Environmental Science, assignment help

Examination Grading

Your grade in the course will be determined by the
percentage of

correct answers.

A = 90% – 100% correct

B = 80% – 90% correct

C = 70% – 79% correct

D = 60% – 69% correct

F = 59% and below correct

GED 108 Environmental
Science

Multiple Choice Questions

1) If atmospheric carbon dioxide was eliminated from our
atmosphere, we would expect that the

 Earth would:

A) cool considerably and photosynthesis would dramatically
increase.

B) cool considerably and photosynthesis would dramatically
decrease.

C) heat up considerably and photosynthesis would
dramatically increase.

D) heat up considerably and photosynthesis would
dramatically decrease.

2) Which of the following is a correlation that is causing
widespread concern?

A) As atmospheric oxygen levels decline, the ozone layer is
being destroyed.

B) As atmospheric carbon dioxide levels decline, the ozone
layer is being destroyed.

C) As levels of methane decline, average global temperatures
are increasing.

D) As levels of carbon dioxide increase, average global
temperatures are increasing.

3) Which of the following is part of natural capital but not
ecosystem capital?

A) solar energy used to drive photosynthesis throughout the
biosphere

B) coal and oil reserves

C) the production of electrical energy from wind turbines
and dams

D) the genetic diversity of all plants and animals used in
modern agriculture

4) From an ecological economist’s perspective, without
sustainability, as economies grow:

A) gross national product grows too.

B) natural resources are renewed.

C) the natural world is depleted.

D) natural ecosystems are replenished.

5) Natural capital includes ecosystem capital plus:

A) natural forms of energy, such as solar, wind, and flowing
water.

B) nonrenewable resources such as fossil fuels.

C) money available to invest in growing industry.

D) all of the products of photosynthesis in the biosphere.

6) Which of the following is not an element of intangible
capital?

A) produced capital

B) human capital

C) social capital

D) knowledge assets

7) Uncertain about the best way to keep his new lizard
alive, Jerome places a heat lamp at one

 end of the long
lizard cage. Over several days, Jerome notices that the lizard tends to sit in
a

 certain place when
the lamp is on. The lizard’s selection of a particular place to stay

 represents its:

A) range of tolerance.

B) temperature optimum.

C) biotic conditioning.

D) use of a limited resource.

8) ________________ are defined as two or more factors
interacting in a way that causes an effect

 much greater than one
would anticipate from each of the two acting separately.

A) Synergisms

B) Habitats

C) Niches

D) none of the above

9) Energy is lost as it moves from one trophic level to the
next because:

A) one trophic level does not consume the entire trophic
level below it.

B) some of the calories consumed drive cellular activities
and do not add mass.

C) some ingested materials are undigested and eliminated.

D) All of the above.

10) In general, biomes at higher latitudes are most like:

A) biomes at higher altitudes.

B) aquatic biomes.

C) biomes at lower altitudes.

D) biomes at lower latitudes.

11) Biomes with more than 75 centimeters (30 inches) of rain
a year and that never experience

 freezing temperatures
are most likely found:

A) at high altitudes.

B) nearest the equator at low altitudes.

C) at high altitudes in temperate zones.

D) at high altitudes and high latitudes.

12) Biomes with permafrost are most likely:

A) covered in coniferous forests at high latitudes.

B) in temperate zones with deciduous trees.

C) located near the poles and without any trees.

D) located at high altitudes nearest the equator.

13) Biomes with less than 25 centimeters (10 inches) of rain
a year are:

A) high in primary productivity

B) likely to have extremely cold winters.

C) covered with coniferous trees.

D) deserts.

14) Which of the following are current limiting factors for
future human population growth?

A) pollution and land for agriculture

B) availability of oxygen and water

C) fossil fuels and carbon dioxide production

D) oxygen levels in the atmosphere and availability of
sodium chloride

15) According to demographer Joel Cohen, the human carrying
capacity:

A) can be calculated in the same way it is determined for
other animal species.

B) depends upon a standard of living.

C) can clearly be determined.

D) largely depends upon the availability of fresh water.

16) In a significant 2004 paper reviewing 69 studies on
world human population and carrying

 capacity, the authors
estimated that the sustainable carrying capacity of humans for the

 planet is about:

A) 600 million.

B) 2.5 billion.

C) 7.7 billion.

D) 20 billion.

17) According to the UN Population Division the world
population will pass the 8 billion mark in:

A) 2014.

B) 2025.

C) 2050.

D) 2100.

18) Which of the following activities would be consistent
with the Millennium Development Goals?

A) help communities build technical and trade schools for
boys to learn skills in high

 demand

B) develop coal, gold, and silver mines wherever possible as
quick sources of jobs

C) provide meals and mosquito nets for every child under the
age of five

D) encourage the expansion of national militaries to provide
income and technical training

19) If the Millennium Development goal to eradicate extreme
poverty and hunger by 2015 is

 achieved:

A) the proportion of people who suffer from hunger will be
reduced by half.

B) no continent will have more than 10,000 people still
hungry.

C) fertility rates will decline to those of most European
nations.

D) the rural population of the world will nearly double.

20) Which of the following represents the Millennium
Development Goal that has the greatest

 number of targets
worsening instead of improving?

A) universal primary education

B) increased access to clean drinking water

C) reduced child mortality

D) decreased maternal childbirth deaths

21) What new concept in population matters was strongly
emphasized at the International

 Conference on
Population Development?

A) water availability

B) AIDS

C) reproductive health

D) none of the above

22) A rural farmer most likely obtains drinking water by
drilling a deep well to use:

A) gravitational water that has percolated through soil and
accumulated as groundwater.

B) gravitational water that is retained by the soil and
accumulated just above the water

 table.

C) capillary water found in surface waters, located above
the water table.

D) capillary water that has percolated through soil and
accumulated below the

 groundwater.

23) About 99% of all liquid fresh water on Earth is found
in:

A) lakes, including the Great Lakes of North America.

B) rivers such as the Amazon, Nile, and Mississippi
watersheds.

C) underground aquifers.

D) the upper few meters of topsoil.

24) Which one of the following is fed by groundwater and
often drained by seeps or springs?

A) lakes

B) aquifers

C) rivers

D) watersheds

25) In Costa Rica, a heavy downpour provides water that
quickly evaporates or is absorbed and

 released by the dense
vegetation of the tropical rain forest. This is an example of a cycle

 using:

A) condensation, evaporation, transpiration, and green
water.

B) condensation, precipitation, and gravitational water.

C) evaporation, gravitational flow, and adiabatic cooling.

D) precipitation, gravitational flow, and convection.

26) Which of the following is NOT a principal loop in the
hydrologic cycle?

A) evapotranspiration loop

B) precipitation loop

C) surface runoff loop

D) groundwater loop

27) Which one of the following soil orders is the most
typical of drylands and deserts?

A) alfisols

B) oxisols

C) mollisols

D) aridisols

28) A hydric soil is one that:

A) is typical of wetlands and may contain peat.

B) is unusually well suited for agriculture.

C) is typical of tropical areas that receive abundant
rainfall.

D) was typical of the U.S. prairie states until the Dust
Bowl of the 1930s.

29) Which of the following would be best suited for planting
crops such as corn or wheat?

A) an irrigated aridisol

B) a fertilized alfisol

C) a plowed oxisol

D) an irrigated gelisol

30) Most plants acquire their minerals from:

A) the recycling of nutrients from detritus.

B) the precipitation of minerals from rainfall.

C) the weathering of rock.

D) dust storms that transport minerals into a region.

31) Which of the following would be classified as “soil
constraints”?

A) cold climate

B) moderate to heavy rainfall

C) poor drainage, salinity and high levels of aluminum

D) low erosion potential and high levels of phosphorus

32) One of the general concerns about the widespread use of
transgenic organisms is the:

A) spread of these transgenic traits to other organisms.

B) need to apply more pesticides to crops and plow the soil
twice a year.

C) reduced yields that result from using bioengineered
organisms.

D) pressure to bring more land into agricultural production.

33) ______________ is the lack of essential nutrients, such
as specific amino acids, vitamins and

 minerals, and can
occur in people who eat nutritionally bad diets even if they have other food

 available.

A) Malnutrition

B) Undernourishment

C) Overnourishment

D) Hunger

34) _________________ is a sedimentary material containing
bitument, an extremely viscous,

 tarlike hydrocarbon.

A) Oil sand

B) Oil shale

C) Shale gas

D) Fracking

35) Which one of the following is a waste heat energy
discharged into natural waterways?

A) thermal pollution

B) condenser

C) conversion

D) none of the above

36) This policy intended to establish energy policies for
the United States for years to come:

A) Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.

B) American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

C) Energy Policy Act of 2005.

D) None of the above

37) How much oil can primary recovery remove in an oil
field?

A) 50%

B) 18%

C) 25%

D) 67%

38) At present, the total number of long-term, commercial,
below-ground nuclear waste

 depository sites in
use in the United States is:

.

A) 0.

B) 7.

C) 23.

D) over 100.

39) One of the major problems associated with long-term,
high-level nuclear waste storage is:

A) selecting an environment that will remain stable for more
than 10,000 years.

B) determining a cost-effective way to shoot waste into
space.

C) figuring out how to contain the material so that it does
not leak into the ocean.

D) creating a secure environment to protect the material
from terrorists.

40) Yucca Mountain in the state of Nevada is:

A) the location of a leaky nuclear power plant that will
cost billions of dollars to clean up.

B) the only potential site for long-term commercial nuclear
waste storage in the United

 States, rejected for
safety concerns in 2009.

C) a military base that has accumulated low-level and
high-level nuclear waste for many

 decades.

D) the site of a lake that received illegal dumping of
nuclear waste in the 1960s.

41) NIMBY is:

A) a publicly perceived risk of siting a toxic or nuclear
waste disposal facility near their

 homes.

B) the U.S. federal agency that oversees nuclear power
facilities.

C) a U.N. organization in Geneva that directs the medical
use of radioactive isotopes.

 D) the deciding
factor in the approval of the Yucca Mountain disposal site in Nevada.

42) The Obama administration’s commission on nuclear power
waste disposal recommended:

A) the process of site selection should be kept secret from
the public.

B) a private for-profit corporation should be engaged to
choose and construct the facility.

C) that the sites should be spread over dozens of freshwater
lakes in the northern United

 States.

D) there is an immediate need to develop temporary
geological storage sites until a

 permanent one is
located.

43) New Generation III nuclear plants such as the AP1000
Advanced Passive Reactor features:

A) a combination of nuclear fusion and fission in a single
design.

B) a pressurized water system with many new passive safety
features to prevent a LOCA.

C) a design that uses a mechanical source of X-rays for
power.

D) designs based on the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan.

44) In a photovoltaic system, an inverter is required to:

A) directly convert surplus electricity into heat.

B) generate electricity from solar energy.

C) connect the DC current of the solar panel to the AC
current of an electrical grid.

D) convert AC from the solar panel into DC of the grid.

45) Around the world, photovoltaic technology is quickly
being adopted to generate electricity in:

A) large scale commercial power plants and on rooftop home
units.

B) large scale commercial power plants but not yet on
rooftop home units.

C) rooftop home units but not large scale commercial power
plants.

D) small electronic applications such as calculators but not
yet on rooftops or in

 commercial power
plants.

46) The most costly aspect of photovoltaic technology is
being addressed by:

A) inventing a way to convert alternating current to direct
current.

B) inventing a way to convert direct current to alternating
current.

C) finding a way to reduce the damaging effects of the sun
on solar panels.

D) new technologies that reduce the cost of manufacturing
solar cells.

47) Solar trough technology converts:

A) the ultraviolet light in sunlight directly into
electricity.

B) the heat of the sun into steam to drive a turbogenerator.

C) sunlight into electricity which then produces steam heat.

D) the direct current generated by photovoltaic cells into
alternating current.

48) Some milk becomes contaminated with mercury. If each of
the following people consume 16

 ounces of this
contaminated milk each day for a month, who will most likely be impacted by

 this poison?

A) an 82-year-old woman

B) a fetus inside a mother who drinks this contaminated milk

C) a 12-year-old girl

D) a 51-year-old man

49) A pharmacist asks a mother about a new prescription for
an antibiotic, wanting to be sure that

 the drug is for the
mother. The pharmacist is most likely concerned because:

A) antibiotics do not typically work on children.

B) most types of antibiotics prescribed to an adult will
likely kill a child.

C) a normal dosage for an adult can be toxic to a child.

D) a normal child’s dosage may be toxic to an adult.

50) You learn that an old friend has died from a disease that
resulted from their lifelong exposure

 to a substance. This
loved one most likely died from:

A) whooping cough.

B) a bacterial infection.

C) cancer.

D) malaria.

51) Which of the following contains the greatest number of
carcinogens?

A) a thick vanilla milkshake

B) a Twinkie snack

C) chewing tobacco

D) tap water from most cities in the United States

52) You examine an ice core sample from 10,000 years ago
when global temperatures were

 unusually high. Based
upon past studies and insights from current GHG levels, we expect that

 atmospheric levels of
carbon dioxide:

A) and methane were unusually low.

B) and methane were unusually high.

C) were high but methane levels were low.

D) were low but methane levels were high.

53) In his movie, An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore warns of
increasing levels of carbon dioxide in

 the atmosphere which
suggest that:

A) methane levels will soon rise, destroying the ozone
layer.

B) global temperatures will also continue to rise.

C) the oceans of the world are losing carbon dioxide.

D) clouds are thinning and global precipitation is
declining.

54) Evidence from proxies indicate eight major oscillations
in global temperatures over the past

 800,000 years, most
likely the result of:

A) rising and falling sea levels that greatly impact
photosynthetic activity.

B) variations in solar activity that produce different
levels of radiation.

C) Milankovitch cycles of periodic variations in Earth’s
orbits around the sun.

D) lunar cycles in which the moon orbits at different
distances from the Earth.

55) In general, temperatures along an ocean coastline vary
less than temperatures 100 miles

 inland. This
moderation of temperatures along coastlines is because:

A) as the oceans evaporate it cools off the coastlines.

B) the sun shines more intensely away from the ocean
coastlines.

C) ocean temperatures change more quickly than air
temperatures.

D) they have an innate heat capacity.

56) In our world, something with the greatest heat capacity
is able to:

A) evaporate the most water from its surface.

B) retain its heat the longest.

C) insulate the best.

D) reflect the greatest amount of sunshine.

57) Which of the following is not an ocean-atmosphere
oscillation?

A) North Atlantic Oscillation

B) Hawaiian Oscillation

C) Interdecadel Pacific Oscillation

D) El Nino Southern Oscillation

58) Which one of the following principles of smart-growth
will most likely result in less commuting

 for all residents?

A) have states purchase open spaces

B) set physical boundaries on urban sprawl

C) build new homes and stores on existing abandoned or
brownfield urban properties

D) promote the integration of homes, stores, light industry,
and professional offices

59) According to the U.S. Sprawlometer, the most sprawling
and congested area is:

A) New York.

B) Los Angeles.

C) Greensboro, NC.

D) Riverside, CA.

60) The Obama administration has moved to combat urban
sprawl through the:

A) Clean Air Act.

B) Clean Water Act.

C) American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

D) ISTEA.

61) In a large city experiencing urban blight, we would be
surprised to find:

A) improving schools.

B) a declining tax base.

C) depreciating real estate.

D) increasing crime.

62) The common denominators of livable cities include:

A) low population density, concentrated housing, few stores
and businesses, wide high

 ways, and abundant
parking.

B) low population density, heterogeneous mixtures of
residences and businesses, wide

 highways, and
abundant parking for efficient transportation.

C) high population density but heterogeneous mixtures of
residences and businesses that

 encourage people to
socially interact.

D) high population density, concentrated housing, limited
business and stores, and a car-

 centered approach
that makes driving easy.

63) The main financial problems for a city experiencing
urban blight result from:

A) a declining tax base.

B) increasing industrial growth.

C) the need to build new schools.

D) increasing use of public transportation.

64) Biodiversity is important because:

A) if certain species decline, there would be too much
oxygen in the atmosphere.

B) humans can use new sources of food.

C) if certain species decline, photosynthesis may not be
possible.

D) it is necessary to maintain stability of ecosystems.

65) Which of the following terms best applies to the
practice of environmental science?

A) highly specialized

B) integrative and interdisciplinary

C) abstract

D) theoretical

66) During the Great Depression, conservation:

A) was simply a luxury that could not be afforded.

B) efforts were opposed by millions of people who had no
time to go to parks.

C) provided work and helped restore land.

D) was devalued as most national parks and national forests
were harvested for timber and

 coal.

67) The environmental movement was a grassroots initiative
that:

A) has remained focused on issues related to renewable
energy.

B) primarily addressed growing pollution of the environment.

C) directly led to the green revolution.

D) has focused on efforts to control infectious diseases
throughout the world.

68) Which of the following is true today?

A) environmental policy springs mostly from science and not
election results

B) deregulation efforts typically leads toward more
effective policy

C) national elections rarely influence environmental policy

D) environmental policy debates are always politically
divisive

69) Which of the following best illustrates sound science?

A) measuring wind velocities to determine the
cost-effectiveness of windmills in a region

B) asking voters to determine if windmills should be placed
in their community

C) selecting a source of energy based upon profitability and
yield of tax dollars

D) lobbying government officials to increase drilling for
offshore oil

70) All scientific investigations are initially founded
upon:

A) multiple hypotheses, some of which are unanswerable.

B) good experiments.

C) good observations.

D) an already accepted theory.

71) Discriminatory trade practices that favor industrialized
countries over developing countries

 are:

A) rare and are gradually being eliminated.

B) not issues of concern to environmental scientists.

C) the number one issue at every meeting of the World Trade
Organization.

D) ways that industrialized countries support sustainable
resource management.

72) The Doha Round of WTO meetings have failed to reach
agreement about:

A) currency exchange.

B) farm subsidies and trade barriers.

C) converting the economies of developed nation from green
to brown.

D) how to control public protests at future WTO meetings.

73) The ecological economic paradigm argues that the
environment encompasses the economy

 because the
environment is essential to provide:

A) vital raw materials and ecosystem services and absorb
wastes.

B) solar energy needed for plants and to light our
environment during the day.

C) transportation along highways, railways, rivers, and
oceans.

D) the energy necessary to run our homes and factories.

74) What do the GDP and the World Bank both fail to include
in their measures of wealth?

A) the importance of law and order in a society

B) the gradual deterioration of machinery used in industrial
manufacturing

C) the income from the sales of goods abroad

D) natural services provided by ecosystem

75) Discount rates calculate the:

A) future value of an asset.

B) aesthetic value of natural assets.

C) current value of a future benefit or cost.

D) intrinsic value of renewable resources.

76) Millions of human lives could be saved if we developed
environmental policies that:

A) control outbreaks of autoimmune diseases.

B) provide food and shelter for the developing nations of
the world.

C) prevent the degradation of the environment and encouraged
sustainable use.

D) promote the construction of dams and power plants in the
least developed parts of the

 world.

77) Environmental government policies and regulations are
applied at the:

A) local, state, and federal levels.

B) state and federal levels.

C) federal level only.

D) local level only.

78) In general, careful and detailed economic studies
indicate that environmental protection helps

 the environment:

A) but hurts the economy and is bad for jobs.

B) and does not hurt the economy or cost a net loss of jobs.

C) and helps the economy but costs the loss of jobs.

D) and produces more jobs but hurts the economy.

79) The elimination of leaded gasoline resulted in:

A) a doubling of gas mileage in cars.

B) a 40% increase in the sale of diesel-powered vehicles.

C) a benefit to cost ratio of at least 10 to 1.

D) the renewal of the ozone layer.

80) From 2001 to 2009, the Bush administration:

A) strengthened the United States support of the Kyoto
Protocol.

B) developed an energy policy that favored heavy
exploitation of fossil fuels.

C) strengthened air and water quality standards.

D) supported carbon emission reduction and renewable energy
development.

81) A form of a biome is largely predicted by its:

A) diversity of plant and animal species.

B) diversity of soil microorganisms.

C) temperature and rainfall.

D) distance from the ocean.

82) During sublimation:

A) water changes from a solid directly to a gaseous form.

B) water molecules condense to form a liquid.

C) additional oxygen is added to water.

D) water molecules change their basic structure.

83) With few exceptions, inorganic compounds do not have:

A) nitrogen-oxygen bonds or carbon-oxygen bonds.

B) carbon-hydrogen bonds or carbon-carbon bonds.

C) hydrogen-nitrogen bonds or carbon-oxygen bonds.

D) potassium-sodium bonds or hydrogen-chlorine bonds.

84) Which of the following are products of photosynthesis?

A) oxygen and sugar

B) water and oxygen

C) light and heat

D) carbon dioxide and water

85) Energy:

A) and nutrients flow one way through ecosystems.

B) and nutrients both cycle within ecosystems.

C) cycles within ecosystems, while nutrients flow only one
way through ecosystems.

D) flows one way through ecosystems, but nutrients cycle
within ecosystems.

86) Biogeochemical cycles involve:

A) only biological processes.

B) the cyclic movement of materials through ecosystems

C) only geological and chemical processes.

D) heat loss from both respiration and photosynthesis.

87) The Haber-Bosch process creates nitrogenous fertilizers
by:

A) extracting reactive nitrogen from soils.

B) extracting nitrogen oxides from the gases produced when
fossil fuels are burned.

C) converting nitrogen gas and hydrogen to ammonia.

D) allowing vegetative detritus to break down under anaerobic
conditions.

88)Which one of the following statements about the carbon,
phosphorus, and nitrogen cycles is

 true?

A) The major source of carbon used by plants is the soil.

B) The major source of nitrogen used by plants is rock.

C) Phosphorus has no atmospheric component.

D) Bacteria drive the phosphorus cycle.

89) On land, the carbon used today in photosynthesis to form
carbon atoms of plant tissues is

 mostly returned to
the air because of:

A) respiration in plants, animals, and organisms in the
soil.

B) plate tectonics.

C) additional photosynthesis in the same plants.

D) erosion, decay, and general weathering.

90) Ultimately, the sunlight energy that strikes Earth is:

A) stored permanently in minerals and rocks deep within the
oceans.

B) stored permanently in molecules that are located deep
within the Earth.

C) eventually lost into space as heat.

D) converted to potential energy and stored in animals and
plant tissues permanently.

91) In logistic growth (an S-shaped curve), how does population
growth change as the population

 nears its carrying
capacity?

A) Population growth increases.

B) Population growth remains steady.

C) Population growth decreases.

D) Population growth typically crashes when a population
nears its carrying capacity.

92) Which of the following represents a type of top-down
regulation for rattlesnakes living in

 Arizona?

A) the number of snake-eating hawks in the region

B) the number of mice in the region

C) abundance of rocks under which snakes can hide

D) the availability of fresh water

93) Parasites:

A) affect their hosts in a density-independent manner.

B) and their hosts represent a type of intraspecific
competition.

C) occur in animals but not plants.

D) may live inside or outside of their host.

94) A keystone species:

A) typically reduces overall biodiversity of an ecosystem.

B) has a disproportionately large impact on the stability of
an ecosystem.

C) is typically an herbivore.

D) is an example of amensalism.

95) Genetic diversity in a species does not arise from:

A) need or want.

B) hybridization.

C) crossover.

D) mutations.

96) Adaptation takes place in response to:

A) anticipated needs.

B) only the selective pressures they experience.

C) selective pressures they have not yet experienced.

D) only selective pressures that favor survival.

97) Introduced species are a growing problem primarily
because of:

A) global trade and travel.

B) plate tectonics.

C) the speed at which new species form.

D) global climate change.

98) The risk of introducing a natural enemy to control an
invasive species is that:

A) it might drive the invasive species to extinction.

B) the natural enemy might evolve into a new species.

C) the natural enemy might also become a pest.

D) the natural enemy may introduce genetic diversity into
the invasive species.

99) The unusual organisms living in Australia have evolved
primarily because of:

A) the unique position of Australia on the face of Earth.

B) shifting ocean currents around the continent.

C) the unusual climates of Australia.

D) long term isolation of the continent.

100) Which one of the following is a trait that increases
the chances of survival for an endangered

 species?

A) geographical distribution

B) a food source consisting of a single species

C) large size

D) small number of offspring