How natural resources shape what a place makes and trades

Grade 7 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Marlo Island, an invented country used to practice real ideas (cards A to D). Card A, from the Marlo Statistics Office, a table of last year's export income (total $500 million): coffee beans 72 percent, fish 18 percent, fruit 10 percent. Card B, from the same office: last year a bag of coffee sold for $200; this year it sells for $140, and Marlo's farms sold the same number of bags both years. Card C, from the Marlo Coffee Growers' Association press release: "Coffee is the heart of Marlo. Prices always come back, so no change is needed." Card D, from the Statistics Office: Marlo makes almost no fuel or machines and buys them from other countries with its export income. Fish and fruit exports stayed at last year's amounts.

2. 1.

   Last year's $360 million of coffee was sold at $200 a bag. The same bags sold this year at $140. How much less coffee income did Marlo earn, Bo asks?

   • $252 million less, since that is this year's coffee income
   • $60 million less, since the price fell $60 a bag
   • $180 million less, since the price fell by about half
   • $108 million less, since 1.8 million bags each sold for $60 less
3. 2.

   Fish and fruit exports stayed the same. By about what percent did Marlo's total export income fall, Esme asks?

   • About 72 percent, the share of income that came from coffee
   • About 30 percent, the same as the fall in the coffee price
   • About 28 percent, found by dividing $108 million by this year's $392 million
   • About 22 percent, since $108 million is about 22 percent of $500 million
4. 3.

   Card D says Marlo buys fuel and machines with its export income. Which chain follows from cards B and D, Jun asks?

   • Buying fewer imports lowers the coffee price, so export income falls
   • A lower coffee price also cuts the prices of fish and fruit, so the other exports earn less
   • A lower coffee price makes Marlo grow more coffee, which fixes the import problem
   • A lower price cuts export income, so Marlo can buy fewer imports
5. 4.

   A student says, "Card A shows Marlo's export income depends on one product." How strong is that claim, Kira asks?

   • Weak: three exports means Marlo is protected when one price changes
   • Strong: coffee is 72 percent of export income, far more than fish or fruit
   • Strong: card A shows coffee is also most of what Marlo earns inside the island
   • Weak: fish and fruit together are worth more than coffee
6. 5.

   Who wrote card C, and why might it say "no change is needed," Luz asks?

   • The Statistics Office, which just counts numbers and takes no side
   • A neutral team of experts, so its claim is settled fact
   • The Coffee Growers' Association, speaking for coffee farmers
   • Marlo's fishers, who earn more when the coffee price rises
7. 6.

   Card B shows the coffee price falling while fish and fruit exports stay the same. How might a coffee farmer and a fisher on Marlo see it, Milo asks?

   • Both lose the same share, since both sell their goods on Marlo
   • Neither is affected, since the same number of bags were sold
   • The farmer is hurt by the lower price; the fisher may not be
   • The fisher loses more, since fish is a larger share of the island's catch
8. 7.

   Suppose Marlo doubles its fruit exports and the other exports stay the same. Coffee is $360 million and the new total is $550 million. About what share is coffee now, Noah asks?

   • About 72 percent, since coffee income did not change
   • About 50 percent, since doubling one export splits income in half
   • About 79 percent, since adding fruit makes coffee more important
   • About 65 percent, still the largest share but lower than before
9. 8.

   Card C says prices always come back. Does card B support that, Pia asks?

   • Yes: a $140 price shows the price is already coming back
   • No: a Statistics Office report cannot be used as evidence
   • Yes: farms sold the same bags, so prices must rise again
   • No: card B shows one price fall and nothing about what comes next
10. 9.

    Which source would best check card B's coffee price, Tala asks?

    • A tourist guide that describes coffee farms on the island
    • A newspaper article retelling the price from the press release
    • A record of coffee sale prices at the island's export port
    • Another statement from the growers' association, since it speaks for farmers
11. 10.

    At this year's $140 price, about how many bags would Marlo need to sell to earn last year's $360 million, and how does that compare with the 1.8 million sold, Zee asks?

    • 2.6 million more bags than last year
    • About 2.6 million bags, about 0.8 million more than last year
    • 1.8 million bags, the same as last year
    • About 1.3 million bags, since a lower price means fewer bags