Exam 14: Technology and the Environment

What are the major contributors to air pollution? How do they affect human beings,the economy,and the ecosystem?

Define technology.Of what does it consist? In general,how does it affect society?

__________ is/are the most dangerous form of air pollution.

In 1991,Daniel Bell noted that "smart bombs" and computer-assisted weapons are technologies designed to __________.

Each robot-like machine that is introduced to replace human labor replaces __________ human worker(s).

__________ refers to the replacement of workers by a nonhuman means of producing the same product.

In some instances,social and economic needs change,but up to that time there is no technology to supply these needs.This is __________.

Love Canal,located near Niagara Falls,is a notorious example of the failure to protect against __________.

In 1991,research physicist Frank Close conducted a study of the "__________" scandal,wherein he warned that the pressure on scientists to make discoveries and bring in profits for universities and research institutes is creating an incentive for manipulations of data and serious lapses in scientific judgment.

__________ has described the fundamental problem of the harmful effects of certain technologies on the natural environment in terms of a clash between the speed of change in human civilization and the pace of change in the cycles of the natural environment.

Fluorocarbon molecules are important in the problem of __________.

What is transhumanism? Provide some examples of transhumanism.

In the United States,the gap between those with access to computers and the Internet and those without such access is often referred to as the __________.

Recent estimates indicate that __________ American adults has been affected by identity theft.

Transhumanists are fascinated by the idea of the __________,a creature that is part human and part technological systems.

According to the text,the air,water,earth,plants,animals,and mineral resources are part of the __________.

The text points out that solid-waste dump sites are often located near low-income neighborhoods on the outskirts of metropolitan regions or in rural areas.This practice has been referred to as environmental __________.

Some critics of technology conclude that technology has become a complex,powerful force in society;democratic political institutions and powerless citizens find it difficult to control.This idea is summarized by the phrase __________.

In most cases,appropriate technology is __________ technology.

By 2000,an estimated 36 percent of the earth's land was threatened by desertification.This illustrates the problem of __________.