Fall, 2008, ESRM100/ENVIR110
Exam2.1 version "A" for start at 10:30 AM

 

 

1) The subject of this course is (please answer correctly as it will be graded):
A. Environmental Science
B. Quantum Mechanics
C. Underwater Basketweaving
D. Advanced Soil Chemistry

2) According to a report from the Sustainable Endowments Institute, the UW ranks_________ in sustainability with a grade of ____ (Discussion list).
A. #1, A
B. #8, A-
C. #23, C-
D. #47, D+

3) According to the discussion list, what is the "tagline" for Environmentalism in the US these days?
A. Individual energy use
B. Going Green
C. Recycling
D. Economic equality

4)  Air quality in the U.S. has improved dramatically in the past decade for major large-volume pollutants. However, emissions of ________ have NOT decreased.
A. nitrogen oxides and particulates
B. volatile organic compounds
C. sulfur dioxide
D. lead

5)  At any given time __________ of the world's population is suffering from worms, flukes, and other internal parasites.
A. 1/4
B. 1/3
C. 2/3
D. 4/5

6)  In deep lakes, the _______ is the transition zone between the sun-warmed upper layer of water and the cold, dark lower layer.
A. Thermocline
B. Littoral zone
C. Epilimnion
D. Hypolimnion

7)  In 1540, Swiss scientist Paracelsus said, "The dose makes the poison." By this he meant that ________________.
A. the LD50 is the lethal dosage for any organism
B. almost anything is toxic at some level
C. all toxins are identical
D. mechanisms for DNA repair are only effective if the toxin is present under certain doses

8)  One promising approach for conserving tropical forests is _______ which facilitates developed countries being able to provide financial resources to protect forests and to form reserves.
A. debt-for-nature swaps
B. eliminating tariffs
C. economic embargos
D. conservation easements

9)  A(n) _______ is a grassland with scattered trees.
A. Taiga
B. Savanna
C. Arroyo
D. Chaparral

10)  _______ play a major role in the hydrologic cycle by absorbing groundwater and pumping it into the atmosphere by ________.
A. Sediments; transpiration
B. Rivers; evaporation
C. Plants; transpiration
D. Buildings; evaporation

11)  Which of the following are toxic inorganic pollutants commonly found in water?
A. Heavy metals
B. Non-metallic Salts
C. Acids
D. All of the above

12)  The LD50 is defined as _______________.
A. half of the chemical dosage needed to produce lethal responses in a test population
B. the chemical dosage lethal to an entire test population
C. the chemical dosage to which 50 percent of the test population is sensitive
D. the body weight at which a test population dies in response to a toxin

13)  As a whole, the food system in the United States consumes about 16% of the total energy we use.
A. True
B. False

14)  Even though the United States has an extensive park system, many of these parks protect ____________ than biodiversity or ecological complexity.
A. game animals
B. rocks, ice and snow
C. cultural heritages
D. indigenous communities

15)  Deserts occur at approximately which north and south latitudes?
A. 15 degrees
B. 30 degrees
C. 45 degrees
D. 60 degrees

16)  _______ encompasses vital statistics about people, such as births, deaths, and population size.
A. Taxonomy
B. Demography
C. Genealogy
D. Entomology

17)  Which of the following nations has the shortest life expectancy?
A. United States
B. Italy
C. Chile
D. Russia

18)  _______ occurs when a community first begins to develop on a site previously unoccupied by living organisms, such as a new volcanic flow.
A. Selective development
B. Landscape stabilization
C. Niche overlap
D. Primary succession

19)  The maximum number of species that can be supported by a particular ecosystem on a sustainable basis is the _______.
A. Tolerance limit
B. Niche capacity
C. Growth limit
D. Carrying capacity

20)  If you flip a coin 3 times, what is the probability that you will get 3 heads in a row?
A. 1/2
B. 1/3
C. 1/4
D. 1/8

21)  Rachel Carson's 1962 book, Silent Spring, heralded the movement of modern environmentalism.  The book addressed the threat of __________ to humans as well as other species.
A. global warming
B. soil erosion
C. wetland draining for development and agriculture
D. pollutants and toxic chemicals

22)  Water __________ is the total amount of water taken from a particular water body, while water __________ is the loss of water from that same body by the processes of evaporation, absorption and contamination.
A. withdrawal; consumption
B. consumption; withdrawal
C. hydrolysis; consumption
D. consumption; contamination

23)  Which of the following methods is the cheapest and most effective way to reduce pollution?
A. Use toxin consuming microbes
B. Avoiding its production and release in the first place
C. Recycling and reclamation efforts
D. Chemical and metal extraction

24)  Which is an effective approach to control air pollution?
A. Use high sulfur coal.
B. Increase electricity consumption.
C. Add air filters that take particulate matter out of emissions.
D. Control pest outbreaks.

25)  What is the greatest source of indoor air pollution in less-developed countries?
A. Inefficient gas heaters.
B. Tobacco smoke.
C. Methane produced in poorly ventilated poultry plants.
D. Poorly ventilated heating and cooking fires.

26)  Humans live in which zone of the atmosphere?
A. The troposphere.
B. The stratosphere.
C. The mesosphere.
D. The thermosphere.

27)  The latitudinal location of deserts around the world are areas of ________ where rains rarely occurs.
A. high pressure
B. low pressure
C. jet streams
D. atmospheric conflict

28)  Death rates are an accurate measure of the burden of disease in a population.
A. True
B. False
C.
D.

29) The low dissolved oxygen levels downstream of a sewage treatment facility is called the __________.
A. oligotrophic zones
B. eutrophication
C. oxygen sag
D. nonpoint source pollution

30)  Carcinogens, or cancer-causing substances, can cause __________.
A. fetal alcohol syndrome
B. allergic reactions
C. malignant tumors from out-of-control cell growth
D. nerve cells to die

31)  In North America, less land is being cultivated now than 100 years ago.
A. True
B. False

32)  Which of the following statements is not consistent with the theory of island biogeography?
A. Species diversity is a balance between colonization and extinction rates.
B. Large islands near a mainland tend to have fewer terrestrial species than small, far islands.
C. An island far from a mainland has a lower rate of colonization than a nearer island.
D. Habitat fragments can be viewed as islands within a larger landscape.

33)  Conifer trees are more efficient in carrying out photosynthesis during the summer months than deciduous trees are.
A. True
B. False

34)  Which of the following is not a specialization typical of desert plants?
A. Seasonal leaf production
B. Water-storage tissues
C. Broad, soft leaves
D. Spines and thorns

35)  Which of the following factors may cause a decrease in the desire of women of richer countries to have children?
A. Socioeconomic status
B. Education
C. Cost of child raising
D. All of the above

36)  Approximately how many human beings inhabit the earth today?
A. 2500 million
B..5500 million
C. 6000 million
D. 4500 million

37)  Falling death rates and birth rates due to improved living conditions usually accompany economic development. This pattern is called _______.
A. Population overshoot
B. Irruptive growth
C. Demographic transition
D. Economic transition

38)  In most tribal or traditional societies, the average woman gives birth to 10 or 11 children over the course of her lifetime.
A. True
B. False

39)  Species _______ is the number of different species in an area.
A. Complexity
B. Density
C. Abundance
D. Diversity

40)   The _______ states that no two species will occupy the same niche and compete for exactly the same resources in the same habitat for very long.
A. Principle of limiting factors
B. Law of competitive exclusion
C. Theory of divergent evolution
D. Law of competitive advantage

41)  Competition among species for the same resource within a single habitat can be reduced by a process called _______.
A. Divergent evolution
B. Coevolution
C. Partitioning
D. Environmental resistance

42)  __________is the reverse of photosynthesis and results in the release of chemical energy.
A. Oxidation
 B. Light-dependent reactions
 C. Cellular respiration
 D. Metabolism

43)  Organisms that are able to produce live, fertile offspring are:
A. Omnivores
 B. Species
 C. Biological community
 D. Producers

44)  __________ is defined as the biomass produced in a given area and time.
A. Photosynthesis
 B. A trophic level
 C. Productivity
 D. Energy exchange

45)  If you say that a particular activity is immoral, you are making a(n) _______ statement.
A. Value
B. Impersonal
C. Objective
D. Factual

46)  If foresters clear cut an area of Douglas-fir just uphill of a stream, elevated nitrogen and phosphorous levels may be seen in the water. This increase is caused by the absence of vegetation to uptake the nutrients available in the soil solution. In this
A. oligotrophication
B. cultural eutrophication
C. good management decisions
D. nitrification

47)  The goal of the US Clean Water Act is most simply stated as the return of all US surface waters to __________ conditions.
A. Òdrinkable and usableÓ
B. Òfishable and drinkableÓ
C. Òdrinkable and swimmableÓ
D. Òfishable and swimmableÓ

48)  Microbes and plankton are not very sensitive to UV radiation and would probably not be adversely affected by a hole in the ozone layer.
A. True
B. False

49)  True or False: Throughout the history of the earth, climate has changed constantly on a long time scale.
A. True
B. False

50)  ________ and _______ may result in too much of a greenhouse effect.
A. Burning of agricultural wastes; deforestation
B. Burning of fossil fuels; deforestation
C. Planting trees; storing carbon in forests
D. Burning rubber tires; deforestation

51)  The top carnivores in the food chain do NOT suffer from the health effects experienced by organisms at the lower trophic levels.
A. True
B. False
C.
D.

52)  In humans, most of the enzymes responsible for processing waste products and reducing the toxicity of poisons are located in the __________.
A. kidneys
B. liver
C. pancreas
D. gall bladder

53)  The most common dietary problem in the U.S. is ________.
A. high cholesterol
B. over-nutrition
C. diabetes
D. calcium deficiency

54)  The reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone ____________.
A. has thrown the park's ecosystem out of balance
B. required Parks to hire professional hunters
C. is an attempt to control elk and deer populations
D. has been welcomed by ranchers as maintaining their way of life

55)  Which of the following statements is false?
A. Exotic species threaten biodiversity because they can turn into superagressive ÒweedyÓ invaders.
B. Some animal populations have been greatly reduced or deliberately exterminated because they compete with our use of resources.
C. Genetic assimilation significantly decreases a speciesÕ risk of extinction.
D. The American chestnut, once the major tree species of the east coast, was nearly wiped out by a fungal blight that was accidentally brought in from China.

56)  The largest desert in the world is located in________.
A. Northern Africa
B. Russia
C. The southwestern U.S.
D. The Arctic

57)  Since about A.D. 1000, the human population curve has assumed _______.
A. a J shape
B. a S shape
C. a C shape
D. an U shape

58)  _______ is the physical ability to reproduce, while _______ describes the actual production of offspring.
A. Fertility, fecundity
B. Fecundity, fertility
C. Fertility, pregnancy
D. Pregnancy, fertility

59)   _______ is a nonpermanent form of physiological adaptation available to individual organisms.
A. Evolution
B. Acclimation
C. Mutation
D. Genetic drift

60)  Which of the following is not a predator?
A. lion
B. Carnivore
C. Omnivore
D. Detritovore

61)  _______ is a symbiotic relationship in which one species benefits and the other is harmed.
A. Parasitism
B. Commensalism
C. Endemism
D. Antagonism

62)  The basic unit in an organic compound is:
A. A glucose molecule
 B. Hydrogen atoms
 C. Carbon atoms
 D. Nitrogen atoms

63)  Multiple organisms feeding within an ecosystem is called a:
A. Biological community
 B. Food chain
 C. Trophic level
 D. Food web

64)  H2O has a __________ specific heat.
A. High
 B. Low
 C. Medium
 D. Negative

65)  A covalent bond is formed when:
A. Cations and anions bond
 B. Atoms share an electron
 C. Atoms are bonded via magnetism
 D. Metals and nonmetals are combined

66)  Plants in the __________ family have nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the tissues of their roots.
A. Corn
 B. Legume (pea)
 C. Peat
 D. Oak

67)  Indigenous or native peoples account for __________% of the worldÕs population.
A. 10
B. 20
C. 30
D. 40

68)   Scientists sometimes use mathematical __________ to simulate real systems.
A. Archetypes
B. Approximations
C. Models
D. Paragons

69)  A ___________ is an explanation that is supported by a vast amount of scientific data and is generally accepted by a majority of experts in a given field.
A. Proposition
B. Theory
C. Hypothesis
D. Supposition

70)  Which of the following is the best definition of sustainable development?
A. Development that meets the needs of the present.
B. Development that meets the needs of the present while preserving endangered ecosystems.
C. Development that ensures that present consumption rates can be sustained in the long term.
D. Development that meets the needs of the present while preserving the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

71)  ___________ thinking involves breaking a problem down into its constituent parts.
A. Analytical
B. Critical
C. Reflective
D. Logical

72)  Marasmus is a protein and calorie deficiency disease common in Africa. The effects of this disease are:
A. heart murmur and delays in growth and development.
B. dry, scaly skin, fatigue, constipation and unusual weight gain
C. reddish-orange hair and a bloated stomach.
D. tight skin, sunken eyes and low energy.

73)  ___________, which historically was almost entirely deforested, is actually increasing the amount of forested land, whereas other regions are losing forest land.
A. Asia
B. Europe
C. Africa
D. South America

74)  The presence of predators (such as wolves) in national parks generally prevents species such as elk from overpopulating and overgrazing the land.
A. True
B. False
C.
D.

75)  Traditional slash and burn agriculture can be sustainable as long as population levels are low and individual agricultural plots are given enough time to regenerate.
A. True
B. False
C.
D.

76)  The U.S. Forest Service has begun to shift its policies to focus on __________, which attempts to integrate sustainable ecological, economic, and social goals.
A. maximum timber production
B. "cut out and get out"
C. forest preservation
D. ecosystem management

77)  The __________ is the layer of soil comprised of weathered rock fragments with very little organic material.
A. surface litter (O horizon)
B. topsoil (A horizon)
C. zone of leaching (E horizon)
D. parent material (C horizon)

78)  In many developing countries new land is still being converted to agricultural use. A major result of this conversion is __________.
A. high price of agricultural crops
B. fewer landless people
C. increased productivity on converted lands
D. loss of forests and grazing lands

79)  Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), a bacterium, is ____________.
A. a cause of increased pesticide spraying
B. not approved for use by organic farmers
C. not commonly found in nature
D. is an insecticide

80)  Good forest management requires __________ which maintains habitat for many forest species.
A. cutting all young trees
B. removing all logging residues
C. removing all dead trees
D. keeping dead trees