These eight questions use original, fictional data. They follow the lessons in economic activity and environmental evidence, and they ramp from reading a figure to writing a conclusion.
Write your own answer first, then open the explanation.
Questions
Question 1: Dust deposit (mg per m² per day) is measured at five sites on a road beside a fictional cement works. The readings at 100 m, 300 m, 500 m, 700 m and 900 m are 42, 35, 28, 21 and 14. State the pattern with figures and find the mean.
Answer
Dust falls as distance from the works increases, from 42 at 100 m to 14 at 900 m, a drop of 28. It falls by 7 for every 200 m.
Mean = (42 + 35 + 28 + 21 + 14) ÷ 5 = 140 ÷ 5 = 28 mg per m² per day.
Question 2: Does Question 1 prove that the cement works causes the dust? Give one reason and one piece of evidence that would help.
Answer
No, it shows a link only. The readings are one road on one occasion, and a busy road junction close to the works could also raise dust at the first sites.
Helpful evidence: readings on a road the works does not face, or readings on days when the works is closed.
Question 3: A report says: “The harbour expansion caused seagrass cover to fall from 40% to 26%.” A storm hit the coast between the two surveys. Work out the fall and rewrite the claim.
Answer
The fall is 40 − 26 = 14 percentage points, which is 14 ÷ 40 = 35% of the original cover.
Rewrite: “Seagrass cover fell from 40% to 26% after the harbour expansion, but a storm also occurred between the surveys, so the fall cannot be attributed to the expansion alone.”
Question 4: A fictional resort employs 80 staff on a total payroll of RM192 000 a month. The beach in front of it narrowed from 30 m to 24 m. Calculate the average monthly pay and the percentage narrowing.
Answer
Average pay = RM192 000 ÷ 80 = RM2 400 a month.
The beach narrowed by 30 − 24 = 6 m, and 6 ÷ 30 = 20%.
Question 5: For Question 4, which evidence would best help decide whether the resort caused the narrowing: (a) the number of tourists, (b) beach width at a nearby beach with no resort, (c) the resort’s room prices?
Answer
Option (b). A nearby beach with no resort acts as a comparison. If it narrowed by a similar amount, the cause is more likely a wider process such as waves or sea level, not the resort.
Options (a) and (c) describe the resort’s business and do not test the cause of the narrowing.
Question 6: A fictional fish-cage farm pays RM720 000 a year to 30 workers. Oxygen in the water under the cages is 4.1 mg per litre, compared with 6.0 mg per litre at a reference site 1 km away. Write a balanced three-sentence conclusion.
Answer
Average wage = RM720 000 ÷ 30 = RM24 000. The oxygen gap is 6.0 − 4.1 = 1.9 mg per litre.
Model answer: “The farm gives a confirmed benefit, paying RM720 000 a year to 30 workers. Oxygen under the cages is 1.9 mg per litre lower than at the reference site, which is consistent with a cost to the water. Because only one reference site and one reading are given, the benefit is better supported than the cost.”
Question 7: Four districts are compared. Districts P, Q, R and S have 2, 5, 8 and 11 factories and river pollution scores of 3, 6, 9 and 10. Their populations are 20 000, 55 000, 90 000 and 120 000. Explain why the factories cannot be named as the cause.
Answer
Pollution rises with the number of factories, so the two are linked. Population rises in the same order, so household sewage and waste could also explain the scores.
Evidence needed: pollution scores for districts with equal populations but different numbers of factories.
Question 8: A fictional mill has 240 workers, of whom 150 live in the town beside it. Calculate the local share and say what it does and does not show.
Answer
Local share = 150 ÷ 240 = 62.5%.
It shows that most jobs go to town residents. It does not show how well the jobs pay, how long they last or whether the mill affects the town’s river, so it is one piece of evidence only.
If you got these wrong
Questions 1 to 3 and 7 test correlation and proven cause. Questions 4, 5 and 8 connect to connecting an activity to an observed environmental change cautiously. Question 6 tests writing a balanced conclusion.
Build a timed set with the timed original practice session builder, and log slips in the mistake log. To go through your errors with a teacher, see online one-to-one Geography tuition.