OxfordAQA IGCSE Pakistan Studies: Landscape and Natural Resources — Practice Questions

These are original questions written for Marlbridge, in the style and at the standard of the examination. They are not reproduced past-paper questions — examination boards hold copyright in their own papers. Use these alongside the official past papers available free from your board.

Related: Landscape and Natural Resources study guide | Landscape and Natural Resources revision notes

---

Section A

1. Name two major landscape types found in Pakistan. [2]

2. State two renewable energy resources used in Pakistan. [2]

Section B

3. Explain the human and physical causes of one named physical hazard in Pakistan, and describe its impacts. [7]

4. Explain how the monsoon and western disturbances differ as causes of regional climate variation in Pakistan. [8]

5. “Non-renewable energy resources will always be more important than renewable resources for Pakistan’s economy.” How far do you agree? [10]

---

Answers

1. Any two: mountains [1]; plateaus [1]; deserts [1]; flood plains [1]; coastal areas [1] (also accept named biomes: forests, mangroves).

2. Any two: hydel (hydroelectric) power [1]; solar [1]; wind [1] (also accept: tidal, bioenergy, geothermal).

3. Named hazard: flooding (also accept earthquake or tsunami with equivalent structure). Physical causes: intense monsoon rainfall combined with glacial meltwater raises river levels rapidly, particularly where flood plains channel the excess water [2]. Human causes: settlement and agriculture on flood plains, and deforestation upstream reducing the land’s capacity to absorb rainfall, increase the population and area exposed to flooding [2]. Impacts: displacement of communities and loss of housing [1], damage to agricultural land and crops, threatening food supply and livelihoods [2].

4. The monsoon is a seasonal wind system that brings the bulk of Pakistan’s rainfall in summer, originating from moisture-laden winds from the southwest [2] [2]. Western disturbances are winter weather systems originating over the Mediterranean and Caspian regions, bringing rain and snow to northern and western Pakistan at a different time of year and from a different direction [2] [2]. A strong answer explicitly states that these are two distinct systems affecting different regions and seasons, rather than treating all of Pakistan’s precipitation as monsoon-driven throughout the year.

5. A balanced answer should not simply agree, since the specification requires weighing genuine advantages and disadvantages of both resource types [2]. For non-renewables: established infrastructure and reliable, high-output supply currently support most industrial and household demand [2], but reserves are finite and Pakistan faces growing import dependency as domestic reserves decline [2]. For renewables: Pakistan’s river systems and glacial meltwater give hydel power genuine long-term potential with lower running costs [2], but high upfront construction costs and dependency on seasonal river flow currently limit how quickly renewables can replace non-renewable supply [2]. A well-supported conclusion should note that the balance is likely to shift over time as renewable infrastructure develops, rather than treating either resource type’s dominance as permanent [2].

---

Approaching “how far do you agree” questions

As with the equivalent question style in the Paper 1 practice questions, the strongest answers to Question 5 do not simply pick a side and describe it. State a clear initial position, but qualify it where the evidence genuinely supports qualification — here, a one-sided answer favouring either non-renewables or renewables loses marks even if the individual points made are accurate, because the specification’s own wording (“advantages and disadvantages”) signals that a balanced, weighed judgement is what is being tested. Support each point with a named resource (natural gas, hydel power) rather than a generic reference to “non-renewables” or “renewables” as undifferentiated categories.

Linking landscape to natural resources

Questions that combine landscape and resource content, like Question 3 above, reward candidates who can connect a physical process to its human consequence in a single, developed answer rather than describing the physical process and the human impact as two unconnected halves. Before answering any question on a named hazard, plan the causal chain explicitly: physical trigger, why the landscape or climate makes Pakistan vulnerable to it, and the specific human consequence that follows — this structure transfers directly to questions on flooding, earthquakes or tsunamis alike.

Building a hazard case study in advance

Because Question 3 rewards named, specific detail rather than general statements, prepare one hazard as a fully worked case study before the exam, with four fixed elements ready to write from memory: what happened (a real or representative example), its physical cause, the human impact it produced, and — where relevant — a named response or mitigation measure taken afterwards. Having this ready in full detail for a single hazard, rather than a shallow list of several, transfers directly to whichever specific hazard a question names, since the same four-part structure (event, cause, impact, response) applies whether the question asks about a flood, an earthquake or a tsunami.

Naming resources specifically, not generically

Section B questions on natural resources and energy consistently reward candidates who name a specific resource — natural gas rather than “fossil fuels,” hydel power rather than “renewables” — because a generic answer cannot demonstrate the located, specific knowledge the mark scheme is built around. Before the exam, prepare a short list of one or two named examples for each resource category covered in 3.2.1.3 and 3.2.1.4 (one named mineral, one named forest resource, one named non-renewable and one named renewable energy source), so that whichever category a question focuses on, a specific example is already to hand rather than needing to be improvised under time pressure.

Where marks are usually lost

• Naming a landform or resource without linking it to a hazard, use, or importance for the economy, when the question asks for explanation rather than description.
• Treating the monsoon and western disturbances as a single weather system, or attributing all rainfall to the monsoon regardless of season.
• Giving a one-sided renewable/non-renewable comparison, favouring one resource type without weighing genuine disadvantages on both sides.
• Describing a hazard’s physical cause without also addressing its human causes or impacts, when the question specifically asks for both.

Official syllabus

OxfordAQA International GCSE Pakistan Studies (9236) specification, Version 1.9, section 3.2.1 The Landscape and Natural Resources of Pakistan (Paper 2, Section A) — https://www.oxfordaqa.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/oxfordaqa-international-gcse-pakistan-studies-specification.pdf, fetched and verified in full 2026-09-03.