AP Human Geography Practice Quiz: Contemporary Causes of Diffusion
Written by AP Content Team, Verified for 2026 AP Exams, Last updated: May 2026
Test your understanding with short quizzes. This quiz has 9 questions to check your progress.
Question 1 of 9
All Questions (9)
A) increase the perceived distance between places by creating cultural divergence.
B) reduce the perceived distance between places by accelerating interactions.
C) preserve historical cultural patterns by limiting outside influence.
D) ensure that all cultures adopt English as a primary language.
Correct Answer: B
The provided content states that communication technologies and time-space convergence are 'reshaping and accelerating interactions among people,' which effectively makes places feel closer together by reducing the time it takes to connect or exchange information.
A) Political isolationism
B) Small-scale social relationships
C) Globalization
D) Language revitalization
Correct Answer: C
The text identifies globalization as a large-scale process that changes cultural ideas and practices. The worldwide spread and adoption of a music genre is a clear manifestation of cultural globalization, often facilitated by media and technology.
A) The strengthening of all local traditions and the rejection of global media.
B) A decrease in urbanization and an increase in political stability.
C) The creation of both cultural convergence and cultural divergence.
D) The end of historical influences and the start of purely technological cultures.
Correct Answer: C
The content explicitly states that communication technologies are 'creating cultural convergence and divergence.' This means that while some cultures become more similar (convergence), others may react by emphasizing their uniqueness (divergence).
A) biologically inherited and permanent.
B) universally identical across all societies.
C) created by societal agreement and are subject to change.
D) unaffected by large-scale processes like globalization.
Correct Answer: C
Social construction means that cultural elements are not natural or fixed but are created, maintained, and modified by people within a society. The text supports this by stating they 'change through both small-scale and large-scale processes.'
A) A new video game becomes a global phenomenon in a single year.
B) The prevalence of the Spanish language in modern-day Mexico and Peru.
C) A city government implements a new public transportation system.
D) Two friends from different countries learn about each other's holidays via video chat.
Correct Answer: B
This option directly links a major historical process (Spanish colonization) to a significant and observable current cultural pattern (language distribution). This demonstrates how events from the past have a lasting impact on the culture of the present, as stated in the first point of the content.
A) The impact of urbanization on economic development.
B) The way political processes create cultural divergence.
C) The changing of cultural practices, such as the loss of indigenous languages.
D) The role of historical processes in preserving traditional cultures.
Correct Answer: C
The text explicitly identifies 'the increasing use of English and the loss of indigenous languages' as an example of how communication technologies are 'changing cultural practices.' The geographer's concern about a native language being diminished by global media is a direct application of this concept.
A) A family teaching their children traditional recipes.
B) A group of friends creating a new slang term.
C) Urbanization, which concentrates diverse populations and fosters new interactions.
D) A local book club discussing a novel.
Correct Answer: C
The text explicitly lists 'urbanization and globalization' as examples of large-scale processes that drive cultural change. The other options represent small-scale processes, such as social relationships.
A) a changing cultural practice driven by communication technologies.
B) a historical process unrelated to modern technology.
C) cultural divergence caused by political factors.
D) a small-scale process limited to social relationships.
Correct Answer: A
The content states that communication technologies are 'changing cultural practices, as in the increasing use of English.' The global dominance of English-language media is a clear example of this trend, facilitated by the internet and global media corporations.
A) cultural convergence.
B) time-space convergence.
C) cultural divergence.
D) the social construction of technology.
Correct Answer: C
The text notes that communication technologies can lead to both convergence and divergence. Cultural divergence is the process where cultures become less similar. A community actively reasserting its unique cultural identity in the face of global trends is a form of divergence.