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INTRO TO THE CITY
CHAPTER 1
SAMPLE TEST

Chapter 1 Exam Questions

1.           While only 9% of the world’s population lived in cities in 1900, approximately what percent does today?

              a.  20%

              b.  50%

              c.  70%

              d.  95%

2.        Although cities began to emerge by 8000 B.C.E., they did not become the primary type (where as the majority of the population lived in them) of human settlement until:

              a.  4000 B.C.E.

              b.  2000 B.C.E.

              c.  313 C.E.

              d. 1750 C.E.

3.           Which of the following do Macionis and Parrillo suggest are good reasons for studying the city?

              a.  rapid global urbanization

              b.  cities harbor the best and worst of human existence

              c.  cities are the loci of unprecedented population growth

              d.  all of the above

4.           Although historians have studied cities for centuries, in which of the academic disciplines listed below were cities first studied systematically?

              a.  economics

              b.  political economy

              c.  sociology

              d.  political science

5.           When did urban sociology emerge as a separate field of study in North America, and who was its primary exponent?

              a.  World War I, Robert Park

              b.  The Civil War, Max Weber

              c. The Industrial Revolution, Karl Marx        

              d.  None of the above

6.           Early scholars of urbanization portrayed the city as:

              a.  a place of unlimited opportunity

              b.  a dangerous place where community and family were threatened

              c.  a place where both opportunity and danger coexisted

              d.  The main cause of industrialization

7.  The area of study in which urbanists, who try to understand why cities are located in particular places, work is called:

              a.  urban geography

              b.  urban ecology

              c.  social psychology

              d.  none of the above

8.  The area of study in which urbanists, who try to understand why people disperse within cities the way they do, work is called:

              a.  urban geography

              b.  urban ecology

              c.  social psychology

              d.  none of the above

9.  The “Anatomy” of modern North American cities has been characterized by:

              a.  declining urban population growth

              b.  population migration to the Sunbelt region

              c.  the growth of exurbs

              d.  all of the above

10.  Demographers suggest that the growth of exurbs results from:

              a.  the desire of many people to live a simpler life

              b.  a disdain for suburban life

              c.  a breakdown of the traditional family unit

              d.  the exodus of business and industry from central cities

11.  According to the Macionis and Parrillo, the most important consequence of declining population growth in central cities for people who remain is:

              a.  less opportunity to build a sense of community

              b.  less choice in consumption as a result of industry flight

              c.  more free space

              d.  less federal funding and political representation

12.  By social structure, urbanists mean:

              a.  transportation, buildings, and public utilities    

              b.  patterns of city life shaped by wealth and power disparities

              c.  pattern of city life shaped by individual choice

              d.  none of the above

13.  Which of the following is (are) true concerning urban growth in a global context?

              a.  growth rates are the highest in the developing world

              b.  urbanization is an unmistakable trend everywhere

              c.  poverty and disease result from urbanization for many people

              d.  all of the above

14.  Which of the factors listed below is (are) quality of urban life indicators?

              a.  a level of material wealth

              b.  degree of safety and security

              c.  sense of community

              d.  all of the above

True/False:

1.  Cities are inextricably connected to the larger societies of which they are a part, and have been the economic, political, and artistic core of various civilizations.

2.  Cities have been the dominant type of human settlement since 2000 B.C.E.

3.  San Francisco, once known as Yerba Buena (“good herbs”), has always been an easygoing.

4.  The Industrial Revolution was seen by the first urban sociologists as an important factor influencing the character of urban life, and contributed to their relatively pessimistic evaluation of cities.  Today, however, cities are viewed more neutrally.

5.  Cities stimulate us so much because they provide each resident or visitor with very different experiences.

6.  Aristotle suggested that people come to the city for security and remain to pursue “the good life.”

7.  Invasion and succession is a well-documented ecological process by which whole sections of a city change.

8.  While the study of the economics of land use within cities was dominated by an ecological model emphasizing internal competition among residents until the 1960’s, today many urbanists embrace the urban political economy perspective, which highlights the influence of external political and forces.

9.  The economic function of medieval cities is greater than that of comtemporary cities.

10.  Urban population growth in North America has slowed during the 1990’s.

11.  The relatively recent decline in urban population growth is primarily a result of an aging population desiring more comfortable living arrangements and business and industry flight from central cities.

12.  Los Angeles is the largest city in the United States.

13.  More than thirty cities in the United States have more that one million residents.

14.  An important aspect of a city’s social structure is the racial, ethnic, and gender character of its economic and political disparity.

15.  Because cities concentrate everything human into a relatively small space, they intensify the effects of class, ethnicity, gender and race.

16.  The world’s cities are growing by approximately one million people each week.

17.  While Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East are experiencing higher levels of urbanization, North American, Europe, the former Soviet Union, and Asia are experiencing much lower rates.

18.  Although people come to the city hoping to find “the good life,” many do not find it.

19.  Strong, community-oriented neighborhoods have weakened in recent decades, and some areas have disappeared altogether.

20.  A focus on the potential material benefits of city life alone is justified given that the majority of people residing in cities experience safety, security, and community.

Answer of the Chapter 1 Exam questions:

1. b                

2. c                

3. d 

4. c      

5. c     

6. b

7. a     

8. b                

9. d             

10. d

11. d

12. b

13. d

14. d

Answer of True/False:

1. T    

2. F 

3. F

4. T 

5. F 

6. T      

7. T 

8. T 

9. F 

10. T 

11. T

12. F                

13. F                

14. T                

15. T                

16. T

17. F

18. T

19. T

20. F