1) If atmospheric carbon dioxide was eliminated from our atmosphere, we would expect that the

 

Earth would:

 

A) cool considerably and photosynthesis would dramatically increase

 

B) cool considerably and photosynthesis would dramatically decrease

 

C) heat up considerably and photosynthesis would dramatically increase

 

D) heat up considerably and photosynthesis would dramatically decrease

 

2) Which of the following is a correlation that is causing widespread concern?

 

A) As atmospheric oxygen levels decline, the ozone layer is being destroyed.

 

B) As atmospheric carbon dioxide levels decline, the ozone layer is being destroyed.

 

C) As levels of methane decline, average global temperatures are increasing.

 

D) As levels of carbon dioxide increase, average global temperatures are increasing.

 

3) Which of the following is part of natural capital but not ecosystem capital?

 

A) solar energy used to drive photosynthesis throughout the biosphere

 

B) coal and oil reserves

 

C) the production of electrical energy from wind turbines and dams

 

D) the genetic diversity of all plants and animals used in modern agriculture

 

4) From an ecological economist’s perspective, without sustainability, as economies grow:

 

A) gross national product grows too

 

B) natural resources are renewed

 

C) the natural world is depleted

 

D) natural ecosystems are replenished

 

5) Natural capital includes ecosystem capital plus:

 

A) natural forms of energy, such as solar, wind, and flowing water

 

B) nonrenewable resources such as fossil fuels

 

C) money available to invest in growing industry

 

D) all of the products of photosynthesis in the biosphere

 

6) The concept of sustainability requires that:

 

A) economic growth does not exceed the renewal of natural capital

 

B) all sources of energy used in an economy must come from the sun

 

C) global economic systems are based on the harvesting of natural products

 

D) economies use equal portions of land, labor, and capital

 

7) Uncertain about the best way to keep his new lizard alive, Jerome places a heat lamp at one

 

end of the long lizard cage. Over several days, Jerome notices that the lizard tends to sit in a

 

certain place when the lamp is on. The lizard’s selection of a particular place to stay

 

represents its:

 

A) range of tolerance

 

B) temperature optimum

 

C) biotic conditioning

 

D) use of a limited resource

 

8) As global climate change warms certain mountain ranges, the temperature optima for the insect

 

species living on the mountain is causing these insects to:

 

A) move higher up the mountain

 

B) move down the mountain

 

C) move to a new biome

 

D) become parasitic

 

9) Energy is lost as it moves from one trophic level to the next because:

 

A) one trophic level does not consume the entire trophic level below it

 

B) some of the calories consumed drive cellular activities and do not add mass

 

C) some ingested materials are undigested and eliminated

 

D) All of the above.

 

10) In general, biomes at higher latitudes are most like:

 

A) biomes at higher altitudes

 

B) aquatic biomes

 

C) biomes at lower altitudes

 

D) biomes at lower latitudes

 

11) Biomes with more than 75 centimeters (30 inches) of rain a year and that never experience

 

freezing temperatures are most likely found:

 

A) at high altitudes

 

B) nearest the equator at low altitudes

 

C) at high altitudes in temperate zones

 

D) at high altitudes and high latitudes

 

12) Biomes with permafrost are most likely:

 

A) covered in coniferous forests at high latitudes

 

B) in temperate zones with deciduous trees

 

C) located near the poles and without any trees

 

D) located at high altitudes nearest the equator

 

13) Biomes with less than 25 centimeters (10 inches) of rain a year are:

 

A) high in primary productivity

 

B) likely to have extremely cold winters

 

C) covered with coniferous trees

 

D) deserts

 

14) Which of the following are current limiting factors for future human population growth?

 

A) pollution and land for agriculture

 

B) availability of oxygen and water

 

C) fossil fuels and carbon dioxide production

 

D) oxygen levels in the atmosphere and availability of sodium chloride

 

15) According to demographer Joel Cohen, the human carrying capacity:

 

A) can be calculated in the same way it is determined for other animal species

 

B) depends upon a standard of living

 

C) can clearly be determined

 

D) largely depends upon the availability of fresh water

 

16) In a significant 2004 paper reviewing 69 studies on world human population and carrying

 

capacity, the authors estimated that the sustainable carrying capacity of humans for the

 

planet is about:

 

A) 600 million

 

B) 2.5 billion

 

C) 7.7 billion

 

D) 20 billion.

 

17) According to the UN Population Division and a significant 2004 paper reviewing 69 studies

 

on world human population and carrying capacity, the world population of humans will exceed

 

carrying capacity in about the year:

 

A) 2014

 

B) 2024

 

C) 2050

 

D) 2100

 

18) Which of the following activities would be consistent with the Millennium Development Goals?

 

A) help communities build technical and trade schools for boys to learn skills in high

 

demand

 

B) develop coal, gold, and silver mines wherever possible as quick sources of jobs

 

C) provide meals and mosquito nets for every child under the age of five

 

D) encourage the expansion of national militaries to provide income and technical training

 

19) If the Millennium Development goal to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger by 2015 is

 

achieved:

 

A) almost a billion people will still live in extreme poverty

 

B) no continent will have more than 10,000 people still hungry

 

C) fertility rates will decline to those of most European nations

 

D) the rural population of the world will nearly double

 

20) Which of the following represents the Millennium Development Goal that is least likely to be

 

achieved?

 

A) universal primary education

 

B) reduced child mortality

 

C) increased access to clean drinking water

 

D) decreased maternal childbirth deaths

 

21) Which of the following affects the greatest number of people in the developing world?

 

A) water availability

 

B) lack of primary schools for children

 

C) inadequate sanitation

 

D) no childhood immunization for measles

 

22) A rural farmer most likely obtains drinking water by drilling a deep well to use:

 

A) gravitational water that has percolated through soil and accumulated as groundwater

 

B) gravitational water that is retained by the soil and accumulated just above the water

 

table

 

C) capillary water found in surface waters, located above the water table

 

D) capillary water that has percolated through soil and accumulated below the

 

groundwater

 

23) About 99% of all liquid fresh water on Earth is found in:

 

A) lakes, including the Great Lakes of North America

 

B) rivers such as the Amazon, Nile, and Mississippi watersheds

 

C) underground aquifers

 

D) the upper few meters of topsoil

 

24) Which one of the following is fed by groundwater and often drained by seeps or springs?

 

A) lakes

 

B) aquifers

 

C) rivers

 

D) watersheds

 

25) In Costa Rica, a heavy downpour provides water that quickly evaporates or is absorbed and

 

released by the dense vegetation of the tropical rain forest. This is an example of a cycle

 

using:

 

A) condensation, evaporation, transpiration, and green water

 

B) condensation, precipitation, and gravitational water

 

C) evaporation, gravitational flow, and adiabatic cooling

 

D) precipitation, gravitational flow, and convection

 

26) Gutters and storm sewers in a city are most concerned with the:

 

A) evapotranspiration loop

 

B) surface runoff loop

 

C) precipitation loop

 

D) groundwater loop

 

27) Which one of the following soil orders is the most typical of drylands and deserts?

 

A) alfisols

 

B) oxisols

 

C) mollisols

 

D) aridisols

 

28) A hydric soil is one that:

 

A) is typical of wetlands and may contain peat

 

B) is unusually well suited for agriculture

 

C) is typical of tropical areas that receive abundant rainfall

 

D) was typical of the U.S. prairie states until the Dust Bowl of the 1930s

 

29) Which of the following would be best suited for planting crops such as corn or wheat?

 

A) an irrigated aridisol

 

B) a fertilized alfisol

 

C) a plowed oxisol

 

D) an irrigated gelisol

 

30) Most plants acquire their minerals from:

 

A) the recycling of nutrients from detritus

 

B) the precipitation of minerals from rainfall

 

C) the weathering of rock

 

D) dust storms that transport minerals into a region

 

31) Which of the following would be classified as “soil constraints”?

 

A) cold climate

 

B) moderate to heavy rainfall

 

C) poor drainage, salinity and high levels of aluminum

 

D) low erosion potential and high levels of phosphorus

 

32) One of the general concerns about the widespread use of transgenic organisms is the:

 

A) spread of these transgenic traits to other organisms

 

B) need to apply more pesticides to crops and plow the soil twice a year

 

C) reduced yields that result from using bioengineered organisms

 

D) pressure to bring more land into agricultural production

 

33) If you live in the United States, chances are that you have consumed some processed food

 

that includes bioengineered plants:

 

A) almost every day

 

B) at most once a month

 

C) perhaps once a year

 

D) once in your lifetime

 

34) Wood pellets are produced from the waste sawdust of lumber and paper mills. Home-heating

 

stoves burning these pellets can heat homes directly, instead of relying on other energy

 

sources. Heating your home with wood pellets is:

 

A) sustainable, less polluting, and more efficient than heating a home using electricity

 

from a coal-fired power plant

 

B) sustainable, much more polluting, and is about 30% more efficient than using

 

electricity from a coal-fired power plant

 

C) not sustainable but is less polluting and is about as efficient as using electricity from a

 

coal-fired power plant

 

D) not sustainable and actually pollutes more than using electricity from a coal-fired

 

power plant

 

35) Which one of the following energy sources is most likely to lead to thermal pollution?

 

A) a coal-fired power plant

 

B) a large field of windmills

 

C) a hydroelectric plant

 

D) a large field of solar cells

 

36) The future use of electricity to power personal transportation largely depends on:

 

A) more efficient turbogenerators

 

B) finding more fossil fuel supplies

 

C) low-cost, lightweight batteries that can store large amounts of power

 

D) the development of small turbogenerators for automobiles

 

37) Instead of only generating more electricity, rising energy demands may also be met by:

 

A) switching from natural gas to coal

 

B) switching from coal and natural gas to windmills and solar technologies

 

C) increasing the efficiency of energy consumption

 

D) using more nuclear power instead of fossil fuels

 

38) At present, the total number of long-term, commercial, below-ground nuclear waste

 

depository sites in use in the United States is:

 

A) 0

 

B) 7

 

C) 23

 

D) over 100

 

39) One of the major problems associated with long-term, high-level nuclear waste storage is:

 

A) selecting an environment that will remain stable for more than 10,000 years

 

B) determining a cost-effective way to shoot waste into space

 

C) figuring out how to contain the material so that it does not leak into the ocean

 

D) creating a secure environment to protect the material from terrorists

 

40) Yucca Mountain in the state of Nevada is:

 

A) the location of a leaky nuclear power plant that will cost billions of dollars to clean up

 

B) the only potential site for long-term commercial nuclear waste storage in the United

 

States, rejected for safety concerns in 2009

 

C) a military base that has accumulated low-level and high-level nuclear waste for many

 

decades

 

D) the site of a lake that received illegal dumping of nuclear waste in the 1960s

 

41) NIMBY is:

 

A) a publicly perceived risk of siting a toxic or nuclear waste disposal facility near their

 

homes

 

B) the U.S. federal agency that oversees nuclear power facilities

 

C) a U.N. organization in Geneva that directs the medical use of radioactive isotopes

 

D) the deciding factor in the approval of theYucca Mountain disposal site in Nevada

 

42) The Obama administration’s commission on nuclear power waste disposal recommended:

 

A) the process of site selection should be kept secret from the public

 

B) a private for-profit corporation should be engaged to choose and construct the facility

 

C) that the sites should be spread over dozens of freshwater lakes in the northern United

 

States

 

D) there is an immediate need to develop temporary geological storage sites until a

 

permanent one is located

 

43) New Generation III nuclear plants such as the AP1000 Advanced Passive Reactor features:

 

A) a combination of nuclear fusion and fission in a single design

 

B) a pressurized water system with many new passive safety features to prevent a LOCA

 

C) a design that uses a mechanical source of X-rays for power

 

D) designs based on the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan

 

44) In a photovoltaic system, an inverter is required to:

 

A) directly convert surplus electricity into heat

 

B) generate electricity from solar energy

 

C) connect the DC current of the solar panel to the AC current of an electrical grid

 

D) convert AC from the solar panel into DC of the grid

 

45) Around the world, photovoltaic technology is quickly being adopted to generate electricity in:

 

A) large scale commercial power plants and on rooftop home units

 

B) large scale commercial power plants but not yet on rooftop home units

 

C) rooftop home units but not large scale commercial power plants

 

D) small electronic applications such as calculators but not yet on rooftops or in

 

commercial power plants

 

46) The most costly aspect of photovoltaic technology is being addressed by:

 

A) inventing a way to convert alternating current to direct current

 

B) inventing a way to convert direct current to alternating current

 

C) finding a way to reduce the damaging effects of the sun on solar panels

 

D) new technologies that reduce the cost of manufacturing solar cells

 

47) Solar trough technology converts:

 

A) the ultraviolet light in sunlight directly into electricity

 

B) the heat of the sun into steam to drive a turbogenerator

 

C) sunlight into electricity which then produces steam heat

 

D) the direct current generated by photovoltaic cells into alternating current

 

48) Some milk becomes contaminated with mercury. If each of the following people consume 16

 

ounces of this contaminated milk each day for a month, who will most likely be impacted by

 

this poison?

 

A) an 82-year-old woman

 

B) a fetus inside a mother who drinks this contaminated milk

 

C) a 12-year-old girl

 

D) a 51-year-old man

 

49) A pharmacist asks a mother about a new prescription for an antibiotic, wanting to be sure that

 

the drug is for the mother. The pharmacist is most likely concerned because:

 

A) antibiotics do not typically work on children

 

B) most types of antibiotics prescribed to an adult will likely kill a child

 

C) a normal dosage for an adult can be toxic to a child

 

D) a normal child’s dosage may be toxic to an adult

 

50) You learn that an old friend has died from a disease that resulted from their lifelong exposure

 

to a substance. This loved one most likely died from:

 

A) whooping cough

 

B) a bacterial infection

 

C) cancer

 

D) malaria

 

51) Which of the following contains the greatest number of carcinogens?

 

A) a thick vanilla milkshake

 

B) a Twinkie snack

 

C) chewing tobacco

 

D) tap water from most cities in the United States

 

52) You examine an ice core sample from 10,000 years ago when global temperatures were

 

unusually high. Based upon past studies and insights from current GHG levels, we expect that

 

atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide:

 

A) and methane were unusually low

 

B) and methane were unusually high

 

C) were high but methane levels were low

 

D) were low but methane levels were high

 

53) In his movie, An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore warns of increasing levels of carbon dioxide in

 

the atmosphere which suggest that:

 

A) methane levels will soon rise, destroying the ozone layer

 

B) global temperatures will also continue to rise

 

C) the oceans of the world are losing carbon dioxide

 

D) clouds are thinning and global precipitation is declining

 

54) Evidence from proxies indicate eight major oscillations in global temperatures over the past

 

800,000 years, most likely the result of:

 

A) rising and falling sea levels that greatly impact photosynthetic activity

 

B) variations in solar activity that produce different levels of radiation

 

C) Milankovitch cycles of periodic variations in Earth’s orbits around the sun

 

D) lunar cycles in which the moon orbits at different distances from the Earth

 

55) In general, temperatures along an ocean coastline vary less than temperatures 100 miles

 

inland. This moderation of temperatures along coastlines is because:

 

A) as the oceans evaporate it cools off the coastlines

 

B) the sun shines more intensely away from the ocean coastlines

 

C) ocean temperatures change more quickly than air temperatures

 

D) ocean temperatures do not change as quickly as air temperatures

 

56) In our world, something with the greatest heat capacity is able to:

 

A) evaporate the most water from its surface

 

B) retain its heat the longest

 

C) insulate the best

 

D) reflect the greatest amount of sunshine

 

57) If the sun suddenly stopped shining, where would be the best outdoor location to stay warm

 

with the least change in ambient temperature?

 

A) Atlanta, Georgia

 

B) on a beach in Hawaii

 

C) Kansas City, Kansas

 

D) the center of Brazil

 

58) Which one of the following principles of smart-growth will most likely result in less commuting

 

for all residents?

 

A) have states purchase open spaces

 

B) set physical boundaries on urban sprawl

 

C) build new homes and stores on existing abandoned or brownfield urban properties

 

D) promote the integration of homes, stores, light industry, and professional offices

 

59) According to the U.S. Sprawlometer, the most sprawling and congested area is:

 

A) New York

 

B) Los Angeles

 

C) Greensboro, NC

 

D) Riverside, CA

 

60) The Obama administration has moved to combat urban sprawl through the:

 

A) Clean Air Act

 

B) Clean Water Act

 

C) American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

 

D) ISTEA

 

61) Over the past 60 years, as people moved from U.S. cities to suburbs, the people that were left

 

behind in the cities were primarily:

 

A) older, poor people representing ethnic minorities

 

B) younger, wealthy people representing ethnic minorities

 

C) older and wealthy Caucasians

 

D) younger Caucasians

 

62) In a large city experiencing urban blight, we would be surprised to find:

 

A) a declining tax base

 

B) depreciating real estate

 

C) improving schools

 

D) increasing crime

 

63) The main financial problems for a city experiencing urban blight result from:

 

A) a declining tax base

 

B) increasing industrial growth

 

C) the need to build new schools

 

D) increasing use of public transportation

 

64) Buses and cars using fuel cells are:

 

A) not yet possible because the technology to safely store hydrogen is still not resolved

 

B) not yet available because the fuel cell generates unsafe levels of heat

 

C) still inefficient, largely because the fuel cells are large and heavy

 

D) already in use and ready for commercial production

 

65) Which one of the following produces the least air pollution?

 

A) an automobile burning hydrogen as a fuel

 

B) an automobile running on a hydrogen fuel cell

 

C) a Toyota Prius hybrid vehicle

 

D) a car running on natural gas

 

66) Automobiles with fuel cells can be more flexibly designed because they:

 

A) do not have wheels

 

B) have to be so large that there is extra room for passengers and accessories

 

C) do not have an engine fuel combustion compartment

 

D) do not have to be aerodynamically constructed to get better fuel mileage

 

67) A hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell uses:

 

A) hydrogen and water and generates electricity and oxygen

 

B) hydrogen and oxygen and generates electricity and water

 

C) carbon dioxide and water and generates electricity and hydrogen

 

D) hydrogen and water and generates electricity, oxygen, and carbon dioxide

 

68) The most promising immediate alternative to gasoline fueled vehicles in a time of global

 

climate change and increasing oil imports is powering vehicles using:

 

A) solar power

 

B) hydrogen as a fuel source

 

C) fuel cells using hydrogen

 

D) plug-in hybrid electric vehicles

 

69) Enhanced geothermal systems:

 

A) generate electricity using the heat of the earth to make steam

 

B) are routinely used in China to power automobiles

 

C) use the energy of the sun to boil water and generate electricity

 

D) use gravity to propel large turbines, which generate electricity

 

A home located next to a 5-acre pond (30 feet deep in the center) uses the steady temperature of the deep pond water for heat exchange. A closed system of water is piped from the home under­ground to deep regions of the pond and then back to the home. Inside the home, a heat exchange system extracts heat in the winter and removes heat from the home in the summer. This home relies completely on electricity, generated by burning coal at a distant power plant.

 

70) This home system illustrates the use of:

 

A) ecothermal energy

 

B) biomass fuels

 

C) geothermal energy

 

D) hydroelectric energy

 

71) Compared to heating and cooling this home using a standard heat pump system, this home’s

 

heating and cooling system will:

 

A) probably keep the pond from freezing over in the winter

 

B) probably cause ice to form on the pond in the early summer and fall

 

C) reduce the carbon footprint of the homeowners

 

D) not work if ice forms on the top of the pond

 

72) Harnessing the energy of tides to generate electricity is different than the force moving the

 

water in a hydroelectric power station at a dam because:

 

A) tidal energy uses turbines and a dam uses generators

 

B) tidal energy ultimately relies on moon’s gravity and hydroelectric power ultimately relies on the energy from the sun

 

C) tidal energy ultimately relies on ocean currents and hydroelectric power ultimately relies on the energy from the sun

 

D) tidal energy ultimately relies on the wind and hydroelectric power ultimately relies on the energy of rain

 

73) A tidal barrage would be used to generate electricity:

 

A) at the mouth of a bay

 

B) at the bottom of a large lake

 

C) near the tip of an ocean peninsula

 

D) in the open ocean

 

74) One of the least promising non-fossil fuel energy sources uses:

 

A) wind power

 

B) biomass energy

 

C) geothermal energy

 

D) thermal-energy conversion in the oceans

 

75) The future global energy demands may be met by developing sustainable energy resources and

 

also, most easily, by:

 

A) dramatically increasing oil and natural gas exploration

 

B) increasing our use of the abundant natural gas and coal resources

 

C) improving energy conservation and efficiency of current technology

 

D) limiting the use of energy in developing countries

 

76) In the past decade, the United States government has:

 

A) discouraged the use of alternate energy resources and promoted the use of fossil fuels

 

B) promoted but not invested in the development and use of sustainable energy resources

 

C) promoted and invested heavily through the Recovery Act of 2009 in the development

 

and use of sustainable energy resources

 

D) required the use of sustainable energy resources for more than 95% of our energy

 

demands by the year 2020

 

77) Responsible stewardship in the coming decades will require global energy policies that

 

promote:

 

A) both sustainability and technological efficiency

 

B) productivity and economic prosperity in developing nations

 

C) the development of abundant and inexpensive fossil fuels such as shale gas

 

D) additional exploration of shale oil and natural gas resources

 

78) Energy policies that promote the use of renewable-energy resources:

 

A) and oil and gas exploration are the most promising ways to address global climate

 

change

 

B) and efficiency will automatically reduce the generation of greenhouse gases

 

C) increase the demand for fossil fuels and require the importation of oil to most

 

countries

 

D) hurt the poorest families and discourage economic growth in developing countries

 

79) If some current trends and energy strategies continue and succeed over the next few decades,

 

in fifty years you might be able to say that you witnessed the shift from:

 

A) an energy-consuming economy to an energy-producing economy

 

B) a wind-driven economy to a solar economy

 

C) an unsustainable fossil-fuel-driven economy to a sustainable hydrogen economy

 

D) a renewable energy- driven economy to a clean-burning natural gas economy.

 

80) Which one of the following vehicles would generate the greatest amount of carbon tax?

 

A) a large hybrid-electric SUV that gets 31 miles per gallon

 

B) a small gas-powered car that gets 27 miles per gallon

 

C) an all-electric car that charges its batteries using solar power-generated electricity

 

D) a car powered by natural gas that gets 33 miles per gallon

 

81) The general U.S. government response to possible terrorism at nuclear power plants since

 

2001 has been:

 

A) limited to a few unenforced regulations

 

B) to convert nuclear facilities to military installations with state of the art security

 

C) enhanced security at plants and at spent fuel storage pools

 

D) nothing, because of budget cuts brought about by the 2008 recession

 

82) Security of nuclear resources and the safe storage of nuclear wastes:

 

A) remain a global challenge

 

B) have been improved by concentrating these in four secure locations throughout the

 

world

 

C) have now been addressed by UN task forces who guard resources that are subject to

 

terrorist attacks

 

D) remain a problem only outside of the United States and Canada

 

83) The more than 100 nuclear power plants planned 30-40 years ago were never built in large

 

part due to:

 

A) increasing incidents of terrorism directed against nuclear plants

 

B) decreased demand for electricity and increased costs of safety features in construction

 

C) pressing demand for electricity, which required simpler coal-fired power plants that

 

could be built faster

 

D) budget constraints stemming from the 2008 recession

 

84) The longevity of nuclear power plants has averaged about:

 

A) 20-25 years due to unexpectedly high levels of corrosion and embrittlement

 

B) 40-50 years, longer than imagined, because neutrons tend to stabilize the building

 

materials

 

C) 10 years, only about 25% of their expected life, due to the need for new

 

government-mandated safety designs

 

D) 40 years, as expected, due to routine maintenance and the replacement with new longer-lasting materials

 

85) Unlike corrosion, embrittlement results in the degradation of nuclear power plant materials

 

from the:

 

A) buildup up iron oxide after prolonged exposure to water

 

B) rapid expansion and contraction of super-heated and ice-cold water through most of

 

the pipes

 

C) use of highly corrosive saltwater throughout most of the water pipes

 

D) bombardment of materials by neutrons produced by fission

 

86) Nuclear power plants are especially expensive because they:

 

A) require the highest levels of security

 

B) usually cost as much to decommission as they did to build

 

C) have so many parts that must be coated in gold

 

D) are constructed of many thick layers of concrete
87) In the United States and many countries in Europe, there is renewed interest in nuclear power

 

plants because of:

 

A) a worldwide shortage of coal

 

B) the spotty availability of natural gas

 

C) concern about global climate change

 

D) the greatly reduced costs associated with generating electricity using nuclear power

 

88) In the near future, the number of nuclear power plants in the United States and throughout

 

the world will most likely:

 

A) decline

 

B) hold steady

 

C) increase

 

D) depend upon the price of oil

 

89) In Japan today, the greatest risk associated with the use of nuclear power is:

 

A) an earthquake and/or tsunami

 

B) a terrorist attack

 

C) the lack of sufficient nuclear fuel

 

D) the generation of mutations in nearby plants and animals

 

90) Compared to standard fission reactors, fast-neutron reactors are:

 

A) less expensive to build

 

B) less expensive to operate

 

C) more efficient in fuel use

 

D) safer, requiring less security

 

91) A much greater use of breeder or fast-neutron reactors would pose a greater safety risk

 

because fast-neutron reactors would generate greater amounts of:

 

A) heavy water, which can easily leak out into the local community near nuclear power plants

 

B) radon gas, which over many years can greatly increase the risk of cancer in the region surrounding a nuclear plant

 

C) plutonium, which is more easily used to construct nuclear weapons

 

D) lead, which is widely used in the creation of bullets and other ammunitions

 

92) Breeder or fast-neutron reactors generate more fuel than they use because:

 

A) these reactors capture the energy of extra neutrons released by 235U fissions

 

B) the Second Law of Thermodynamics does not apply to nuclear reactions

 

C) of solar collectors that invest the energy of the sun into new fuel

 

D) the heat that is usually released in standard reactors is mostly recaptured

 

93) Reprocessing of nuclear fuel:

 

A) requires the heavy use of lead and iron ore

 

B) eliminates the need for nuclear power plants

 

C) requires additional mining of uranium

 

D) reduces and reuses the stockpile of nuclear waste

 

94) The energy released from the sun and other stars comes from the:

 

A) fusion of helium into hydrogen

 

B) fusion of hydrogen into helium

 

C) fission of helium into hydrogen

 

D) fission of hydrogen into helium

 

95) Today, we are able to use nuclear fusion to:

 

A) power a hydrogen bomb

 

B) generate electricity efficiently

 

C) produce hydrogen for fuel cell cars

 

D) power jets and ships

 

96) Nuclear fusion reactions:

 

A) were used in the atomic bombs dropped on Japan in 1945

 

B) require conditions that are not yet cost-efficient for the generation of electricity

 

C) are widely used today in nuclear power plants

 

D) can only occur in the special conditions of the sun and stars

 

97) Over the past 50 years, interest in nuclear power:

 

A) rose, decreased, and now is increasing again

 

B) decreased, rose, and now is decreasing again

 

C) has remained high around the world

 

D) was high but then declined and continues to decline worldwide

 

98) Which of the following is a clear advantage in the use of nuclear power instead of fossil fuels?

 

A) Nuclear plants are cheaper to build than power plants that burn fossil fuels.

 

B) Nuclear power can be used today to power most forms of public transportation.

 

C) Nuclear power contributes less to global climate change.

 

D) Nuclear power generates fewer wastes with lower health risks.

 

99) Much of the recent increased interest in nuclear power is related to:

 

A) the limited supply of coal to generate electricity

 

B) the limited supply of natural gas to generate electricity

 

C) increasing costs of oil and gasoline

 

D) concerns about global climate change

 

100) Good stewardship of nuclear power is best promoted by:

 

A) government oversight and international cooperation

 

B) independent decisions of the countries of the world

 

C) oversight provided by the companies that own the facilities

 

D) limiting regulations and requirements