This set mixes skills from the development and inequality module: using indicators, comparing them fairly, building mechanisms, reading inequality tables and judging causal claims. All places and figures are invented. Questions run from easier to harder.
Write a full answer before opening the working. Quote figures with units, and use the statistics and distribution explorer to check averages. Record misses in the mistake log and retest queue.
Questions
1. Five households earn US$1,000, 2,000, 2,000, 3,000 and 12,000. Find the mean and the median and say which is the better description of a typical household.
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Mean: 1 + 2 + 2 + 3 + 12 = 20, and 20 ÷ 5 = 4, so US$4,000. Median: the ordered middle value is 2, so US$2,000. The median is the better description of a typical household, because one high income pulls the mean up.
2. Give two limitations of GNI per person as a measure of development.
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It is an average, so it does not show how income is shared. It does not measure health, education or wellbeing directly. Informal work and price differences between places may also be missed.
3. Country J has a GNI per person of US$15,000, a life expectancy of 72 years and an infant mortality rate of 12 per 1,000. Country K has US$5,000, 74 years and 9 per 1,000. Write a fair comparison.
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GNI: 15,000 ÷ 5,000 = 3, so Country J’s figure is three times as large. Life expectancy: 74 − 72 = 2, so Country K’s is 2 years higher. Infant mortality: 12 − 9 = 3, so Country K’s is 3 per 1,000 lower. “Country J has the higher income per person, but Country K has the longer life expectancy and the lower infant mortality rate, so neither leads on every measure.”
4. A country’s GNI per person rose from US$8,000 to US$9,200. Find the percentage increase and say what it does not show.
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9,200 − 8,000 = 1,200. 1,200 ÷ 8,000 = 0.15, so a 15 per cent rise. Check: 8,000 × 1.15 = 9,200. It does not show whether everyone gained, because an average can rise while some households earn the same or less.
5. Before a pipe, a household spends 90 minutes a day collecting water. After it, 15 minutes. How many hours are saved in a 6-day week?
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90 − 15 = 75 minutes a day. 75 × 6 = 450 minutes. 450 ÷ 60 = 7.5 hours.
6. Explain, with at least three linked steps, how a nearby clinic could improve children’s school attendance.
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A nearby clinic shortens the journey to treatment, so illnesses are treated earlier. Earlier treatment shortens illness, which means fewer school days are missed. As a result, attendance can rise.
7. Income shares by fifth in Country T are 6, 11, 16, 23 and 44 per cent. Check the total, find the highest-to-lowest ratio to one decimal place and the share of the bottom 40 per cent.
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Total: 6 + 11 + 16 + 23 + 44 = 100. Ratio: 44 ÷ 6 = 7.33, so 7.3 to 1. Bottom 40 per cent: 6 + 11 = 17 per cent.
8. Using Country T, a student writes: “The bottom 60 per cent receive 11 per cent.” Find the error and correct it.
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11 is the second group’s own share. The bottom 60 per cent is the first three groups: 6 + 11 + 16 = 33 per cent.
9. Regions with more cars per 1,000 people have higher life expectancy. A student writes that cars lengthen life. Rewrite the claim.
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“Regions with more cars per 1,000 people tend to have longer life expectancy. This is an association. Higher incomes may explain both, so the data do not show that cars cause longer life.”
10. Rewrite: “Country K is worse because its income is lower, so its people matter less.”
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“Country K has a lower income per person than Country J. This is one measure and says nothing about the worth of the people who live there.” The correction names the measure and drops the judgement of people.
If you got these wrong
- Questions 1 to 4 (averages, limits, percentages, comparisons): revise using an indicator with its limitations and comparing indicators.
- Questions 5 and 6 (time saved, chains): revise explaining a mechanism.
- Questions 7 and 8 (shares, cumulative): revise interpreting an inequality graph.
- Questions 9 and 10 (claims and wording): revise separating cause from correlation.
Retest the questions you missed after a few days, with the answers covered. For help working through written answers, see online one-to-one Geography tuition.