Human Impact on the Environment
Mock Exam
Course Introduction
This course explores the diverse ways in which human activities affect the natural environment, examining topics such as pollution, resource depletion, habitat destruction, climate change, and biodiversity loss. Students will analyze the driving forces behind environmental change, including population growth, technological development, and economic globalization. The course also introduces methods for assessing environmental impacts and discusses strategies for achieving sustainable development, with a focus on policy solutions and individual responsibility. Through case studies and current events, students will gain insights into the challenges and opportunities in minimizing human impact and promoting environmental stewardship.
Recommended Textbook
Living in the Environment 17th Edition by
G. Tyler Miller
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2615 Verified Questions
2615 Flashcards
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability
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100 Verified Questions
100 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) What percentage of the world's total population lacks adequate sanitation facilities?
Answer: 38%
Q2) The U.N.Millennium Ecosystem Assessment reports that human activities have degraded what percentage of the earth's natural services, mostly in the last 50 years.
A)20
B)40
C)60
D)80
E)95
Answer: C
Q3) What is the current percentage difference between humanity's ecological footprint and earth's ecological capacity?
Answer: approximately 25% above ecological capacity
Q4) The harmful environmental effects of poverty are much worse than those of affluence.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Page 3
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Chapter 2: Science, Matter, Energy, and Systems
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102 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) An atom or group of atoms with one or more net positive or negative charges is a(n)
A)base
B)isotope
C)ion
D)acid
E)none of these
Answer: C
Q2) Scientists use the statistical concept of probability to evaluate the results of experimentation.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) Which of the following statements is not an example of a physical change?
A)Confetti is cut from pieces of paper.
B)Water evaporates from a lake.
C)Ice cubes are formed in the freezer.
D)A plant converts carbon dioxide into carbohydrate.
E)A tree is cut down in the forest.
Answer: D
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Page 4
Chapter 3: Ecosystems: What Are They and How Do They
Work
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110 Verified Questions
110 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Scientists have less than _____ percent of the ecological data they need to evaluate the ecosystems in the United States.
A)5
B)8
C)12
D)25
E)50
Answer: E
Q2) An ecosystem is defined as a community of different populations of species interacting with one another and their nonliving environment.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) A larger number of humans could be supported on the earth if more of them consumed grains, vegetables, and fruits rather than eating meat.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 4: Biodiversity and Evolution
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Sample Questions
Q1) The best guess of the total number of species on earth is between __________ and __________.
Q2) Some individuals in a population have genetic traits that are favored by environmental conditions because the trait enhance their ability to survive and produce offspring, a process called
A)natural selection
B)adaptability
C)genetic drift
D)mutation
E)scientific theory
Q3) The fossils found so far probably represent about 50% of the species that have ever lived.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Keystone species have a large effect on the types and abundances of other species in an ecosystem.
A)True
B)False
Q5) The world's cumulative body of discovered fossils is called the
6
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Chapter 5: Biodiversity, Species Interactions, and Population Control
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Sample Questions
Q1) The author relates that some people think humans can keep expanding our environmental footprint indefinitely because of technology.Others think that we will, sooner or later, reach natural limits to our expansion.What do you think?
Q2) Which of the following refers to the ability of a living system to be restored after a period of moderate to severe disturbance?
A)stability
B)inertia
C)constancy
D)tipping point
E)resilience
Q3) A population will most likely increase if it is made up mostly of individuals in the 'reproductive' or 'near reproductive' stages.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The most common form of population dispersion found in nature is
Q5) Choose the portion of the curve that results from reproductive time lag.
Page 7
Q6) 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) Choose the stage that has a high birth rate and a high death rate.
Q2) Unlike malnutrition, AIDS kills many ____________________.
Q3) Which of the following is true of demographic transition as countries become industrialized?
A)Death rates drop, followed by birth rates.
B)Birth rates drop, followed by death rates.
C)Birth and death rates rise at the same time.
D)Birth and death rates fall at the same time.
E)Neither birth nor death rates fall.
Q4) The world's first national ______________ program began in India in 1952.
A)family planning
B)economic transition
C)literacy
D)sterilization
E)urbanization
Q5) What is the name given the shaded area indicated by the letter A?
Q6) India has a thriving and rapidly growing middle class.
A)True
B)False
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Q7) The global population of seniors (over 65) will _______________ by the ear 2050.
Chapter 7: Climate and Biodiversity
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Sample Questions
Q1) Thick, spongy mats of low-growing plants, primarily grasses, mosses, and lichens, are typical of the
A)arctic tundra
B)coniferous forest
C)tall-grass prairies
D)tropical forests
E)taiga
Q2) What does the dark line represent?
Q3) Grasslands exist because few grass seeds sprout in the growing season, leaving little for the grazing herds to eat.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Most tundra soils formed about 17,000 years ago.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Less than 500 million people worldwide live in the mountains or at their edge.
A)True
B)False
Q6) When is the dry season in the tropical rain forest?
Q7) What does the gray coloration at the bottom represent?
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Chapter 8: Aquatic Biodiversity
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Sample Questions
Q1) Compare and contrast estuaries and intertidal pools in terms of biodiversity.
Q2) Although only a small percentage of the ocean floor, coral reefs provide all the following benefits except
A)providing significant free oxygen
B)removing CO<sub>2</sub> from the atmosphere
C)protecting coastlines from erosion
D)providing habitats for one-quarter of all marine organisms
E)providing one-fourth of fish catches in developing countries
Q3) Choose the zone close to shore in which light reaches all the way to the bottom.
Q4) Choose the zone that contains the majority of all marine species.
Q5) Choose the zone of open water where photosynthesis can occur.
Q6) Four of the following are ecological and economic services provided by inland wetlands; one is not.Choose the one that is not.
A)filtering and degrading toxic wastes and pollutants
B)stopping the recharge of groundwater aquifers
C)reducing flooding and erosion caused by storms
D)helping to replenish stream flow during dry periods
E)helping to maintain biodiversity by providing habitats
Q7) Choose the zone in which most organisms are blind or have poor eyesight.
Q8) Choose the zone containing wider, lower elevation streams.
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Chapter 9: Sustaining Biodiversity: the Species Approach
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Sample Questions
Q1) Many biologists consider the rapid loss of the earth's biodiversity to be the most serious and long-lasting environmental problem the world faces.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The U.S.____________________ has the responsibility for identifying and listing endangered and threatened species other than ocean species.
Q3) The passenger pigeon, perhaps the must abundant bird on earth in 1813, was extinct less than one hundred years later because of human activities.
A)True
B)False
Q4) According to biological and fossil evidence, all species eventually become extinct. A)True
B)False
Q5) Biologists estimate there are now about 4 million ____________________ in Florida, Texas, and 22 other U.S.states.
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11
Chapter 10: Sustaining Terrestrial Biodiversity: the Ecosystem Approach
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Sample Questions
Q1) The demand for fuelwood is a major factor in the degrading of forests.Which of the following is not true about the use of wood for cooking and heating?
A)Used by more than 2 billion people.
B)Consumes about three-fourths of all the wood harvested in developing countries.
C)Causes rings of deforested lands around urban centers.
D)Is heavily sold on the black market.
E)In less than 50 years demand may be 50% greater than sustainable supply.
Q2) Burning tropical forests accounts for how much of the human-created greenhouse gas emissions?
A)6%
B)11%
C)17%
D)23%
E)27%
Q3) Most biologists believe that the clearing and degrading of world's remaining old-growth forests is a serious global threat because of important ____________________ and ____________________ services they provide.
Q4) Within _______________ we could eliminate the need to use trees to make paper.
Page 12
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Chapter 11: Sustaining Aquatic Biodiversity
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Sample Questions
Q1) In order to increase what is known about biodiversity in the oceans, researchers intend to release which of the following?
A)high-altitude balloons
B)miniature autonomous robots
C)specially trained dolphins
D)several new surface research vessels
E)colored dyes
Q2) By 1975, commercial whaling had killed enough whales that 8 of 11 major species were extinct.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which of the following countries has a significant whaling industry and whale meat market?
A)United States
B)Australia
C)Great Britain
D)Japan
E)China
Q4) Which letter indicates longlining?
Q5) What was the size of the catch in that year?
Page 13
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Chapter 12: Food, Soil, and Pest Management
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118 Verified Questions
118 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Twenty six million children suffer irreversible brain damage each year because of a lack of iodine in their diet.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Large scale, industrialized fishing fleets use 12.5 times more energy catching fish than the fish provide to the people who eat them.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Many of the world's poor only have access to a low-protein, high-carbohydrate, vegetarian diet and suffer from
A)chronic undernutrition
B)famine
C)hunger
D)chronic malnutrition
E)food security
Q4) Organic farming is more labor intensive than traditional farming and therefore costs more.
A)True B)False
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Chapter 13: Water Resources
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Sample Questions
Q1) The advantages of withdrawing groundwater include all of the following except
A)pollution is quickly removed
B)can be used for drinking and irrigation
C)exists almost anywhere
D)renewable if not overpumped
E)cheaper to extract than most surface waters
Q2) All of the following are proposals for improving desalinization except one. Chose the one that is not a proposal.
A)ships that carry desalination equipment operating offshore
B)desalination plants operated by solar energy
C)desalination plants using ocean wave energy
D)build desalination plants next to coastal energy plants to use their cooling water
E)let natural evaporation remove the water in large shallow basins
Q3) Drought is a prolonged period in which precipitation is at least ____________________% lower and evaporation is higher than normal in an area that is not normally dry.
Q4) Of the world's 177 longest rivers, only ____________________ of them run freely all the way to the sea.
Q5) Provides water for drinking.
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Chapter 14: Geology and Nonrenewable Mineral Resources
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Sample Questions
Q1) Recycle; increase reserves by improved mining technology; higher prices and new discoveries.
Q2) Which of the following is associated more with surface mining than subsurface mining?
A)It is more dangerous.
B)It is more expensive.
C)It produces less waste material.
D)It disturbs more land.
E)It causes subsidence.
Q3) Although often covered by other kinds of rock, which type of rock forms most of the earth's crust?
A)igneous
B)mineral
C)metamorphic
D)sedimentary
E)organic
Q4) Most earthquakes occur near the center of a tectonic plate.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Mine, use, throw away; no new discoveries; rising prices
Page 16
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Chapter 15: Nonrenewable Energy
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which letter indicates the coal called anthracite
Q2) Any energy resource with a low or negative net energy yield cannot compete in the open marketplace with other energy alternatives with higher net energy yields unless it is subsidized by the government.
A)True
B)False
Q3) What percentage of the U.S.population lives within 75 miles of an above-ground spent-fuel storage site?
A)23%
B)33%
C)43%
D)53%
E)63%
Q4) Forty-three percent of global carbon dioxide emissions come from burning gasoline and diesel for transportation.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Cutting ____________________ is the fastest, cheapest, and most environmentally beneficial source of energy.
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Chapter 16: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
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Sample Questions
Q1) What percentage of the commercial energy used in the United States is wasted?
A)54%
B)64%
C)74%
D)84%
E)94%
Q2) The country that is the world's largest producer of geothermal electricity is
A)Finland
B)China
C)Iceland
D)the Philippines
E)the United States
Q3) A 2009 Harvard University student estimates that wind power has the potential to produce _____ times the world's current use of electricity.
A)20
B)30
C)40
D)50
E)60
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Page 18
Chapter 17: Environmental Hazards and Human Health
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Sample Questions
Q1) Of the 100,000 registered synthetic chemicals in commercial use, only ____ have been adequately tested to determine whether they are carcinogens, teratogens, or mutagens.
A)2%
B)4%.
C)10%
D)12%
E)15%
Q2) Which of the following infectious diseases is not among the five most deadly?
A)pneumonia and flu
B)mumps
C)malaria
D)tuberculosis
E)HIV/AIDS
Q3) The five main types of hazards include all of the following, except
A)biological hazards
B)natural hazards
C)economic hazards
D)cultural hazards
E)chemical hazards
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Chapter 18: Air Pollution
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Sample Questions
Q1) The ozone layer surrounding the earth is formed when molecules of oxygen in that layer are converted to ozone by UV radiation.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Acid deposition is best classified as a(n)
A)local problem
B)state problem
C)regional problem
D)national problem
E)international problem
Q3) Approximately how much of the toxic mercury in the skies above Los Angeles, California can be traced to the Asian Brown Cloud?
A)0%
B)1%
C)12%
D)33%
E)67%
Q4) Seventy-five to eighty percent of the earth's air mass is found in the
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Chapter 19: Climate Disruption and Ozone Depletion
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Q1) Which of the following is not a strategy for reducing the threat of climate change?
A)Improve energy efficiency.
B)Shift from fossil fuels to a mix of carbon-free energy resources.
C)Stop cutting down tropical forests.
D)Capture and store as much carbon dioxide as possible.
E)Continue with current practices.
Q2) The ozone hole is a reduction in concentrations of ozone high above the earth in the stratosphere.
A)True
B)False
Q3) It has been suggested that the threat of global warming can be addressed by all of the following geoengineering strategies, except
A)adding iron to the oceans
B)build lots of chemical plants to remove ocean acidity
C)injecting sulfate particulates into the stratosphere
D)covering the oceans with Styrofoam chips
E)place giant mirrors in orbit above the earth to reflect sunlight
Q4) Is the projected change of the surface temperature of the earth worrisome? Why?
Q5) When has there been the most consistent temperature rise since the 1200s?
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Chapter 20: Water Pollution
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Sample Questions
Q1) When Lake Washington became cloudy from the growth of blue-green algae, the culprit was discovered to be __________ from the area's sewage plants.
Q2) Groundwater dispersing a pollutant creates a(n) ____________________, which, if it reaches a well, can get into drinking water.
Q3) About 45% of the largest water polluters in the U.S.have declared the Clean Water Act no longer applies to water they are polluting.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The only effective way to protect groundwater is to A)prevent contamination
B)use monitoring wells
C)cover all wells carefully
D)treat all water from underground sources
E)use advanced sewage treatment
Q5) Choose the letter which indicates where bacteria are killed and water is ready to re-enter the environment.
Q6) Choose the letter that represents where large floating objects and solids are removed.
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Chapter 21: Solid and Hazardous Waste
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Sample Questions
Q1) Newspaper and cardboard are difficult to recycle.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The National Priorities List identifies hazardous waste sites, with clean up of these sites based on priority and severity.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Using PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic bottles accomplishes all of the following except
A)saves energy
B)reduces carbon dioxide emissions
C)totally eliminates need for recycling
D)reduces water pollution
E)reduces solid waste
Q4) The recycling and composting rate of U.S.municipal solid waste is about
A)7%
B)14%
C)25%
D)32%
E)54%
Page 23
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Chapter 22: Cities and Sustainability
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Sample Questions
Q1) What percentage of U.S.citizens live in urban areas at the present time?
A)99
B)89
C)79
D)69
E)59
Q2) A(n) ____________________ is a people-oriented city, not a car oriented city.
Q3) Which of the following statements is false?
A)A bicycle promotes physical fitness.
B)Bicycles reduce the need for parking spaces.
C)A bicycle is slightly less expensive to buy and operate than a car.
D)Annual global sales of bicycles exceed sales of cars by 2.5 times.
E)Bicycles produce no pollution.
Q4) Compare the advantages and disadvantages of mass transit rail lines.
Q5) Urban Sprawl has led to the economic deaths of many economic central cities. A)True
B)False
Q6) An innovative approach to urban environmental problems is the _____________ ______________ in which small groups of people come together to design and live in more sustainable villages and neighborhoods.
Page 24
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Chapter 23: Economics, Environment, and Sustainability
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Q1) Direct costs involving land, labor, materials, and pollution-control technologies are always difficult to estimate.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Comparing estimated costs and benefits for actions such as implementing a pollution control regulation is called a(n) ____________________.
Q3) A cost-benefit analysis can lead to wide ranges of benefits and costs with a lot of room for error.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The sustainability revolution is also an economic revolution.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Neoclassical economists beliefs include all of the following except
A)always grow
B)compete, but don't annihilate
C)use things up fast in order to produce more
D)seek your profits now
E)do whatever makes sense in monetary terms
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Chapter 24: Politics, Environment, and Sustainability
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Q1) Future reliance on energy technologies such as tar sands, shale oil, and nuclear power, would be a violation of which of the following?
A)reversibility principle
B)net energy principle
C)precautionary principle
D)prevention principle
E)humility principle
Q2) Julia Butterfly Hill sat on a platform on a giant redwood tree in California for two years to protest the clear-cutting of ancient trees.
A)True
B)False
Q3) In the United States, the three branches of government serve what important purpose?
A)curbing of rapid and destabilizing change
B)establishment of future priorities
C)oversight of regulations
D)implementation of detailed budgets
E)encouragement of free enterprise
Q4) The exact role played by a government is determined by its
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Chapter 25: Environmental Worldviews, Ethics, and Sustainability
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Q1) Which of the following ideas would not be part of the earth-oriented worldview?
A)Preserving the earth's biodiversity now and in the future
B)Humans are not in charge of the world
C)We have an ethical responsibility to be caring, responsible managers of the earth.
D)Human economies and systems are part of earth's life-support systems
E)Preventing depletion of natural capital promotes environmental sustainability
Q2) History indicates we can change faster than may be thought, once we have courage to leave behind ideas and practices that no longer work.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Some analysts suggest that for some people acquiring more and more goods should be treated as an ____________________.
Q4) The concept that we have an ethical responsibility to be caring and responsible managers of the earth is associated with the ____________________ worldview.
Q5) The Biosphere 2 experiment was a complete success.
A)True
B)False
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