Environmental Science Exam Bank
Course Introduction
Environmental Science is an interdisciplinary field that explores the interactions between the physical, chemical, and biological components of the environment and their impact on living organisms, including humans. The course covers topics such as ecosystem dynamics, biodiversity, natural resource management, pollution, climate change, sustainability, and environmental policy. Students will gain an understanding of the scientific principles underlying environmental processes, learn to analyze human influence on natural systems, and evaluate strategies for mitigating environmental problems. The course emphasizes critical thinking, problem-solving, and the application of science to real-world environmental challenges.
Recommended Textbook
Environmental Science 13th Edition by William P Cunningham
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25 Chapters
1265 Verified Questions
1265 Flashcards
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Understanding Our Environment
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51 Verified Questions
51 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The National Park Service reflects a ________ approach while the Forest Service reflects a ________ approach.
A)Biocentric preservationist; pragmatic utilitarian conservationist
B)Global environmentalist; cornucopian
C)Pragmatic resource conservationist; moral and aesthetic preservationist
D)Cornucopian; global environmentalist
E)Pragmatic utilitarian conservation; biocentric preservation
Answer: A
Q2) Which country listed is not in the top 5 with respect to sustainable development?
A)The United States
B)Sweden
C)Finland
D)New Zealand
E)They are all in the top 5
Answer: A
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Chapter 2: Principles of Science and Systems
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is not an important feature of science?
A)Reproducibility
B)Parsimony
C)Empiricism
D)Positive proof
Answer: D
Q2) A scientific consensus
A)is typically broad in its statements.
B)uses feedback from many scientists.
C)can lead to paradigm shifts.
D)All of these answers are correct.
Answer: D
Q3) In a food chain, grass absorbs sunlight to make sugar, the grass is eaten by a rabbit, and the rabbit is eaten by a fox.What is a throughput that connects this system?
A)energy
B)sugar
C)the will to survive
D)ATP
Answer: A
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Page 4
Chapter 3: Matter, Energy, and Life
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60 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is NOT a type of organic molecule?
A)Lipids
B)Salts
C)Nucleic Acids
D)Proteins
E)Carbohydrates
Answer: B
Q2) Biomass includes all:
A)Material in an ecosystem
B)Things that are living at a given time
C)Living and nonliving things
D)Matter produced by primary producers
E)Biological material
Answer: E
Q3) A compound is composed of _________.
A)Elements
B)Isotopes
C)Atoms
D)Molecules
Answer: C
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Chapter 4: Evolution, Biological Communities, and Species
Interactions
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Sample Questions
Q1) As a rule, near the Earth's north and south poles,
A)Diversity is high and abundance is low
B)Abundance is high and diversity is high
C)Neither abundance nor diversity is high
D)Abundance is high and diversity is low
E)Abundance and diversity are about the same
Q2) An especially effective strategy for reducing intraspecific competition is
A)Assigning different ecological niches for juveniles and adults of the same species
B)Rapid reproduction
C)Eating fruit before it is ripe for other species
D)Resource partitioning
Q3) Evolution occurs as a result of
A)The discovery of a desirable characteristic in a population
B)An individual's physiological modification
C)An environmental change that forces modification in a resident species
D)Better survival or reproduction rates by individuals with a particular characteristic
E)A population's physiological modification
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Page 6
Chapter 5: Biomes
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following protects mainland shores from the force of waves?
A)Wetlands
B)Barrier islands
C)Coral islands
D)Estuaries
E)Volcanic islands
Q2) Morpheus, Trinity, and Neo are on the wet western coast of North America and as they look around, they see lots of mosses, lichens, and ferns covering the tree branches.Condensation from fog on the leaves is a major form of precipitation.Where are they?
A)Temperate rainforest
B)Boreal forest
C)Tropical rainforest
D)Southern pine forest
E)Tropical savannah
Q3) Coral bleaching occurs when ___________.
A)ocean temperatures are too warm.
B)during low tide when coral is exposed to the air.
C)when too much sunlight is shining on the coral.
D)when ocean temperatures are too cool.
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Chapter 6: Population Biology
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Sample Questions
Q1) The most common factor that affects birth and death rates within a population independently of density is
A)Fire
B)Competition
C)Weather
D)Stress
E)None of these is correct
Q2) Which of the following is not a density-dependent population control factor?
A)Stress
B)Overcrowding
C)Predation
D)Drought
E)Competition
Q3) White-tailed deer populations are at about the same levels as they were a century ago.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The world's most destructive insect is the cockroach.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 7: Human Populations
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Sample Questions
Q1) The world human population reached about 1 billion in _________ and passed ____________ in 2011.
A)1400; 78 billion
B)1500; 1 trillion
C)1600; 78 million
D)1700; 7 million
E)1800; 7 billion
Q2) The world population began growing rapidly during the Middle Ages.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which of the following demographic categories best identifies Country "A"?
A)Developed
B)Moderately developed
C)Less developed
D)Developing
E)Third World
Q4) Use birth rates, death rates, emigration rates, and fertility rates to explain a current example of the population dynamics in a nation's human population.Choose the nation you want to describe.
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Chapter 8: Environmental Health and Toxicology
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Sample Questions
Q1) _______________, rather than ______________, are becoming the leading causes of disability and premature death worldwide.
A)Chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease; infectious diseases such as malaria
B)Infectious diseases such as malaria; chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease
C)Traffic deaths; infectious diseases such as malaria
D)Chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease; traffic deaths
E)Infectious diseases such as malaria; traffic deaths
Q2) An advantage of testing for toxicity by exposing animals to chemicals is that using animals is
A)Cheaper than other methods
B)Faster than other methods
C)Usually quite humane
D)Easier than using computer models
E)A trusted and usually reliable way to get results
Q3) Toxins can be dangerous in very small concentrations.
A)True
B)False
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Page 10
Chapter 9: Food and Hunger
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Sample Questions
Q1) One of the ecological benefits associated with aquaculture is the organic material generated from the aquaculture tanks.The nutrients increase the health and productivity of the surrounding natural ecosystem.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Famines are most often serious when there is
A)A very serious drought.
B)No room to expand agriculture.
C)Steady population growth.
D)Armed conflict and political oppression.
E)An attempt by indigenous people to return to old traditions and lands.
Q3) U.S.farm subsidies allow crops to be sold at an average of ____________________.
A)only 5% above the cost of production.
B)35% below the cost of production.
C)10% below the cost of production.
D)20% below the cost of production.
Q4) Agricultural (farm) subsidies are especially effective in helping preserve small "family farms."
A)True
B)False
11
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Chapter 10: Farming: Conventional and Sustainable Practices
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Sample Questions
Q1) Organophosphates and _________ are similar in that they lack environmental persistence and have low bioaccumulation.
A)Chlorinated hydrocarbons
B)Carbamates
C)Inorganic pesticides
D)Fumigants
E)Natural organic pesticides
Q2) The efficiency of irrigation water use is ______ in most countries.One of the reasons for this is ______.
A)High; the abundance of water
B)High; the careful use of water because it is so expensive
C)High; the technology to distribute the water where it is needed
D)Low; the lack of availability of technology to distribute the water where it is needed
E)Low; evaporative losses from unprotected water channeling
Q3) Terracing is more sustainable than conventional farming, but is also more expensive.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 11: Biodiversity
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Sample Questions
Q1) It is clear that a heavy dose of pesticides or other toxic pollutants can kill species.However, chronic exposure to pollutants seems to cause recent high mortality in marine mammals by
A)Decreasing the plants that are normally in their environment, such as kelp, that they use for shelter
B)Killing off the prey species that they depend on for food
C)Direct bioaccumulation of the chemicals, such as lead, in their tissues
D)Causing weakened immune systems and increased vulnerability to infection
E)Eventually killing them
Q2) Which of the following drugs is NOT derived from a naturally occurring organism?
A)Penicillin
B)Aspirin
C)Cortisone
D)Morphine
E)Tetracycline
Q3) Using specific examples, discuss four ways that humans benefit from biodiversity.
Q4) Kudzu vine was originally brought to the U.S.to control soil erosion.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 12: Biodiversity: Preserving Landscapes
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Sample Questions
Q1) India's Chipko Andolan movement
A)Saved a large portion of forests in watersheds
B)Failed to actually save any forests
C)Used children to plant trees in a reforestation project
D)Is now no longer active
E)Emphasized force to save forests in watersheds
Q2) Which of the preserve shapes shown would support the most species that require a core area?
A)A
B)B
C)C
D)D
E)All of the shapes have about the same measurements
Q3) Compare and contrast the preservation of the Amazon Basin and the Pantanal, both in Brazil.
Q4) A "woodland" is an open canopy forest where tree crowns cover less than 20% of the ground.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Compare and contrast an old-growth (primary) forest with a tree farm.
Page 14
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Chapter 13: Restoration Ecology
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Sample Questions
Q1) In the United States, most reforestation projects result in
A)Huge amounts of biomass, which is then burned to produce energy
B)Large old-growth forests
C)Monoculture forests
D)Small deciduous forests with a large variety of tree types
E)None of these is correct
Q2) From the 1950s to the 1970s, approximately 500,000 acres of wetlands were lost per year.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The American Forestry Association suggests that each person plant one tree per year in order to compensate for tree loss in urban areas.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The majority of coastal wetland loss in the United States is due to
A)Loss of estuaries in the northeast
B)Levees that guide the Mississippi River out into the Gulf of Mexico
C)Evaporation due to global warming
D)Development
E)Draining and filling to provide storm barricades
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Chapter 14: Geology and Earth Resources
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Sample Questions
Q1) Earthquakes do not occur in the center of continents, only along the edges of tectonic plates.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Which of the following bodies of water is growing due to tectonic movement?
A)Pacific Ocean
B)Atlantic Ocean
C)Black Sea
D)Indian Ocean
E)None of these are growing
Q3) The continental crust of the earth is thicker and lighter than the oceanic crust.
A)True
B)False
Q4) What gas is released in the process of smelting?
A)Carbon monoxide
B)Chlorine
C)Sulfur dioxide
D)Ammonia
E)Carbon dioxide
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Chapter 15: Climate Change
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Sample Questions
Q1) When cool, dry air sinks from the upper atmosphere toward the Earth's surface, it is
A)Compressed and cooled further
B)Allowed to expand and become warmer
C)Compressed and becomes warmer
D)Forced to release any remaining moisture
E)Going to hold more water because there is more water vapor closer to the Earth's surface
Q2) The purpose of ice core drilling is to analyze trapped ancient bubbles of atmosphere for ________ and ____________.
A)CO<sub>2</sub> and Oxygen isotopes
B)Helium and Hydrogen
C)CO and Hydrogen isotopes
D)CO<sub>2</sub> and Hydrogen isotopes
Q3) Where air is sinking (high pressure), rainfall is likely as the air sinks.
A)True
B)False
Q4) What does the acronym ENSO stand for? Describe the weather patterns in the U.S.as a result of ENSO.
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Chapter 16: Air Pollution
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Sample Questions
Q1) There are serious signs that ozone depletion may lead to
A)Increased incidence of skin cancers
B)Increased incidence of blindness
C)Depletion of plankton populations
D)Reduced agricultural production
E)All of these
Q2) A temperature inversion occurs when
A)Two warm air layers surround a cold air layer
B)Two cold air layers overlay a warm air layer
C)Stable cold air overlays warm air
D)Stable warm air overlays cold air
E)Air turbulence causes mixing between air layers
Q3) Old power plant facilities have been kept operating, expanding their capacity rather than building new ones because the older facilities have minimal contributions to smog and acid rain.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Acid precipitation often occurs downwind from dust-producing industries.
A)True
B)False
Page 18
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Chapter 17: Water Use and Management
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Sample Questions
Q1) Subsidence and sinkholes
A)Can, with difficulty, be reversed and the ground surface raised again
B)Are probably a permanent loss of an aquifer
C)Are a consequence of saltwater intrusion
D)Leave gaps in the bedrock that then fill up with salt water
E)Increase the total area of recharge zones
Q2) Principal problems that have resulted from the construction of large dams include the relocation of people.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The activity that uses the greatest share of U.S.household water is
A)Bathing
B)Drinking and cooking
C)Flushing the toilet
D)Washing clothes and dishes
E)Watering lawns
Q4) Compare and contrast the water diversion projects in China and California.
Q5) Human activity such as deforestation can affect rainfall.
A)True
B)False
19
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Chapter 18: Water Pollution
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Sample Questions
Q1) The most active decomposition occurs in the area marked _____ on the horizontal axis of the diagram.
A)-1 to 0
B)0 to 1
C)1 to 2
D)2 to 3
E)1 to 3
Q2) Cultural eutrophication results from
A)Natural sediment and nutrient levels
B)A change in animal life as well as plants
C)The disappearance of tributary streams
D)Human activity
E)Natural topography
Q3) The type of water pollutant that most commonly threatens human health is/are ______.
A)Pathogenic organisms
B)Dissolved plant matter
C)Toxic and hazardous chemicals
D)Thermal pollution
E)Oxygen-demanding wastes
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Chapter 19: Conventional Energy
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Sample Questions
Q1) Black lung disease results from
A)The radioactivity in coal
B)The radioactivity around coal-fired power plants
C)Careless strip-mining methods
D)Coal dust literally filling lungs like dust in a vacuum cleaner bag
E)Coal dust causing inflammation and fibrosis in lungs
Q2) A breeder reactor is designed to
A)Burn on multiple types of fuels, such as plutonium, uranium and thorium
B)Create fissionable plutonium from spent fission reactor fuel
C)Operate on a very small scale
D)Be safer than any other type of reactor
E)Be cooled with cadmium cooling rods
Q3) Nuclear waste storage in the United States is currently handled
A)In temporary storage at individual plants
B)In a permanent storage depot managed by the federal government
C)By dumping at sea
D)By shipping overseas to Surinam and Venezuela
E)By dumping at sea and by shipping overseas to Surinam and Venezuela
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Chapter 20: Sustainable Energy
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Sample Questions
Q1) Parabolic mirrors ________ sunlight on a collecting medium.
A)selectively focus the brightest
B)selectively reflect the brightest C)deflect the most D)diffuse intense
E)focus intense
Q2) Photovoltaic electricity costs are __________ coal or nuclear-powered electricity.
A)substantially less than B)unlikely to become as cheap as C)incomparably more expensive than D)likely to be cheaper in the near future than E)the same as
Q3) Where does wind energy have the greatest potential to create electricity?
A)the great plains and southeastern US
B)shorelines and in valleys
C)the great plains, shore lines, and mountain tops
D)mountain tops and valleys
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22
Chapter 21: Solid, Toxic, and Hazardous Waste
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Sample Questions
Q1) Recycling, in terms of solid waste management, means
A)Reusing materials
B)Melting or shredding to make new products
C)Keeping intact but putting to a new use
D)Using less of the material in production of a product
E)All of these
Q2) One of the sources of dangerous heavy metal emissions is from incinerating
A)Plastics
B)Bleached paper containing chlorine
C)Residue from household cleaning products
D)Aluminum foil
E)Batteries
Q3) Hazardous waste is anything that
A)Causes human health threats
B)Severely contaminates the environment
C)Is toxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic, corrosive, or explosive
D)Has the potential of causing health problems
E)All of these are correct
Q4) Explain how incinerator ash can become toxic when the initial material that is incinerated is not toxic.
23
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Chapter 22: Urbanization and Sustainable Cities
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following U.S.cities is the best example of smart growth?
A)Miami, FL
B)Portland, OR
C)Las Vegas, NV
D)New York, NY
E)Denver, CO
Q2) Which of the following is NOT a goal for smart growth?
A)Create a positive self-image for the community
B)Make the downtown area vital and livable
C)Each resident is responsible for growing his/her own food
D)Improve communications
E)Improve community access to the arts
Q3) Cities are distinguished by their
A)Sheer size
B)Differentiated, specialized jobs and functions
C)Large groups of interdependent households
D)Strong traditions and cultural character
E)Dependence on natural resource-based occupations
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Chapter 23: Ecological Economics
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Grameen Bank is a microlender whose business loans assist mainly low-status women.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Which of the following is NOT true with respect to natural resource economics?
A)Natural resource economics views ecological processes as factors outside the economic system.
B)The principles of thermodynamics and coevolution are incorporated into natural resource economics.
C)Natural resources are seen as abundant in natural resource economics.
D)Neoclassical economic theory is similar to natural resource economics.
E)Natural resource economics assigns a monetary value to some natural resources.
Q3) The use of Gross National Product as an indicator of economic well-being
A)Is criticized as an inaccurate measure of the quality of life
B)Reflects social welfare
C)Predicts ecological bankruptcy through recognition of decreased natural capital
D)Takes into account life expectancy
E)Does not take into account economic activity overseas
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Chapter 24: Environmental Policy, Law, and Planning
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Sample Questions
Q1) An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is required for any federal project that has
A)Major new pollution emissions
B)Major building projects
C)Possible health threats to people
D)Potentially harmful effects on areas of cultural, scientific, or historical importance
E)All of these
Q2) Which federal agency is responsible for Public Lands and National Parks?
A)Agriculture Department
B)U.S.Forest Service
C)Environmental Protection Agency
D)Department of the Interior
E)Department of State
Q3) Which of the following is NOT a focus of environmental governance?
A)How we value ecosystems
B)How we negotiate trade-offs between conflicting uses or values
C)How we form environmental policies
D)How we charge those responsible for violating environmental laws
E)How we make sure the costs and benefits of our decisions are equitably shared
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Chapter 25: What Then Shall We Do
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Sample Questions
Q1) The best way for us to be more efficient and to decrease our impact on natural resources is to
A)Consume less energy and materials in the first place
B)Sort all recyclable materials before disposal
C)Reuse manufactured items such as shopping bags or clothing
D)Export more materials than we import
E)Make sure we don't litter and to recycle our paper and plastics
Q2) A vegetarian diet has a lower climate change impact than a beef-based diet.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Life-cycle analysis is useful because energy and environmental hazards are associated with _______ of products.
A)Use as well as production
B)Production, but not use
C)Both transport and production
D)Production and use, but not disposal
E)Production, transport, use, and disposal
Q4) Compare and contrast national environmental organizations, radical groups, and NGOs.
Q5) Describe ten things you can do to reduce consumption.
Page 27
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