Understanding Our Environment
1. All of the following describe environmental science EXCEPT (p. 4)
A. it is mission-oriented.
B. it is highly interdisciplinary.
C. it's primary difficulty is that scientific remedies for environmental problems are not well understood.
D. it requires understanding the relationship between humans and the environment.
E. environmental problems are often quite well understood scientifically, but are often not socially, economically, or politically acceptable.
2. Early 20th century United States environmentalism was split between two competing factions (p. 6)
A. those who worried about air pollution and those who worried about forest destruction.
B. those who believed that natural resources were not endangered and those who believed they were endangered.
C. those who believed natural resources should be used to serve humankind and those who believed that nature deserves to exist for its own sake.
D. none of the above.
3. What percentage of people in the world live in acute poverty? (p. 11)
A. 1%
B. 5%
C. 10%
D. 20%
E. 50%
4. What percentage of the world's population live in the 20 richest countries? (p. 12)
A. 1%
B. 5%
C. 10%
D. 20%
E. 50%
5. You are visiting a poor country. You might expect to find all of the following EXCEPT (p. 13)
A. lower GNP/capita.
B. higher life expectancy.
C. lower female literacy.
D. higher birthrates.
E. lower percentages of safe drinking water.
6. Which of the following apply to the United States? (p. 14)
A. it has 4.5% of the world's population
B. it produces 50% of the world's toxic wastes
C. it produces 22% of the world's carbon dioxide
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
7. Which of the following statements is true of wealthy, or First World, countries? (pp. 14-15)
A. they are highly agricultural
B. they are highly industrial
C. they consume about 75% of the world's resources
D. they often have low quality of life indicators
E. all of the above
8. Even within countries there is often inequality. Which of the following are ways that the United Nations has suggested to overcome inequality within countries? (p. 15)
A. provide basic social services, especially health care and education
B. equitable distribution of land
C. civil rights
D. a social safety net to catch all those who the "free market" excludes
E. all of the above
F. none of the above
9. Since 1960, average real income in developing countries has (p. 15)
A. quadrupled.
B. declined by 50%.
C. doubled.
D. declined by 200%.
E. none of the above.
10. A sustainable society (p. 15)
A. extracts resources so as to sustain it's current citizens.
B. manages resources so as to sustain a strong standard of living.
C. manages it's resources so as to prolong human well-being over many generations, rather than just a few years.
D. extracts resources so as to sustain it's business community for further development.
E. none of the above.
11. As economic growth in Third World countries increases, (p. 16)
A. the poverty rate also increases.
B. poverty rates often decrease and environmental problems decrease.
C. poverty rates often increase and environmental problems decrease.
D. poverty rates often decrease and environmental problems increase.
E. none of the above.
12. As per capita income increases in Third World countries, the (p. 18)
A. amount of visible pollution, such as urban particulate matter, often decreases at first and then increases.
B. amount of visible pollution, such as urban particulate matter, often increases at first and then decreases.
C. amount of invisible pollution, such as carbon dioxide, often increases exponentially.
D. A and C.
E. B and C.
13. The cost of a single aircraft carrier (pp. 18-19)
A. equals 10% of the human development aid given by the industrialized countries in a year.
B. equals 10 years of human development aid given by the industrialized countries in a year.
C. equals one year of the human development aid given by the United States in one year.
D. equals the total income of half of the world's population.
E. none of the above.
14. Neo-Malthusians believe that (p. 19)
A. environmental problems are inevitably going to get better.
B. environmental problems are the inevitable result of competition over scarce resources.
C. environmental problems will inevitably get worse.
D. A and B.
E. B and C.
15. "Promethean environmentalists" believe that (p. 19)
A. environmental problems will disappear because of technological innovations.
B. environmental problems are here to stay and will only get worse.
C. historical patterns of progress cannot be counted on to solve environmental problems because of the uniqueness of these problems.
D. none of the above.