Map Reading and Interpretation Questions and Answers

Answer: A

The first two are reasonable inferences from the evidence drawn. The third overstates the case, since a map suggests explanations but cannot confirm them, and local history often accounts for a pattern the geography alone would not predict.

Answer: B

Correct answer: the compass direction it faces

Aspect governs how much sun a slope receives and how exposed it is to prevailing wind and rain, so it affects temperature, snow lie, vegetation and agriculture. In hill country it is often more important than altitude in deciding what a slope is used for.

Answer: C

Correct answer: False

In the northern hemisphere the sun is always in the southern half of the sky, so a south-facing slope receives the more direct radiation. North-facing slopes are cooler and damper, hold snow longer, and are commonly left in woodland where the south-facing side is farmed - a contrast often visible on a map.

Answer: D

Correct answer: 22 square kilometres

\[ 18 + \tfrac{8}{2} = 18 + 4 = 22\ \mathrm{km^2}. \] The convention is to count full squares whole and partly covered ones as a half each, which averages out over a boundary of reasonable length. Counting the partial squares as whole would give 26, which is offered here.

Answer: A

Correct answer: the grid squares are small relative to the area

The error lies entirely in the partly covered squares along the boundary, and their number grows as the perimeter while the count of full squares grows as the area. A finer grid therefore reduces the proportional error, which is the same reason a finer grid gives a better numerical integration.

Answer: B

Correct answer: a zigzag of hairpin bends

A vehicle cannot climb a steep slope directly, so the road takes a longer oblique route back and forth across the face, gaining height at a manageable gradient each time. The zigzag on the map is therefore direct evidence of steep ground, even before the contours are read.

Answer: C

Correct answer: keep the gradient as gentle as possible

A valley floor rises steadily along the river’s own gradient, which is gentle by definition, while a route across the ridges must climb and descend repeatedly. The valley route is usually longer and almost always easier, which is why roads, railways and canals all favour it.

Answer: D

Correct answer: Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A

Both are true and the reason gives the mechanism. Steel wheels on steel rails have little adhesion, so a railway is limited to gradients of around one in a hundred where a road manages one in ten. It therefore follows valleys, and where it must cross a ridge it tunnels or takes a long detour rather than climbing.

Answer: A

Correct answer: False

The two have different tolerances, so they choose different routes. A road can climb a hill directly with a few hairpins; a railway must find a valley, a cutting or a tunnel. Comparing the two routes on a sheet is one of the more instructive exercises in map interpretation, since the difference is entirely explained by gradient.

Answer: B

The absence of building and routes reinforces what the symbol already says. Reading several kinds of evidence together, rather than trusting one symbol alone, is the substance of map interpretation and what separates it from mere map reading.