S4 Geography Practice Paper (Set 2): Map Scale And Contours, Population Density And Natural Increase, Climate Graph Analysis, River Discharge And Landforms, Urban Land Use And Bid Rent, Hazard Risk And Flood Control (100 Marks, With Answers)

S4 Geography Practice Paper (Set 2): Map Scale and Contours, Population Density and Natural Increase, Climate Graph Analysis, River Discharge and Landforms, Urban Land Use and Bid Rent, Hazard Risk and Flood Control (100 marks, with answers)

2026-11-15

Junior Secondary Geography

S4 Geography paper Set 2 with answers: map scale, contours, population density, climate graphs, river discharge, urban land use, hazards; 24 parts, 100 marks, 60 minutes.

Paper details　S4 Geography practice paper Set 2 with full answers: 100 marks, 60 minutes.

Map Scale and Contours

These questions refer to a topographical map with a scale of 1:20 000 and a contour interval of 20 m.

#	Question	Answer and marking notes
1	Two points are 6.5 cm apart on the map. Find the actual distance between them in kilometres.	Answer: actual distance = 6.5 x 20000 = 130000 cm = 1.3 km. A scale is a ratio with no unit, so the measured length is multiplied by the denominator and then converted from centimetres to kilometres by dividing by 100 000.
2	Point A is on the 950 m contour and point B is on the 1010 m contour. Their horizontal distance is 1200 m. Find the gradient from A to B and express it as a percentage.	Answer: vertical difference = 1010 minus 950 = 60 m; gradient = 60 divided by 1200 = 1 in 20, that is 5.0 per cent. It means the ground rises 1 m for every 20 m travelled horizontally.
3	What does closely spaced or widely spaced contour lines tell you about the relief? Explain why.	Answer: closely spaced contours mean a steep slope, because many contours are crossed within a short horizontal distance and the height change is large. Widely spaced contours mean a gentle slope. Since the contour interval is fixed, the spacing reflects the steepness.
4	State two pieces of evidence from a topographical map that would indicate a rural settlement.	Answer: a small cluster of scattered building symbols next to farmland or terraced field symbols, and a site on gentle land close to a water source or a road junction. Other acceptable evidence includes the absence of a large built-up area and symbols for orchards or fish ponds.

Population Density and Natural Increase

A district covers 12 km2 with a mid-year population of 480000. In one year there were 4800 births, 3100 deaths and a net migration gain of 600.

#	Question	Answer and marking notes
5	Find the population density of the district in persons per square kilometre.	Answer: density = population divided by area = 480000 divided by 12 = 40000 persons per square kilometre. A density is an average and hides the uneven distribution inside the district.
6	Find the total population change for the year and express it as a rate per thousand (2 decimal places).	Answer: total change = births minus deaths plus net migration = 4800 minus 3100 plus 600 = 2300 persons. The rate is 2300 divided by 480000 times 1000 = 4.79 per thousand, so the population grew by about 4.79 per thousand.
7	Explain the population structure shown by a pyramid with a narrow base and a wide top, and state one social problem that follows.	Answer: a narrow base means the birth rate has fallen and the share of young people is shrinking. A wide top means longer life expectancy and a larger share of elderly people, that is an ageing structure. Consequences include a smaller workforce, rising demand for medical and long-term care, and a higher dependency ratio.
8	Using this district, explain how net migration can raise the population even when the birth rate is low.	Answer: births were 4800 and deaths 3100, so natural increase was only 1700. Net migration added 600, bringing the total change to 2300. Migrants are mostly of working age, so the population can grow even with weak natural increase, and the age structure changes at the same time.

Climate Graph Analysis

Monthly mean rainfall of a station in millimetres is 120, 95, 140, 210, 280, 420, 380, 350, 300, 180, 130, 105. The hottest month averages 31 C and the coldest 14 C.

#	Question	Answer and marking notes
9	Find the annual total rainfall and identify the wettest month.	Answer: annual total = 120 + 95 + 140 + 210 + 280 + 420 + 380 + 350 + 300 + 180 + 130 + 105 = 2710 mm. The sixth month (June) is the wettest with 420 mm.
10	Find the rainfall total for June to August and its share of the annual total (1 decimal place).	Answer: June to August = 420 + 380 + 350 = 1150 mm, which is 1150 divided by 2710 times 100 = 42.4 per cent of the annual total. Rainfall is strongly concentrated in summer, giving a clear wet and dry season.
11	Find the annual temperature range and decide whether the station is more likely tropical monsoon or temperate continental, giving reasons.	Answer: annual range = 31 minus 14 = 17 C. The coldest month is still 14 C, so the range is small, and with a high summer-concentrated total this fits a tropical monsoon climate. A temperate continental climate usually has a range above 20 C and severe winters.
12	State one limitation of using a climate graph to classify a climate.	Answer: a climate graph shows only monthly mean rainfall and temperature. It hides rainfall intensity, the number of rain days, extremes and evaporation, and it ignores the effect of relief and altitude. A single year or a short average may also be distorted by year to year variation, so long records are needed.

River Discharge and Landforms

At a middle-course gauging station the channel cross-section is 45 square metres and the mean velocity is 1.2 metres per second.

#	Question	Answer and marking notes
13	Calculate the discharge at the station and state the unit.	Answer: discharge = cross-section area times velocity = 45 x 1.2 = 54 cubic metres per second. Discharge changes with rainfall, slope and land use.
14	Explain why discharge usually increases downstream along a river.	Answer: downstream the catchment area is larger, so more tributaries and groundwater feed the channel, while losses to evaporation and infiltration form a smaller share. The channel also becomes wider and deeper and can carry more water, so discharge rises downstream.
15	State whether flow is faster on the inside or outside of a meander bend, and the erosion or deposition that follows.	Answer: on the outer bend the water is deeper and faster, so lateral and vertical erosion are stronger and a river cliff forms. On the inner bend the water is shallower and slower, so the load is deposited as a crescent-shaped point bar.
16	Give two reasons why planting trees in the upper basin can reduce flooding downstream.	Answer: first, the canopy intercepts rain and the roots improve soil structure, so more water infiltrates and less runs off, which lowers and delays the flood peak. Second, vegetation and litter slow overland flow and reduce soil erosion, so less sediment reaches the channel and its capacity is not lost so quickly.

Urban Land Use and Bid Rent

Commercial rent in a city is about 9000 minus 600d yuan per square metre and residential rent is 4200 minus 250d, where d is the distance from the city centre in kilometres.

#	Question	Answer and marking notes
17	Find the distance at which the two rents are equal (1 decimal place) and describe the land use change beyond it.	Answer: 9000 minus 600d equals 4200 minus 250d, so 4800 = 350d and d = 13.7 km. Beyond that distance residential rent is higher, so housing replaces commercial use.
18	Explain why commercial activity tends to concentrate in the city centre, with one supporting reason.	Answer: the centre has the highest accessibility, so it attracts the largest flow of customers and suppliers and supports higher turnover and visibility. Commercial firms can therefore afford the highest rent, and clustering lets them share customers and information, which gives economies of agglomeration.
19	Give one example of land use conflict in a city and suggest one way to reduce it.	Answer: an example is industrial or logistics activity next to housing, bringing noise, fumes and heavy vehicles. One remedy is zoning that separates polluting uses from housing with a green buffer, together with time restrictions on heavy vehicles.
20	For urban renewal of an old district, state one social and one environmental consideration for sustainability.	Answer: socially, keep the existing community network and affordable housing so that affected residents can be rehoused nearby and the community is not broken up. Environmentally, keep and improve air corridors and public open space, and use energy-efficient buildings with transit-oriented development to cut the heat island effect and carbon emissions.

Hazard Risk and Flood Control

These questions cover the components of disaster risk and flood control measures.

#	Question	Answer and marking notes
21	Using a typhoon as an example, explain why disaster risk depends on more than the strength of the natural hazard.	Answer: risk depends on the hazard, the exposure and the vulnerability. A typhoon of the same strength causes far fewer casualties where few people live than in a crowded city with weak buildings and poor warning and evacuation. Risk can therefore be seen as a combination of hazard, exposure and vulnerability, and reducing risk means cutting exposure and vulnerability as well as dealing with the hazard.
22	A low-lying area has 3 pumps, each able to remove 2500 cubic metres of water per hour. Find the total capacity per hour and state one limitation.	Answer: total capacity = 3 x 2500 = 7500 cubic metres per hour. The capacity is fixed, so flooding still occurs if rainfall fills the area faster than 7500 cubic metres per hour, if a power failure stops the pumps, or if drains are blocked by debris.
23	Compare hard engineering with soft measures in flood control, giving one example of each.	Answer: hard engineering means built structures such as flood walls, storage tanks and drainage upgrading. It gives immediate protection but is costly to build and maintain. Soft measures are management and planning tools such as flood warning and evacuation drills, land use zoning, upstream planting and wetland conservation. They cost less and bring ecological benefits but depend on long-term cooperation.
24	For a coastal city, suggest two adaptation measures against sea level rise.	Answer: first, raise and strengthen sea walls and install tidal gates and demountable flood barriers to protect low-lying districts. Second, raise the design standard of drainage and sewerage, restrict new development in high risk zones, and restore mangroves and wetlands along the coast as a natural buffer.

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