IB MYP Individuals and Societies – Trade, Aid and Exchange Practice Questions

These are original questions written for Marlbridge, for revision and practice on this content. They are not reproduced past-paper questions, and they do not replicate the exam’s exact structure, question count or mark tariffs – the IB holds copyright in its own papers. Use these alongside the official past papers available through your school or the IB store.

This practice set is for IB MYP Individuals and Societies and follows the International Baccalaureate Organization, Middle Years Programme Subject Brief – Individuals and societies, from 2014. It covers trade, aid and exchange, a topic the brief lists for the on-screen examinations at the end of MYP year 5, and suits MYP years 4 and 5 (there is no SL/HL split). MYP has no prescribed content list – schools design their own units – so your teacher will share the task-specific clarifications.

Each question is labelled with the criterion it trains. Real MYP work is judged against criterion level descriptors (1–8, in four bands), so the mark points here are a revision aid, not IB marks. Countries, people and figures are fictional unless real ones are named. A calculator helps for questions 3, 4, 7 and 10.

See the study guide, the MYP Individuals and Societies hub, the printable checklist and the criteria in practice question set.

Questions

1. (Criterion A) Define each term: (i) trade deficit, (ii) tariff, (iii) tied aid. [3]

2. (Criterion A) Distinguish between a free trade area and a customs union, giving a real example of each. [4]

3. (Criterion B) The table shows the trade in goods of Kestria, a fictional country, in millions of dollars.

Year	Exports	Imports
2021	420	510
2023	465	520
2025	546	530

(a) Calculate Kestria’s balance of trade in each year. [2] (b) Calculate the percentage change in exports from 2021 to 2025. [1] (c) Describe the trend in Kestria’s balance of trade, using figures. [2] (d) Suggest one reason why exports grew faster than imports. [1]

4. (Criterion A) One worker in Tamsa can make 15 kg of tea or 5 metres of cloth in a day. One worker in Vorn can make 8 kg of tea or 4 metres of cloth.

(a) State which country has the absolute advantage in each good. [1] (b) Calculate the opportunity cost of 1 kg of tea and of 1 metre of cloth in each country. [2] (c) Identify which good each country should specialise in, and explain why. [2]

5. (Criterion A) Explain two arguments a government might use to justify protecting its domestic industries. [4]

6. (Criterion B) Read Source A.

Source A – original text written for Marlbridge. Part of a fictional speech (2025) by Amara, chair of a cocoa growers’ cooperative in Lerona, a fictional country, to visiting buyers.

“Since joining the fair-trade scheme, our members know the lowest price they will be paid, even in a bad year. The premium built our drying sheds and pays two teachers. Please buy more of our cocoa on these terms – most still sells at the ordinary price.”

A student is researching the effects of fair trade on cocoa farmers. Explain one value and one limitation of Source A for this research. [4]

7. (Criterion B) In a fictional shop, a conventional chocolate bar costs 2.50 dollars and the cocoa grower receives 0.15 dollars. A fair-trade bar costs 2.80 dollars and the grower receives 0.28 dollars, including the premium.

(a) Calculate the grower’s share of the retail price for each bar, as a percentage. [2] (b) Calculate the difference between the two shares. [1] (c) Suggest one reason why the grower’s share remains small even under fair trade. [1]

8. (Criterion A) Classify each example of aid as bilateral, multilateral or voluntary (NGO), and as short-term or long-term: (i) a charity sends tents to families after a flood; (ii) a government lends money to another government on condition that it buys the lender’s trains; (iii) several governments pay into a World Bank fund for rural schools; (iv) a government flies food to a neighbouring country after an earthquake. [4]

9. (Criterion B) You are asked to investigate how far fair-trade products are sold in your local area. Formulate a research question and outline an action plan for the investigation. [6]

10. (Criteria A and C) Aldria, a fictional donor country, has a gross national income (GNI) of 1,250 bn dollars. Last year it gave 5.0 bn in aid: 3.2 bn bilateral and 1.8 bn multilateral.

(a) Calculate Aldria’s aid as a percentage of GNI. [1] (b) Calculate how much aid Aldria would give at the UN target of 0.7% of GNI, and the shortfall. [2] (c) Plan a one-page infographic for Aldria’s citizens on how much aid their country gives and where it goes. State the graph, its labels and a key message (two sentences at most). [4]

11. (Criteria A, C and D) “Aid does more harm than good to the countries that receive it.” To what extent do you agree? Refer to at least one real example. [10]

Answers

1. (i) When the value of a country’s imports is greater than the value of its exports. [1] (ii) A tax charged on imported goods. [1] (iii) Aid given on condition that it is spent on goods or services from the donor country. [1] [3] Examiner insight: “Define” needs the precise meaning: “value of imports greater than exports” earns the point; “buying more than selling” is too vague.

2. A free trade area removes tariffs between members, but each member keeps its own tariffs on outside countries. [1] Example: USMCA, which replaced NAFTA in 2020. [1] A customs union also removes internal tariffs and adds a common external tariff on imports from outside. [1] Example: the EU customs union, or Mercosur. [1] [4] Examiner insight: “Distinguish” needs the separating feature – the common external tariff – stated clearly.

3. (a) 2021: 420 − 510 = −90 m; 2023: 465 − 520 = −55 m [1]; 2025: 546 − 530 = +16 m [1]. (b) (546 − 420) ÷ 420 × 100 = 30.0% increase [1]. (c) The deficit shrank from −90 m (2021) to −55 m (2023) [1], becoming a +16 m surplus by 2025. [1] (d) Any one reasoned point: new export industries; higher world prices for its main export; joining a trade bloc. [1] [6] Examiner insight: Keep the signs: the trend point needs the change from deficit to surplus, with figures.

4. (a) Tamsa has the absolute advantage in both tea and cloth (15 > 8 and 5 > 4). [1] (b) Tamsa: 1 kg tea costs 5 ÷ 15 = 1/3 m cloth; 1 m cloth costs 15 ÷ 5 = 3 kg tea. [1] Vorn: 1 kg tea costs 4 ÷ 8 = 0.5 m cloth; 1 m cloth costs 8 ÷ 4 = 2 kg tea. [1] (c) Tamsa: tea, as it gives up less cloth per kg (1/3 < 0.5). [1] Vorn: cloth, as it gives up less tea per metre (2 < 3), though Tamsa is better at both. [1] [5] Examiner insight: Specialisation follows comparative, not absolute, advantage; choosing by “who makes more” loses the points in (c).

5. Protecting jobs: tariffs make imports dearer, [1] so domestic firms keep sales and workers keep jobs. [1] Infant industries: a new industry has high costs at first, [1] so protection gives it time to grow efficient enough to compete. [1] [4] Examiner insight: “Explain” needs a reason and its effect for each argument; naming “jobs” alone earns half the points at most.

6. Value: it comes from the chair of a cooperative in the scheme, so it gives first-hand evidence [1] of effects such as a known minimum price and the premium paying for sheds and teachers. [1] Limitation: its purpose is to persuade buyers, so it may stress benefits and omit costs such as certification fees [1]; it covers one cooperative, so it cannot show effects on cocoa farmers in general. [1] [4] Examiner insight: Tie each value and limitation to the source’s origin or purpose and the research topic; “it might be biased” earns nothing.

7. (a) Conventional: 0.15 ÷ 2.50 × 100 = 6.0% [1]; fair trade: 0.28 ÷ 2.80 × 100 = 10.0% [1]. (b) 10.0 − 6.0 = 4.0 percentage points [1]. (c) Most of the price pays for processing, transport, shops and tax after the cocoa leaves the farm. [1] [4] Examiner insight: A difference between two percentages is in percentage points; writing “4% more” is ambiguous and may not be credited.

8. (i) Voluntary (NGO), short-term. [1] (ii) Bilateral, long-term (and tied). [1] (iii) Multilateral, long-term. [1] (iv) Bilateral, short-term. [1] [4] Examiner insight: Each point needs both classifications right; if one is debatable, add a few words of reason.

9. A focused research question, such as “What share of coffee and chocolate products in three local supermarkets is fair-trade certified?” [1] Why it matters (consumer choice; fairness and development). [1] Methods: a shelf survey in each shop and a short shopper questionnaire. [1] Recording: a tally table of certified and uncertified products and prices. [1] Analysis: percentages and a bar chart comparing shops. [1] A timeline with deadlines, and permission from shop managers. [1] [6] Examiner insight: Criterion B rewards a question the planned methods can answer; “Is fair trade good?” is too broad for a shelf survey.

10. (a) 5.0 ÷ 1,250 × 100 = 0.40% [1]. (b) 1,250 × 0.007 = 8.75 bn [1]; shortfall = 8.75 − 5.0 = 3.75 bn [1]. (c) A pie chart or divided bar: bilateral 64% (3.2 bn), multilateral 36% (1.8 bn). [1] A title naming Aldria and the year, with both values labelled. [1] A plain-language comparison with the 0.7% target. [1] Key message, for example: “Aldria gives 40 cents in aid for every 100 dollars of national income. Nearly two-thirds goes directly to partner governments.” [1] [7] Examiner insight: Criterion C rewards format and style matched to the audience; every figure on the plan must match your calculations.

11. Introduction defining aid and stating a line of argument. [1] Good: emergency aid saves lives, as after the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004. [1] Good: long-term aid funds schools, clinics and vaccination. [1] Good, with example: the US Marshall Plan (1948–1952) helped Western Europe rebuild after the Second World War. [1] Harm: dependency, as governments rely on donors instead of their own tax base. [1] Harm: tied aid serves donor firms; some aid is lost to corruption. [1] Harm: loans add to debt; the IMF and World Bank launched the HIPC Initiative in 1996 to reduce unpayable debts. [1] Evaluation: the effect depends on the type of aid and how it is managed. [1] Weighs the “trade, not aid” view against the reply that aid builds what trade needs. [1] A clear, justified conclusion answering “to what extent”. [1] [10] Examiner insight: Criterion D rewards a judgement that follows from the evidence; merely repeating both sides limits the level.

Where marks are usually lost

• Calculating imports − exports and calling a deficit a surplus.
• Dropping the minus sign on a trade balance.
• Choosing specialisation by absolute advantage instead of comparative advantage.
• Writing opportunity cost upside down.
• Giving a percentage difference as “%” instead of percentage points.
• Source evaluation that ignores the origin and purpose of the source.
• A research question too broad for the methods named.
• Extended answers with no example, counter-argument or judgement.

Next steps

• Review the trade, aid and exchange revision notes.
• Reread the trade, aid and exchange study guide.
• Source-evaluation exam preparation.
• Course hub: MYP Individuals and Societies.
• Printable checklist.
• Try all free 10-minute diagnostics.
• Book a free trial class.

Official syllabus

This practice set is aligned to the International Baccalaureate Organization, Middle Years Programme Subject Brief – Individuals and societies, from 2014. The brief lists “trade, aid and exchange” among the topics explored in the on-screen examinations.