Resources and Trade — Answer Key
Part A: Fill in the Blank
Write the missing word or number on each line.
1. When there is not enough of a resource to meet everyone's needs, we call that scarcity.
Scarcity means there is not enough of something for everyone who wants it. It forces people and countries to make choices about how to use limited resources.
2. A need is something people must have to survive, such as food, water, or shelter.
A need is something required for survival, like food, water, or shelter. Needs are different from wants, which are things people would like but can live without.
3. The US imports coffee beans because coffee plants need a tropical climate to grow.
Coffee plants only thrive in warm, tropical climates near the equator. Since most of the US has cold winters, it must import coffee from tropical countries like Brazil and Colombia.
4. A country's economy grows when it can export goods that other countries want to buy.
Exporting means selling goods to other countries. When a country exports, money flows in from buyers abroad, which helps its economy grow.
5. Because resources are limited, people must make choices about how to use them.
Since resources are limited, people cannot have everything they want and must decide what matters most. Every choice means giving up something else.
6. Timber from Canada is an import to the United States.
Since the timber comes from Canada into the United States, it is an import for the US. From Canada's point of view, that same timber is an export.
7. A factory worker who assembles car parts is a human resource.
A factory worker is a human resource because the worker is a person contributing skills and labor. The tools the worker uses would be capital resources, not human ones.
8. Robots on an assembly line are capital resources because they are tools used to produce goods.
Robots are capital resources because they are machines built by people to help manufacture products. They are not natural (from nature) or human (people).
9. Oil is a nonrenewable resource because it takes millions of years to form.
Oil is nonrenewable because it formed from ancient organisms over millions of years. Once people use it up, it cannot be replaced in any human lifetime.
Part B: Matching
Match each item on the left to the correct answer on the right.
1. Match each item to its correct answer.
Scarcity
→ Not enough of a resource to go around
A country exports more than it imports
Trade surplus
→ A country exports more than it imports
Cannot be replaced once used up
Consumer
→ A person who buys goods or services
Not enough of a resource to go around
Nonrenewable
→ Cannot be replaced once used up
A person who buys goods or services
Correct matches: Scarcity → Not enough of a resource to go around; Trade surplus → A country exports more than it imports; Consumer → A person who buys goods or services; Nonrenewable → Cannot be replaced once used up.