 = 25%. As a percentage of supply: 250 ÷ 1 250 = 20%. The base changes the figure, so always state it.
8. A text says: “Tin is mined in Region E and sent to a smelter in Region F. The metal is made into cans.” Complete a table of stage, role, place and link. What must be marked “not stated”?
Show answer
Mining: primary, Region E, sent. Smelting: secondary, Region F, link not stated. Making cans: secondary, place not stated. The route and the distance between E and F are also not stated.
9. Two options are scored 1 to 5 on three criteria. Weights: cost 2, jobs 3, environment 2. Option P scores cost 4, jobs 3, environment 2. Option Q scores cost 3, jobs 4, environment 4. Find the weighted scores and say which option leads.
Show answer
P: (4 × 2) + (3 × 3) + (2 × 2) = 8 + 9 + 4 = 21. Q: (3 × 2) + (4 × 3) + (4 × 2) = 6 + 12 + 8 = 26. Q leads by 5.
10. In Question 9, the weights change to cost 5, jobs 1, environment 2. Recalculate. What does the result tell you about the decision?
Show answer
P: (4 × 5) + (3 × 1) + (2 × 2) = 20 + 3 + 4 = 27. Q: (3 × 5) + (4 × 1) + (4 × 2) = 15 + 4 + 8 = 27. The options tie. The result depends on the weights, so the discussion needs another supplied criterion or a judgement about which criterion matters most.
If you got these wrong
- Questions 1 and 2, wrong label or reason: revisit classifying a stated activity by role.
- Questions 3 and 4, percentage or cost slips: see explaining a location choice using evidence for the transport cost method.
- Question 5, factor without evidence: use the Factor, evidence, effect pattern in explaining a location choice.
- Questions 6 and 7, surplus, deficit or base errors: go to comparing resource demand and supply.
- Question 8, invented details: read tracing a production network without inventing data.
- Questions 9 and 10, weighted scores and tied results: work through discussing a trade-off using supplied criteria.
Log each slip in the mistake log and retest queue, and use the statistics and distribution explorer to check percentage work. Return to the module guide for the study order, or see our online one-to-one Geography tuition for help with written answers.