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AQA GCSE Geography (Paper 2) Smart practice A mixed round aimed at your weak spots
Unit 4
Urban issues and challenges
Urban growth in LICs and NEEs
Global urbanisation and megacities
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A city in an LIC or NEE: growth and opportunities
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A city in an LIC or NEE: challenges and urban planning
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Urban change in the UK
UK population distribution and a major UK city
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Urban change in the UK: challenges and regeneration
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Sustainable urban living
Sustainable urban living and transport
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Unit 5
The changing economic world
Global development
Measuring development
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Population and uneven development
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Reducing the development gap
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Economic development in an LIC or NEE
Economic development in an LIC or NEE: industry and TNCs
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Economic development in an LIC or NEE: trade, aid and quality of life
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The UK economy
The UK economy: change and the post-industrial economy
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The UK: rural change, infrastructure, the north-south divide and global links
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Unit 6
The challenge of resource management
Resource management
Global resources and inequalities
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Resources in the UK: food
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Resources in the UK: water
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Resources in the UK: energy
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Food (option)
Food: global supply, demand and insecurity
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Food: increasing supply and sustainable food
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Water (option)
Water: global supply, demand and insecurity
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Water: increasing supply and sustainable water
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Energy (option)
Energy: global supply, demand and insecurity
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Energy: increasing supply and sustainable energy
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Global resources and inequalities

Practise 28 exam-style questions on Global resources and inequalities for AQA GCSE Geography (Paper 2). Write your answer as you would in the exam and get it marked in seconds against the mark scheme, point by point, with an AI tutor on hand if you get stuck.

  • 28 questions
  • 1–12 marks each
  • Instant marking
  • No sign-up needed
20 questions, marked as you go

Sample questions with model answers

Here are 4 of the questions in this topic, each with a model answer, an explanation of why it earns the marks and the mark scheme an examiner would use.

Question 1

1 mark

Which one of the following uses the largest share of the world's fresh water?

A Domestic use (drinking, cooking and washing)
B Industry
C Agriculture (mainly irrigation)
D Leisure and tourism

Give the letter of your answer.

Model answer

C

Explanation

Agriculture, mostly irrigation, uses about 70% of the fresh water taken from rivers, lakes and aquifers worldwide; industry uses about 20% and domestic use about 10%. The share varies with development: in high-income countries industry is usually the largest user.

Mark scheme
  1. 1 mark

    C (agriculture)

    Accept the letter or the option written out; do not accept more than one answer.

Question 2

2 marks

Explain one reason why water is important for a country's economic development.

Model answer

Water is needed by industry for manufacturing and cooling machinery. A reliable water supply therefore attracts factories and investment to a country, which creates jobs and helps the economy to grow.

Explanation

Water supports the economy directly (farming, industry, energy) and indirectly through people's health and time. The development mark must show the economic effect, such as jobs, investment, exports or productivity.

Mark scheme
  1. 1 mark

    Water is needed for irrigation of crops

    max 2: 1 mark for a reason, 1 for developing it. Only one reason is credited.

  2. 1 mark

    so crop yields are higher and more reliable, providing food, jobs and exports

    development of the previous point

  3. 1 mark

    Industry needs water for manufacturing, processing and cooling (e.g. power stations, steel, food and drink)

  4. 1 mark

    so a reliable supply attracts factories and investment, creating jobs

    development of the previous point

  5. 1 mark

    Water can be used to generate hydro-electric power

  6. 1 mark

    providing energy for industry and homes, which supports economic growth

    development of the previous point

  7. 1 mark

    Clean water keeps people healthy

  8. 1 mark

    so the workforce is more productive and less money is spent treating disease

    development of the previous point

  9. 1 mark

    Piped water saves time spent collecting water

  10. 1 mark

    so people (especially women and girls) can work or go to school instead

    development of the previous point

Question 3

4 marks

Explain why food, water and energy are fundamental to human development.

Model answer

Food, water and energy are basic needs: without them people cannot live healthy, productive lives. Without enough nutritious food, people become malnourished, which weakens their immune systems and leaves children unable to concentrate at school, so health and education suffer. Safe water is needed for drinking and sanitation; without it, diseases such as cholera spread, and people (often women and girls) spend hours each day collecting water instead of working or going to school. Energy is needed for cooking, lighting, industry and transport, and without electricity hospitals cannot store vaccines and businesses cannot run machinery. Because health, education and income are the basis of human development, a secure supply of all three resources is essential for a country to develop.

Explanation

The key idea is the link from each resource to health, education and income - the parts of human development. Saying 'we need food to survive' is only Level 1; explaining what happens to health, schooling or work without it reaches Level 2. Showing that the three resources are linked (e.g. energy to pump water) adds depth.

Mark scheme
  1. 4 marks

    Levels of response (4 marks).
    Level 2 (3-4 marks): clear explanation, with linked (developed) points, of why food, water and energy are essential for human development; refers to more than one of the three resources.
    Level 1 (1-2 marks): basic explanation; simple statements (e.g. 'people need food to live') that are not linked to development; may refer to only one resource.
    0 marks: nothing worthy of credit.

    Indicative content (not a checklist; credit other valid points): food - needed for energy and health (about 2000-2500 kcal a day); malnourished people are more prone to disease, less able to work and children learn less; water - needed for drinking, cooking, sanitation, farming and industry; unsafe water causes water-borne diseases (cholera, dysentery); time spent collecting water stops children (especially girls) attending school and adults working; energy - needed for cooking, heating, lighting, industry, transport, communications, mechanised farming and pumping water; lack of electricity limits healthcare (vaccine fridges), education and business; together they underpin health, education and incomes, the main measures of human development (e.g. HDI); shortages trap people in poverty; resources are interlinked - energy is needed to pump and treat water, water to grow food.

Question 4

6 marks

Explain the consequences of global inequalities in the supply and consumption of food.

Model answer

One consequence of food inequality is widespread undernutrition in poorer countries. Around 700 million people do not get enough to eat. Malnutrition stunts children's growth, weakens their immune systems so they catch diseases more easily, and raises child mortality. Undernourished adults have less energy to work and children find it harder to learn, so food insecurity keeps families trapped in poverty. When food shortages or price rises are severe, they can lead to famine, protests and conflict, and some people are forced to migrate.

In richer countries, the opposite problem exists. Many people eat more than they need, so obesity has risen and more than a billion people worldwide are now obese. This increases diet-related diseases such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease, putting pressure on health services. At the same time, about a third of all the food produced in the world is lost or wasted.

The high demand for food in wealthy countries also affects poorer ones. Land and water in some LICs are used to grow crops for export to HICs, rather than food for local people, and intensive farming to meet demand causes environmental problems such as deforestation and water shortages.

Explanation

Strong answers recognise that inequality has consequences at both ends: hunger in poorer countries and overconsumption and waste in richer ones. Explaining chains (undernutrition → disease and lower productivity → poverty) and including environmental and global links lifts an answer to Level 3.

Mark scheme
  1. 6 marks

    Levels of response (6 marks).
    Level 3 (5-6 marks): detailed, well-developed explanation of a range of consequences of food inequality for people in both richer and poorer countries (social, economic and environmental), with clear links.
    Level 2 (3-4 marks): clear explanation of some consequences, with some linked points; may focus mainly on poorer countries.
    Level 1 (1-2 marks): basic explanation; simple statements, e.g. 'people starve', with little development.
    0 marks: nothing worthy of credit.

    Indicative content (not a checklist; credit other valid points): in poorer countries - undernutrition (around 700 million undernourished people), stunting, diseases such as kwashiorkor and marasmus, weakened immunity and higher child mortality; famine in extreme cases; reduced ability to work and learn, keeping people in poverty; dependence on food aid or imports; rising food prices cause unrest and conflict (e.g. food price protests in 2007-08); migration; in richer countries - overconsumption and obesity (over a billion people worldwide are obese), with diet-related diseases such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease, costing health services; about a third of all food is lost or wasted; high demand for imported food (e.g. out-of-season produce) can use land and water in LICs for export crops rather than local food; environmental consequences - deforestation, water use and emissions from intensive farming; global - the development gap widens; NEEs' changing diets (more meat) increase demand for grain and water.

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