Read the given paragraph carefully and answer the following question.
Demographic transition theory can be used to describe and predict the future population of any area. The theory tells us that population of any region changes from high births and high deaths to low births and low deaths as society progresses from rural agrarian and illiterate to urban industrial and literate society. These changes occur in stages which are collectively known as the demographic cycle. The first stage has high fertility and high mortality because people reproduce more to compensate for the deaths due to epidemics and variable food supply. The population growth is slow and most of the people are engaged in agriculture where large families are an asset. Life expectancy is low, people are mostly illiterate and have low levels of technology. Two hundred years ago all the countries of the world were in this stage. Fertility remains high in the beginning of second stage but it declines with time. This is accompanied by reduced mortality rate. Improvements in sanitation and health conditions lead to decline in mortality. Because of this gap the net addition to population is high. In the last stage, both fertility and mortality decline considerably. The population is either stable or grows slowly. The population becomes urbanised, literate and has high technical know-how and deliberately controls the family size. This shows that human beings are extremely flexible and are able to adjust their fertility. In the present day different countries are at different stages of demographic transition.
Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of last stage of demographic transition?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Low level of urbanisation
The passage states: “In the last stage, both fertility and mortality decline considerably. The population is either stable or grows slowly. The population becomes urbanised, literate and has high technical know-how and deliberately controls the family size.”
Option (1) Low fertility — A characteristic of the last stage. People choose to have fewer children, so the birth rate becomes low.
Option (2) Low mortality — A characteristic of the last stage. Better health care keeps the death rate low as well.
Option (3) High level of technology — A characteristic of the last stage. People in this stage have high technical know-how.
Option (4) Low level of urbanisation — Not a characteristic of the last stage. In the last stage the population becomes urbanised. A low level of urbanisation belongs to the first stage, when most people live in villages and work in agriculture.
Note: This passage is taken from the section ‘Demographic Transition’ in the chapter ‘The World Population: Distribution, Density and Growth’ (Fundamentals of Human Geography), almost word for word.