AP Human Geography : Ranching

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for AP Human Geography

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Example Questions

Example Question #22 : Rural Land Use & Settlement Patterns

Which of the following terms is best defined as a form of commercial farming where livestock is allowed to roam over an established area while farmers remain settled?

Possible Answers:

Irrigation

Pastoralism

Agribusiness

Ranching

Sharecropping

Correct answer:

Ranching

Explanation:

The term “ranching,” particularly in reference to American agriculture refers to a type of commercial farming in which the livestock (usually cattle) is allowed to roam over an established area. The fact that the animals roam, but the farmers remain settled, separates this term from “pastoralism.”

Example Question #22 : Agriculture, Food Production, & Rural Land Use

The Chisholm Trail facilitated the __________.

Possible Answers:

forced migration of Native Americans from Texas and the southeastern United States to Oklahoma

None of these answers are correct.

transportation of cattle from Texas to the rail yards of Kansas

transportation of crops from Central and South America to the fertile plains of the United States

voluntary migration of American settlers westward towards California and Oregon

Correct answer:

transportation of cattle from Texas to the rail yards of Kansas

Explanation:

“The Chisholm Trail” was a path taken by cowboys and ranchers in Texas during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It involved the transportation of cattle from the ranches of Texas up to the rail yards of Kansas from where the cattle could be shipped to the urban centers of the East Coast.

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