Exam 22: Technology and the Global Environment

Monsanto, the American-based multinational agricultural biotechnology corporation, has scoured the earth in a quest to patent plants that have been used for centuries by Indigenous people as medication and turn them into commercially viable medicines.What do Indigenous people call this practice?

Danger to society does not only result from technological accidents such as gas leaks and reactor explosions.According to Ulrich Beck, which of the following also poses major dangers?

If technology transforms society, in what way is it under human control?

How might sociology help us overcome the negative consequences of technology?

According to the textbook, when was the steam engine first invented?

According to the 2008 film Food, Inc., which of the following has been problematic for people's health and safety recently in the production of food?

Monique is a theoretical mathematician at a large university.Which of the following is most likely to motivate her research work at the university?

Which of the following was responsible for the manufacture of the first nuclear bomb?

According to the textbook, which of the following has been increasingly influencing technological development throughout the twentieth century?

What do we call the act of joining DNA from two separate hosts together?

Technological determinism is the belief that technology is the major force shaping human society and culture.

What does the gradual increase in the average surface temperature of the earth reflect?

Daniel is aware that in the production of his new patented invention, there is the possibility for things to go awry.He believes that this possibility for harm is outweighed by the potential of his invention to be beneficial.Which of the following terms is used to refer to how Daniel most likely views the less positive possibilities of invention?

Sabina is investigating the claim that 20 000 plant species, 1350 vertebrate species, and millions of insects all live in the Atlantic forest in Brazil.What is she investigating?

What does the increased use of fossil fuels, especially in industry, cause?

Looking at the increased numbers of global natural disasters like tsunamis and tornadoes, what is a reasonable conclusion to draw?

What is technology?

Which of the following was a major contributor to Thomas Edison's inventions?

According to the textbook, what is a likely outcome of the ability to genetically program fetal development in humans?

Russian economist Nikolai Kondratiev noticed that technologies are invented in clusters.Based on that observation, he argued that flurries of creativity cause major economic growth spurts beginning 10 to 20 years after a cluster of major inventions and have a lasting influence for 15 to35 years.Discuss whether Kondratiev's argument suggests that culture is defined and shaped by technology.