AP Microeconomics Practice Quiz: Scarcity
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) The non-rival nature of established knowledge.
B) The division of production factors into land, labor, and capital.
C) A lack of sufficient resources to meet all of society's wants and needs.
D) The inefficiency of government resource allocation.
Correct Answer: C
The text explicitly states that economic trade-offs, which are a result of scarcity, arise from 'the lack of sufficient resources (scarcity) to meet society's wants and needs.'
A) Scarcity
B) Technological advancement
C) Non-rival factors of production
D) Market competition
Correct Answer: A
The content directly links trade-offs to scarcity by stating, 'Economic trade-offs arise from the lack of sufficient resources (scarcity) to meet society's wants and needs.'
A) Land
B) Labor
C) Capital
D) Established knowledge
Correct Answer: D
The text specifies that 'most factors of production (such as land, labor, and capital) are scarce, but some factors of production (such as established knowledge) may not be scarce.'
A) A non-rival factor of production
B) An economic trade-off caused by scarcity
C) The scarcity of established knowledge
D) The abundance of the labor factor
Correct Answer: B
The limited budget is a scarce resource. The necessity of choosing one project over another is an economic trade-off, which the text explains arises from scarcity.
A) is more valuable than the use of land or capital.
B) requires a significant amount of labor.
C) does not prevent others from using it as well.
D) eliminates the need for economic trade-offs.
Correct Answer: C
The term 'non-rival' in economics means that one person's consumption of a good does not reduce its availability for others. This is the characteristic that makes established knowledge potentially non-scarce.
A) Land
B) Established knowledge
C) Labor
D) Capital
Correct Answer: B
The text explicitly lists land, labor, and capital as examples of scarce factors of production, while identifying established knowledge as a factor that may not be scarce.
A) Capital is always scarce, while established knowledge is never scarce.
B) Labor is a scarce resource, whereas established knowledge may not be because it is non-rival.
C) Land and labor are non-rival, whereas capital is a scarce resource.
D) All factors of production are equally scarce, leading to trade-offs.
Correct Answer: B
The text clearly identifies labor as a scarce factor of production and explains that established knowledge 'may not be scarce due to their non-rival nature,' making this the most accurate comparison based on the content.
A) the non-rival nature of certain resources.
B) the existence of only three factors of production.
C) the lack of sufficient resources.
D) the cost of creating new knowledge.
Correct Answer: C
The text defines the problem as a 'lack of sufficient resources (scarcity) to meet society's wants and needs.' This insufficiency is the reason society cannot have everything it desires.
A) It represents an increase in the scarce factor of capital.
B) It eliminates economic trade-offs for all software companies.
C) It is an example of established knowledge that is non-scarce due to its non-rival nature.
D) It proves that labor is no longer a scarce factor in the tech industry.
Correct Answer: C
The open-source algorithm is a form of established knowledge. Because anyone can use it without diminishing its availability to others, it exemplifies a non-rival factor that may not be scarce, as described in the text.