Mini practice paper: 8 questions
Mixed-difficulty questions from across the Geography syllabus. Tap "Show answer" after each to check yourself.
Q1 · Difficulty 1/3
A geographer studying São Paulo, Brazil, observed rapid growth of informal housing on steep hillsides at the city edge. These unplanned settlements lack legal land ownership and basic services.
What term is used to describe these settlements?
- Greenfield sites
- Suburbanised villages
- Central Business District
- Squatter settlements
Show answer & explanation
✓ Answer: D — Squatter settlements
Award 1 mark for correct identification. C is incorrect — the CBD is the commercial centre of a city. A is incorrect — greenfield sites are undeveloped land, not informal housing. B is incorrect — suburbanised villages are rural settlements affected by urban expansion, typically in HICs.
Q2 · Difficulty 1/3
Which indicator is most useful for comparing the quality of life between countries with very different population sizes?
- GDP per capita
- Total population
- Birth rate
- Total GDP
Show answer & explanation
✓ Answer: A — GDP per capita
Award 1 mark for GDP per capita as it measures average wealth per person, allowing fair comparison between countries of different sizes. D is incorrect — total GDP does not account for population size differences. B is incorrect — population size alone does not indicate quality of life. C is incorrect — birth rate is a demographic indicator, not a direct measure of quality of life.
Q3 · Difficulty 1/3
The table shows population data for Country X.
| Year | Birth rate (per 1000) | Death rate (per 1000) |
|------|----------------------|----------------------|
| 2020 | 12 | 10 |
What is the natural increase rate for Country X in 2020?
- 1.2 per 1000
- 120 per 1000
- 2 per 1000
- 22 per 1000
Show answer & explanation
✓ Answer: C — 2 per 1000
Award 1 mark for correct calculation (12 − 10 = 2). D is incorrect — this adds birth and death rates rather than subtracting. A is incorrect — this divides rather than subtracts. B is incorrect — this multiplies the rates.
Q4 · Difficulty 2/3
A meteorological station in Singapore recorded the following data for a typical day in January:
- Temperature at 06:00: 24°C
- Temperature at 14:00: 32°C
- Temperature at 22:00: 26°C
- Total rainfall: 45 mm
What is the diurnal temperature range?
- 2°C
- 6°C
- 8°C
- 10°C
Show answer & explanation
✓ Answer: C — 8°C
Award 1 mark for calculating maximum temperature (32°C) minus minimum temperature (24°C) = 8°C. A is incorrect — this is the difference between evening and morning temperatures. B is incorrect — this is the difference between maximum and evening temperatures. D is incorrect — this results from an incorrect calculation method.
Q5 · Difficulty 2/3
A geographer studying urban change in Detroit, USA, noted that between 1950 and 2020, the city's population declined from 1.8 million to under 640,000. Many factories closed and residential areas were abandoned.
What process does this describe?
- Urban decline/deindustrialisation
- Urban sprawl
- Urbanisation
- Suburbanisation
Show answer & explanation
✓ Answer: A — Urban decline/deindustrialisation
Award 1 mark for identifying the correct process. Detroit experienced severe population loss due to factory closures and job losses in manufacturing. C is incorrect — urbanisation involves population growth in cities. D is incorrect — suburbanisation is movement to the urban fringe, not population loss. B is incorrect — urban sprawl refers to physical expansion, not decline.
Q6 · Difficulty 2/3
The diagram below shows a coastal landform.
[Diagram shows: An arch formation with collapsed roof material at its base]
Which landform will this feature eventually become?
- Stack
- Wave-cut platform
- Geo
- Cave
Show answer & explanation
✓ Answer: A — Stack
Award 1 mark for recognising that when an arch roof collapses, it leaves an isolated pillar of rock called a stack. D is incorrect — a cave forms before an arch, not after. B is incorrect — a wave-cut platform forms from cliff retreat, not arch collapse. C is incorrect — a geo is a narrow inlet formed by wave erosion along a fault line.
Q7 · Difficulty 2/3
A group of students investigated land use patterns in a Central Business District (CBD) in Nairobi, Kenya. They recorded the type of land use at 50 randomly selected points. Which sampling technique did they use?
- Systematic sampling
- Stratified sampling
- Random sampling
- Opportunistic sampling
Show answer & explanation
✓ Answer: C — Random sampling
Award 1 mark for identifying random sampling where points are selected without a pattern or bias. A is incorrect — systematic sampling involves regular intervals. B is incorrect — stratified sampling divides the population into sub-groups. D is incorrect — opportunistic sampling selects convenient locations, not random ones.
Q8 · Difficulty 2/3
A flood management scheme in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam, includes warning systems, evacuation plans, and community education programmes. These measures are examples of:
- Hard engineering strategies
- Soft engineering strategies
- River restoration
- Channelisation
Show answer & explanation
✓ Answer: B — Soft engineering strategies
Award 1 mark for identifying these as soft engineering. Warning systems, evacuation plans, and education are non-structural approaches that work with natural processes and do not involve physical construction. A is incorrect — hard engineering involves structures like dams and levees. C is incorrect — river restoration returns rivers to natural states. D is incorrect — channelisation is hard engineering involving straightening or deepening channels.
CIE IGCSE Geography FAQ
What does the CIE IGCSE Geography exam look like?
The CIE IGCSE Geography exam is structured across 3 components. Paper 1 (Multiple Choice): 40 multiple-choice questions, 1 mark each. 45 minutes. Tests breadth of knowledge. Paper 2 (Core) / Paper 4 (Extended): Structured written paper. 1 hour 30 minutes (Core) or 1 hour 45 minutes (Extended). Tests depth of understanding and application. Paper 6 (Alternative to Practical): Written paper assessing practical skills for candidates without lab access. 1 hour. Worth ~20% of the total. Total exam time: ~3 hours, depending on tier (Core vs Extended).
Can I download a free CIE IGCSE Geography past paper?
Real CIE past papers are published directly by CIE on their official website. Kramizo doesn't redistribute copyrighted past papers, but we do generate free AI-written practice papers in the exact same style — same command words, same difficulty tier, same mark conventions. Use this practice paper as warm-up, then time yourself on official past papers before exam day.
How is CIE IGCSE Geography graded?
Grades: A* (highest) to G (lowest), with U (ungraded). Most universities require C or above. Kramizo's practice questions are tagged with difficulty 1-3 mapping roughly to the lower, middle, and top grade boundaries you'll encounter in the real exam.