Human Impact on the Environment Pre-Test
Questions
Course Introduction
This course explores the ways in which human activities influence and alter natural environments at local, regional, and global scales. Students will analyze key environmental issues such as climate change, deforestation, pollution, resource depletion, and biodiversity loss, examining both the causes and consequences of these impacts. The course examines the scientific, economic, political, and ethical dimensions of environmental challenges, and encourages critical evaluation of strategies for sustainable development and environmental stewardship. Through a combination of case studies, readings, and discussions, students will gain insight into the role of individuals and societies in shaping the future of the planet.
Recommended Textbook
Living in the Environment 17th Edition by G. Tyler Miller
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25 Chapters
2615 Verified Questions
2615 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability
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Sample Questions
Q1) The word "sustainability" is becoming a commonly used slogan.Many people who use the word may not understand the complexities involved in the concept.Explain how the author uses the concept of natural capital to argue for sustainability.
Answer: The authors state: "natural capital can support the earth's diversity of species as long as we use its natural resources and services in a sustainable fashion."
Q2) Describe what Garrett Hardin meant by the Tragedy of the Commons, and give an example.
Answer: Hardin uses the term to indicate a resource that no one owns individually, that is held "in common," and which is available for exploitation.Open range land, owned by the government but used by ranchers to graze cattle, is an example.
Q3) Which of the following is not one of the types of property or resource rights?
A)private property
B)unusable property
C)open access renewable
D)common property
E)all of these are types of property rights
Answer: B
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Page 3
Chapter 2: Science, Matter, Energy, and Systems
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Sample Questions
Q1) Tentative or frontier science is always science done by incompetent scientists whose work will never be accepted by their peers.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) Which of the following does not represent a synergistic interaction?
A)Smokers who inhale asbestos die of lung cancer.
B)Combinations of pollutants increase health hazards.
C)Bartender who doesn't smoke gets lung cancer from secondary smoke.
D)Running further when running with a partner.
E)Studying for a test with a group of students.
Answer: C
Q3) The macromolecules that make up living organisms are
A)proteins
B)lipids
C)carbohydrates
D)nucleic acids
E)all of these
Answer: E
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Page 4
Chapter 3: Ecosystems: What Are They and How Do They Work
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is not a type of consumer?
A)decomposer
B)producer
C)omnivore
D)carnivore
E)detritivore
Answer: B
Q2) Why would there be fewer organisms at level A than at any level below it?
Answer: The amount of energy lost between levels is so great there is not sufficient energy remaining at the upper level to sustain more.
Q3) Sulfur is added to the atmosphere in all the following ways except
A)from volcanoes
B)anaerobic decomposition in swamps
C)eating meat
D)sea spray
E)acid rain deposition
Answer: C
Q4) Indicate the letter at which humans would be found?
Answer: A
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Chapter 4: Biodiversity and Evolution
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Sample Questions
Q1) Large regions such as forests and deserts, with distinct climates and species, are called _______________.
Q2) In speciation, two species interbreed to form one new species.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Charles Darwin is the only person who came up with the idea that organisms change over time and are descended from a common ancestor.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Humans are playing a decreasing role in the process of extinction.
A)True
B)False
Q5) A huge body of evidence supports the idea of biological evolution through natural selection.
A)True
B)False
Q6) For every shark that injures a person, humans kill at least 1 million sharks.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 5: Biodiversity, Species Interactions, and Population Control
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Sample Questions
Q1) Observe the Figure above.Notice that in the upper graph the two species overlap.That region of niche overlap places the species in competition for the shared resource.Explain why this is not useful and how the niches of the two species have come to be separated as shown in the lower graph.
Q2) Using a small rodent, such as a field mouse, and a predator, such as a snake, explain how coevolution works.
Q3) A plot of the number of individuals in a population against time yields a sigmoid or S-shaped curve, typical of ____________________ growth.
Q4) Large mammals, such as humans, whales, and elephants, are especially vulnerable to extinction because of their reproductive patterns.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Choose the portion of the graph that represents the number of reindeer that exceeded the capacity of their environment.
Q6) Organisms with clumped distribution are fairly rare. A)True
B)False
Q7) Choose the letter that represents a population's capacity for growth.
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Chapter 6: The Human Population and Its Impact
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Sample Questions
Q1) All of the following reasons help explain why the United States has one of the highest infant mortality rates of developed countries, except
A)inadequate health care for pregnant poor women
B)women delaying getting pregnant until later in life
C)drug addiction among women
D)high birth rate among teenagers
E)inadequate health care for babies after birth
Q2) Women tend to have fewer and healthier children for all the following reasons, except
A)when their individual rights are protected
B)earn an income of their own
C)when they have access to education
D)when they control their own fertility
E)when they have access to the internet
Q3) Worldwide, AIDS is the leading cause of death for people _____ years of age.
A)1-4
B)5-14
C)15-49
D)50-65
E)66+
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Chapter 7: Climate and Biodiversity
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Sample Questions
Q1) ____________________ global warming can cause climate changes that last for centuries or thousands of years.
Q2) Soil nutrients are remarkably sparse in the ____________________, considering the overall high levels of biomass.
Q3) What does the gray coloration at the bottom represent?
Q4) How much of the year is the Arctic tundra below the freezing point?
Q5) Wind is an indirect form of ____________________ energy.
Q6) The earth's air circulation patterns, prevailing winds, and configuration of continents and oceans result in ____________________ giant convection cells.
Q7) Which of the following is not a type of terrestrial ecosystem on Earth?
A)ice-covered
B)deserts
C)forests
D)grasslands
E)none of these
Q8) Vegetation layers in the tropical rain forests are structured mostly according to plants' need for ____________________.
Page 9
Q9) The highest solar energy input is at ____________________.
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Chapter 8: Aquatic Biodiversity
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Sample Questions
Q1) Most lakes are hypereutrophic when considering the level of nutrients.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The saltwater of the earth is a single and continuous body of water.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which of the following would be characteristic of the profundal zone?
A)rooted plants
B)low oxygen levels
C)nourished by dead matter
D)main photosynthetic layer
E)turtles, frogs, crayfish, perch
Q4) Compare and contrast estuaries and intertidal pools in terms of biodiversity.
Q5) Some parts of the deepest ocean remain completely untouched by human activity.
A)True
B)False
Q6) The ____________________ is the largest of the four oceans, which contains more than ____________________ of the earth's water.
Q7) In deep aquatic systems the photosynthetic zone is called the ____________________ zone.
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Chapter 9: Sustaining Biodiversity: the Species Approach
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Sample Questions
Q1) Biodiversity experts estimate that during this century the extinction rate due to human activities will rise to _____ times the background extinction rate.
A)3
B)10
C)20
D)100
E)10,000
Q2) Worldwide, approximately 2,500 species are listed as endangered or threatened.
A)True
B)False
Q3) We should act to prevent premature extinction of species, in part because they contribute to ____________________, those services that support our economies.
Q4) The biggest problem with invasive species is that in the new location they
A)are always bigger than native species
B)have no population controls such as predators
C)are always stronger than native species
D)have higher reproductive rates than native species
E)evolve more quickly than native species
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Chapter 10: Sustaining Terrestrial Biodiversity: the Ecosystem Approach
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Sample Questions
Q1) Degradation of a tropical forest usually begins when a(n) ____________________ is cut deep into the forest.
Q2) Four of the following are measures to restore ecosystems; one is not.Choose the one that is not.
A)rehabilitation
B)secondary succession
C)replacement
D)creating artificial ecosystems
E)restoration
Q3) Making ultra-soft toilet paper requires millions of trees to be cut down, more than half from old or second growth forests.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The average rate of global tropical deforestation is equivalent to _____ to _____ football fields per minute.
Q5) According to a 2007 UN Food and Agriculture Organization report, approximately 60% of the world's forests are ____________________ forests.
Page 12
Q6) How much larger is the value of climate regulation than recreation?
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Chapter 11: Sustaining Aquatic Biodiversity
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following has not been a contributing factor to the dramatic loss of aquatic fish species in Lake Victoria?
A)increase in population of Nile perch
B)frequent blooms of algae
C)flooding from torrential rains
D)nutrients from surrounding farms and deforested land
E)release of untreated sewage
Q2) Whales and humans are both air-breathing mammals and are generally understood to be intelligent.Whales have become iconic as a symbol of the relationship between humans and nature.Choose one of the following questions to answer.
a.Should the high regard many people have for whales give the whales a special status when it comes to being hunted? Explain.
b.Should the fact that whales are intelligent mammals play a role in deciding whether whales should be hunted? Explain.
c.Is it appropriate in the 21st Century to allow exceptions to bans on hunting for cultural and/or religious reasons? Explain.
Q3) Which letter indicates trawl fishing?
Q4) At approximately what year did the cod fishery reach its maximum catch?
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Page 13
Chapter 12: Food, Soil, and Pest Management
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Sample Questions
Q1) Wind is the largest cause of soil erosion.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The methane that cattle produce each year in the U.S.has an atmospheric warming effect equal to that of 33 million automobiles.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The United States leads the world in the amount of its cropland dedicated to growing organic food.
A)True
B)False
Q4) In 2006, 43% of the fish and shellfish consumed were produced through ____________________, which includes raising marine and freshwater fish in ponds and underwater cages.
Q5) The best way to maintain soil fertility is through
A)applying animal manure
B)applying commercial inorganic fertilizer
C)applying organic fertilizer
D)soil conservation
E)using low till planting
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Chapter 13: Water Resources
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Sample Questions
Q1) Groundwater overdrafts near coastal areas can contaminate aquifers with ____________________.
Q2) Many aquifers, including the Ogallala aquifer, were formed thousands of years of years ago.Many of these aquifers are either very slowing recharged, or cannot be recharged.Should removal of this water be treated in the same fashion as mining other resources? What steps should be taken to control the removal of a nonrenewable resource such as this?
Q3) Based on climate models the southwestern United States and northern Mexico will likely have extended periods of extreme drought throughout the rest of this century. A)True B)False
Q4) Groundwater in an aquifer typically moves only a(n) ____________________ or so per year.
Q5) Flood irrigation is the most efficient method of delivering water needed for crops. A)True B)False
Q6) Downstream cropland and estuaries are deprived of nutrient-rich silt.
Q7) Is desalination a viable option for the need for fresh water? Why or why not?
Page 15
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Chapter 14: Geology and Nonrenewable Mineral Resources
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Sample Questions
Q1) When two continental plates collide they form ____________________.
Q2) Waste soil and rock removed during surface mining is called
A)hazardous waste
B)gangue
C)spoil
D)tailings
E)smelt
Q3) Surface mining is used to extract 60% of the coal used in the United States.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Minerals and rocks take a long time to form and are called
A)unusable resources
B)waste products
C)nonrenewable resources
D)degraded capital
E)renewable resources.
Q5) Tidal waves in the open ocean can travel as fast as jet airplanes.
A)True
B)False
Q6) Choose the process that could involve movement by wind.
Page 16
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Chapter 15: Nonrenewable Energy
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Sample Questions
Q1) A coal burning power plant releases 100 times more radioactivity into the atmosphere than does a nuclear power plant of the same energy output.
A)True
B)False
Q2) How much of the energy in a light-water reactor is lost?
A)26%
B)42%
C)63%
D)75%
E)83%
Q3) Which of the following is not true if the rate of global consumption continues to grow exponentially at 2% per year?
A)Saudi Arabian proven reserves would last 7 years
B)proven reserves under Alaska's North Slope would meet U.S.demand for 3 years
C)Alaska's ANWR unproven reserves would meet U.S.demand for 24 months
D)the Bakken oil formation in the U.S.would last 10 years
E)if people of China use as much as people of U.S.we need 7 more Saudi Arabias
Q4) Seventy two percent of the world's estimated oil shale reserves are in the western part of ____________________ .
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Chapter 16: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which country gets 95% of its energy from renewable sources?
A)Denmark
B)Brazil
C)Iceland
D)Costa Rica
E)China
Q2) In Europe, more than half of all cars run on diesel, primarily because
A)it produces less smoke
B)it burns more slowly
C)diesel engines are 40% more efficient
D)diesel engines are less heavy
E)diesel is less expensive
Q3) Molten salt systems allow solar thermal power plants to produce electricity around the clock.
A)True
B)False
Q4) According to the United Nations, about 60% of all the world's potential for hydropower has been developed.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 17: Environmental Hazards and Human Health
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Q1) Research has indicated that long-term exposure to some chemicals may disrupt the body's immune, nervous, and endocrine systems.
A)True
B)False
Q2) One significant source of mercury emissions into the atmosphere is from coal-burning power plants.
A)True
B)False
Q3) A person experiencing liver damage after a lifetime of alcohol abuse is showing
A)a chronic effect
B)a subchronic effect
C)an acute effect
D)a subacute effect
E)superacute exposure
Q4) All of the following are non-transmissible diseases, except
A)heart disease
B)most cancers
C)tuberculosis
D)malnutrition
E)asthma
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Chapter 18: Air Pollution
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Sample Questions
Q1) Respiratory illnesses in developing countries are most likely to be caused by
A)formaldehyde
B)cigarette smoke
C)particulate matter
D)asbestos
E)chloroform
Q2) In the United States, how many people get cancer from breathing diesel fumes from buses and trucks?
A)10,000
B)50,000
C)75,000
D)100,000
E)125,000
Q3) All of the following are on EPA's "four most dangerous indoor air pollutants list," except
A)ultrafine particles of various substances
B)radon-222
C)sulfur dioxide
D)tobacco smoke
E)formaldehyde
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Chapter 19: Climate Disruption and Ozone Depletion
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Sample Questions
Q1) The western United States is currently experiencing its worst drought in how many years?
A)1000
B)500
C)300
D)250
E)150
Q2) In a warmer world, which of the following organisms are likely to decline in numbers?
A)insects
B)microbes
C)humans
D)fungi and molds
E)weeds
Q3) Over the past 900,000 years the earth's atmosphere has been remarkably steady, not undergoing cycles of warming and cooling.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Coastal flooding from a sea level rise of _____ meters would affect 150 million people.
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Chapter 20: Water Pollution
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Sample Questions
Q1) Cyanobacteria are commonly called _______________.
Q2) About ____ of U.S.lakes were tested unsafe for fishing, swimming, and other recreational uses.
A)25%
B)45%
C)65%
D)75%
E)85%
Q3) When researchers studying Lake Washington got no action from treatment plant managers, they did which of the following?
A)went on to something new
B)went to the Washington State legislature for help
C)went to the EPA for help
D)educated the public
E)wrote more scientific articles
Q4) Water is being bottled and shipped to the U.S.and Europe from the Pacific island of Fiji, yet _____ of the people of Fiji do not have access to safe drinking water.
Q5) The leading cause of water pollution is ____________________ activities.
Q6) In which zone has the stream recovered, with a return of clean water organisms?
Page 22
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Chapter 21: Solid and Hazardous Waste
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Q1) Which of the following is something each person can do to save resources?
A)buy things that are reusable, recyclable, or compostable
B)use e-mail or text messaging in place of paper mail
C)buy products in bulk or concentrated form when possible
D)avoid disposable items such as plastic ups, plates, eating utensils
E)all of these are things each person can do
Q2) All of the following are means of detoxifying hazardous and toxic wastes, except A)phytoremediation
B)crushing and grinding
C)bioremediation
D)nanomagnets
E)chemical methods
Q3) One way to deal with the creation of solid wastes is to reduce the environmental impact without trying to reduce the amount of waste produced.This is called
A)waste reduction
B)waste recycling
C)secondary pollution prevention
D)primary pollution prevention
E)integrated waste management
Q4) Choose the letter that represents phytoextraction.
Page 23
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Chapter 22: Cities and Sustainability
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Q1) Advantages of automobiles include all of the following, except
A)symbols of power
B)mobility
C)energy efficiency.
D)basis of much of world's economy
E)convenience of use
Q2) Zipcars are which of the following?
A)a cross between a bicycle and a small car
B)small electric cars good for 1 hour of travel
C)high-speed rail cars for short distances
D)mechanical spring operated automobile
E)car-sharing rent-a-car
Q3) Which country has taken the strongest stand against urban sprawl?
A)United States
B)Canada
C)Netherlands
D)China
E)India
Q4) __________ percent of all major urban U.S.highways are regularly congested.
Q5) Urban areas grow by __________ __________ and by _______________ .
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Chapter 23: Economics, Environment, and Sustainability
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Q1) The sustainability revolution is also an economic revolution.
A)True
B)False
Q2) In order to implement ____________________, governments should reduce income or payroll taxes and enforce a safety net for poor and middle class citizens.
Q3) Making the shift to more sustainable economies will require governments, schools, and industries to do all of the following except
A)greatly increase spending on research and development
B)increase spending on scientific and engineering education
C)give all students a basic environmental education
D)include neoclassical economic concepts in their curricula
E)develop business schools that include sustainable business planning
Q4) Experience shows markets cannot be relied upon to provide adequate levels of ____________________.
Q5) In a truly free-market economic system, all economic decisions are governed solely by the competitive interaction of ____________________, ____________________, and ____________________.
Q6) How much money did Americans spend on potato chips in the year 2006?
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Chapter 24: Politics, Environment, and Sustainability
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Q1) In the midst of all the competing interests a student has, you might not be inclined to help with a campus environmental audit.Does the fact that the environment will likely have a significant impact on your future make any difference in your deliberations about working on an audit? Why or why not?
Q2) The story of Diane Wilson reminds us of one very important point, which is...
A)chemical companies may release water pollutants
B)challenging one or more major companies is easier than you expect
C)you really need to be someone important to succeed in challenging polluters
D)in environmental issues, individuals matter
E)correcting an environmental problem doesn't take long
Q3) Decisions made by various courts make up a body of law known as
Q4) The exact role played by a government is determined by its
Q5) The legal concept of ____________________ occurs when people use their property in a way that causes annoyance or injury to others.
Q6) Many environmental groups on college campuses have made ____________________ of their campuses, gathering data on practices affecting the environment.
Q7) At a fundamental level, all politics is ____________________.
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Chapter 25: Environmental Worldviews, Ethics, and Sustainability
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Q1) Which of the following is not one of the human activities having the greatest harmful impact on the environment?
A)food production
B)transportation
C)home energy use
D)recycling
E)overall resource use
Q2) The Biosphere 2 experiment was a complete success.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The ____________________ worldview is devoted to preserving the earth's biodiversity and life systems for now and in the future.
Q4) Which of the following would not be part of the environmental wisdom worldview?
A)Human ingenuity and technology will not allow us to run out of resources.
B)We should encourage earth-sustaining forms of economic growth.
C)Resources are limited and should not be wasted.
D)Nature exists for all species and we are totally dependent on nature.
E)Our success depends on learning how nature sustains itself.
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