Geography: CUET Mock Test - 3 - Humanities/Arts MCQ

The level of groundwater utilisation is relatively high in the river basins lying in north-western region and parts of south India. The groundwater utilisation is very high in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu. However, there are States like Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Kerala, etc., which utilise only a small proportion of their groundwater potentials. States like Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Tripura and Maharashtra are utilising their groundwater resources at a moderate rate.

India has a vast coastline and the coast is very indented in some states. Due to this, a number of lagoons and lakes have formed. The States like Kerala, Odisha and West Bengal have vast surface water resources in these lagoons and lakes. Although, water is generally brackish in these water bodies, it is used for fishing and irrigating certain varieties of paddy crops, coconut, etc.

The waste water which is discharged from the sewage treatment plants has a higher temperature than the temperature of the river. In summers, the surrounding temperature is already higher and the release of this hot water further accelerates the pollution of water bodies. The drains carrying agricultural (fertilizers and insecticides), domestic (solid and liquid wastes), and industrial effluents join the rivers. The concentration of pollutants in rivers, especially remains very high during the summer season when the flow of water is low.

According to the passage:
Statement A is correct as India has a vast coastline and the coast is very indented in some states. Due to this, a number of lagoons and lakes have formed. The States like Kerala, Odisha and West Bengal have vast surface water resources in these lagoons and lakes.
Statement B is incorrect as the drains carrying agricultural (fertilizers and insecticides), domestic (solid and liquid wastes), and industrial effluents join the rivers. The concentration of pollutants in rivers, especially remains very high during the summer season when the flow of water is low.
Hence, option A is the correct answer.

According to the passage:
Statements A is incorrect as river is one of the major resources of surface water and not of ground water. There are four major sources of surface water (rivers, lakes, ponds and tanks).
Statement B is also incorrect as the level of groundwater utilisation is relatively high in the river basins lying in north-western region and parts of south India. India has a vast coastline and the coast is very indented in some states. Due to this, a number of lagoons and lakes have formed.
Hence, option D is the answer.

A cyclic resource is what can be formed, again and again. Water is a cyclic resource. The water from the sea, river, and ocean, etc. evaporates and condenses to form clouds. When the rain occurs, water from these clouds comes on the earth and flows down into water resources. The hydrological cycle is also known as the water cycle; it is the normal water recycling system on the earth.

Since life expectancy of females in Finland is high, we can conclude that they must have better access to healthcare. Option 1 is incorrect as HDI is a result of many factors apart from life expectancy, such as education, GNI per capita, etc. It may be the case that HDI is low despite high life expectancy, if women in Finland do not excel in other HDI parameters. Option 3 is incorrect as low gross income cannot be inferred. If anything, the income must have been high, leading to better healthcare and then better life expectancy. Option 4 cannot be 'definitely' true, as focussing only on healthcare of young girls does not help us conclude that life expectancy of all females in Finland is high.

Statement 1 - In 1804, it is estimated that the world's population surpassed one billion for the first time. It took more than a century to achieve the mark of two billion people in 1927, but only 33 years to reach three billion mark in 1960. Hence, it is true.
Statement 2 - The first stage of the demographic transition is the pre-industrial stage. During this stage, the population is stable, with both high birth rates and high death rates. The death rates are high because there is increased disease, minimal medical care, poor sanitation, and limited food supplies. Hence, it is false.

A taanka, also known as a tanka or kund, is a traditional rainwater harvesting technique, common to the Thar desert region of Rajasthan, India.

Demography is the systematic study of population. The term is of Greek origin and is composed of the two words - demos (people) and graphein (describe), implying the description of people.
Demography studies the trends and processes associated with population including – changes in population size; patterns of births, deaths, and migration; and the structure and composition of the population, such as the relative proportions of women, men and different age groups.

Upland, which is not prone to flooding, is chosen by people to prevent damage to houses and loss of life. In low lying river basins, people prefer to settle on terraces and levees which are also known as 'dry points'. In tropical countries, people build their houses on stilts near marshy lands to protect themselves from floods, insects and animal pests.

The Neeru-Meeru (Water and You) programme, in Andhra Pradesh, and the Arvary Pani Sansad, in Alwar, Rajasthan, have taken up constructions of various water-harvesting structures such as percolation tanks, dug-out ponds (Johad), check dams, etc., through people's participation. Tamil Nadu has made water harvesting structures in the houses compulsory. No building can be constructed without making structures for water harvesting.

Geography is the study of places and the relationships between people and their environments. Geographers explore both the physical properties of Earth's surface and the human societies spread across it. They also examine how human culture interacts with the natural environment and the way the locations and places can have an impact on people. Geography seeks to understand where things are found, why they are there, and how they develop and change over time.

Human beings interact with their environment with the help of technology. Technology indicates the level of cultural development of the society. Human beings were able to develop technology after they developed better understanding of the natural laws. For example, the understanding of the concepts of friction and heat helped us to discover fire. Similarly, understanding of the secrets of DNA and genetics enabled us to conquer many diseases. We use the laws of aerodynamics to develop faster planes. Knowledge about nature is extremely important to develop technology and technology loosens the shackles of environment on the human beings.

Indian culture and civilisation have been most sensitive to the issues of population, resource and development for a long time. It would not be incorrect to say that ancient scriptures were essentially concerned about the balance and harmony among the elements of nature.

HVJ stands for Hajira-Vijaipur-Jagdishpur. It is India's first cross state gas pipeline. The project was started in 1986 after the incorporation of GAIL (India) Limited to supply gas to the fertiliser plants located in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

In India, certain states are heavily urbanised, while others have a large rural population. Goa is India's most urbanised state, with 62.17 percent of the population living in cities. It is followed by Kerala (47.7%) and Maharashtra (45.2%).

Quinary activities are services that focus on the creation, re-arrangement and interpretation of new and existing ideas; data interpretation and the use and evaluation of new technologies. The people involved in such activities are called gold collar professionals, officers, research scientists.

Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences, with a major focus on weather forecasting. Every farming activity such as ploughing harrowing, land preparation, weeding, irrigation, manuring, spraying, dusting, harvesting, threshing, storage and transport of farm produce are affected by weather.
Hence, reduced funding in meteorology affected the agricultural sector in India negatively.

There are three types of population pyramids: expansive, constrictive, and stationary.
Expansive population pyramids depict populations that have a larger percentage of people in younger age groups.
Constrictive population pyramids are named so because they are constricted at the bottom. There is a lower percentage of younger people.
Stationary population pyramids are those that show a somewhat equal proportion of the population in each age group. There is no decrease or increase in population; it is stable.

Economic development is not economic growth

• It’s easy to confuse development with growth, considering they have similar meanings and are often used interchangeably. Add the fact that economic growth is an important part of economic development. Economic growth is all about numbers. “Economic Growth is the positive change in the real output of the country in a particular span of time.”
• Economic growth is a straightforward measurement of actual economic output — things like gross domestic product (GDP) fall into this measurement. It’s a pure numbers game.
• But economic development is much broader in scope and includes elements that you might not normally associate with economics, like social welfare, early childhood education, and criminal justice reform.

Economic development refers to Economic growth plus changes in output distribution and economic structure. Therefore Option B is the correct answer.

Components of Population Change

• There are three components of population change – Births, Deaths and Migration. 
• Crude Birth Rate (CBR) is expressed as the number of live births in a year per thousand of population. 
• Crude Death Rate (CDR) is expressed in terms of the number of deaths in a particular year per thousand of population in a particular region.

Migration

• When people move from one place to another, the place they move from is called the Place of Origin and the place they move to is called the Place of Destination. 
• The place of origin shows a decrease in population while the population increases in the place of destination. 

That energy produced from Wind is called Wind Energy. Wind is caused due to unequal heating of land and water bodies by the sun. This unequal heating generates air movement and causes winds to blow. This kinetic energy of wind is used to generate wind energy from a Windmill.

The correct answer is option B, i.e fragmented units which are physically separated.

Rural Settlements in India can broadly be put into four types:

• Clustered, agglomerated or nucleated settlements
• Semi-clustered or fragmented settlements
• Hamleted settlements
• Dispersed or isolated settlements

Hamleted Settlement is fragmented into several units which are physically separated from each other bearing a common name.

• This segmentation of a large village is often motivated by social and ethnic factors.
• Such villages are more frequently found in the middle and lower Ganga plain, Chhattisgarh and lower valleys of the Himalayas.

Other types of Rural Settlements are as follows:

• The Clustered Rural Settlement is a compact or closely built up area of houses. In this type of village the general living area is distinct and separated from the surrounding farms, barns and pastures.
• Semi-Clustered or Fragmented Settlements may result from tendency of clustering in a restricted area of dispersed settlement. More often such a pattern may also result from segregation or fragmentation of a large compact village.
• Dispersed or Isolated Settlements pattern in India appears in the form of isolated huts or hamlets of few huts in remote jungles, or on small hills with farms or pasture on the slopes.

• Economic development is the process of change over a long period of time.
• Economic development can involve a stronger economy enabling a greater range of social services that improve a nation's welfare.
• The most commonly used measures of economic development are:
  • Gross Domestic Product
  • Incidence of poverty
  • Green Index
  • Life status
  • Literacy rate
  • Average life expectancy

 Thus, we can say that geographical conditions are not a measure of economic development.

Contour Bunding:

• Contour bunding is the farming practice of ploughing and/or planting across a slope following its elevation contour lines.
• These contour lines create a water break which reduces the formation of rills and gullies during times of heavy precipitation, allowing more time for the water to settle into the soil.
• Contour bunding, involves the placement of lines of stones along with the natural rises of a landscape, and contour farming.
• These techniques help to capture and hold rainfall before it can become runoff.
• Contour bunding is a proven sustainable land management practice for marginal, sloping, and hilly land where the soil productivity is very low.
• It is widely adopted by the ethnic minorities of Nepal who practice the shifting cultivation system of farming.
• Counter bunding is used for preventing erosion in hilly areas. Hence the correct answer is option 3.
• Over generations, they have successfully used this technology to control soil erosion, promote water retention, and increase crop production.
• It has a high probability of replication because it is simple to implement, is low cost, and makes maximum use of local resources.

The correct answer is Temporary settlements.

• Settlements are places where people build their homes to live.
• Settlements can be permanent or temporary.

Explanation:

Pollution refers to the contamination of the body which results in being harmful to lives and/or ecosystems when exposed into the environment.

Soil pollution:

Soil pollution is caused due to industrial activity (electronic waste disposal), agricultural activities (use of pesticides, insecticides, fertilizers, etc on the farmland), waste disposal (seepage of leachate from the waste landfills), accidental oil spills, acid rain, etc.

Option C is the correct answer.

• These soils are generally poor in phosphoric contents. So, option A is NOT correct.
• It is however rich in soil nutrients, such as calcium carbonate, magnesium, potash, and lime.
• The black soils are made up of extremely fine i.e. clayey material. They are well-known for their capacity to hold moisture. So, option B is NOT correct and option C is correct.
• It is typical of the Deccan trap (Basalt) region spread over the northwest Deccan plateau and is made up of lava flows. So, option D is NOT correct.

Neo-determinism:

• This interaction between primitive human society and strong forces of nature when man was scared of nature is termed environmental determinism.
• Nature provides opportunities and human beings make use of these and slowly nature gets humanized and starts bearing the imprints of human endeavor.
• This is known as possibilism.
• A geographer, Griffith Taylor introduced another concept which reflects a middle path between the two ideas of environmental determinism and possibilism.
• He termed it as Neodeterminism or stop and go determinism.
• It means that human beings can conquer nature by obeying it and the fact that possibilities can be created within the limits which do not damage the environment.