Deck 14: Agriculture

Question 1

Proven natural gas reserves are most numerous in .

A) Saudi Arabia
B) the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal)
C) Brazil
D) Russia

Answer 1

D

Question 2

During the 1900s, the United States saw a transition from coal to natural gas furnaces, and today, few homes are directly heated with coal. All of the following are benefits of this transition except .

A) a decrease in acid precipitation
B) a decrease in the release of greenhouse gases
C) a switch to a fuel that is much more abundant
D) less truck traffic bringing fuel to homes

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Natural gas reserves in the United States .

A) are larger than those of any other country
B) have been almost fully depleted, so the United States must import most of its natural gas
C) are expected to last at least another 70 years
D) are being replenished more quickly than they are being used

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Electricity from nuclear power plants is produced via .

A) the fission of uranium or plutonium atoms by bombarding them with neutrons
B) the fusion of nuclei of atoms
C) bombarding radioactive elements with electrons
D) the fusion of electrons by bombarding them with uranium or plutonium atoms

Question 5

Energy extracted from which one of the following fuels produces the least amount of carbon dioxide?

A) Coal
B) Natural gas
C) Oil
D) Nuclear

Question 6

Natural gas is primarily composed of .

A) methane
B) shale oil
C) sulfur
D) oxygen

Question 7

Nuclear fuel is generally made from .

A) radium and radon
B) the nuclei of cells
C) methane and ethanol
D) uranium and plutonium

Question 8

are fossil fuel deposits that are slightly too costly to be produced at the present time.

A) Marginal reserves
B) Subeconomic resources
C) Suboptimal reserves
D) Recoverable reserves

Question 9

Which of the following energy sources is considered nonrenewable?

A) Fossil fuel energy
B) Wind energy
C) Sunlight (solar) energy
D) Geothermal energy
E) Tidal energy

Question 10

What "ingredient" is required to begin the chain reaction in a nuclear power plant?

A) A neutron
B) 238U
C) A proton
D) Heat

Question 11

Oil production is a misnomer for the process used by oil companies because .

A) the oil reserves may not be as large as expected
B) much of the oil is found in other forms, such as tar and natural gas
C) the oil was produced millions of years ago
D) most oil is produced by drilling deeply into the Earth

Question 12

China and the United States account for over 60% of the world's .

A) oil reserves
B) coal reserves
C) natural gas reserves
D) coal consumption

Question 13

Which one of the following is the most cleanly burning fossil fuel?

A) Oil
B) Natural gas
C) Bituminous coal
D) Anthracite coal

Question 14

The world's most abundant fossil fuel is .

A) biodiesel
B) coal
C) oil
D) methane
E) natural gas

Question 15

Your cousin lives near a nuclear power plant and is concerned about the white smoke he sees coming out of the giant smokestacks at the nearby nuclear power plant. To lessen his fears, you should inform your cousin that .

A) the smoke is actually steam coming from cooling towers and that the water producing the steam did not come from the reactor core
B) the amount of radioactivity in the fuel rods of a functioning nuclear power plant is so low that there would be nothing to worry about, even if the power plant were to fail and release all of its radiation into the air
C) nobody has ever been killed or injured from an accident at a nuclear power plant
D) the smoke is being generated by the connected coal power plant that provides backup electricity to the nuclear power plant

Question 16

Extracting oil from shale deposits .

A) is energy inefficient because it involves heating rocks to extract the oil
B) has been occurring in the Canadian tar sands
C) in the United States will take place mostly in northeast states as well as in Georgia and Florida
D) has been initiated on a large scale in the United States and will soon surpass Canada's production

Question 17

Which type of ionizing radiation is generally the most dangerous?

A) Gamma radiation
B) Omega radiation
C) Alpha radiation
D) Beta radiation

Question 18

Fossil fuels represent _.

A) sustainable sources of energy that are underused today
B) plants and algae buried millions of years ago
C) natural deposits of organic materials that formed long before life on Earth evolved
D) the remains of fossil animals that lived a few thousand years ago

Question 19

How does enriched uranium differ from naturally occurring uranium?

A) Naturally occurring uranium is mostly 238U, while enriched uranium is mostly 235U.
B) Naturally occurring uranium contains 1% 238U, while enriched uranium contains 3- 5% 238U.
C) Naturally occurring uranium contains 1% 235U, while enriched uranium contains 3- 5% 235U.
D) Naturally occurring uranium is mostly 235U, while enriched uranium is mostly 238U.

Question 20

Which fossil fuel generally contains the greatest concentrations of pollution-causing contaminants?

A) Coal
B) Natural gas
C) Uranium
D) Oil

Question 21

The process of hydraulic fracturing involves using .

A) coal as a chemical reactant for producing natural gas
B) explosives to fracture layers of rock that contain natural gas
C) high-pressure fluids to fracture rock layers that contain natural gas
D) the energy from "fractured" water molecules to create a flow of electrons

Question 22

You are the mayor of a very large city whose regional electrical utilities are struggling to keep up with demand. A new power plant must be built in the area, and you are faced with having to make a recommendation as to which kind of power plant should be built (coal, natural gas, or nuclear). Which would you recommend? Provide a rationale for your recommendation, and include reasons why you did not choose the other two options.

Question 23

Carbon sequestration .

A) involves capturing carbon emissions and then releasing them into the atmosphere
B) converts carbon from carbon dioxide emissions into smaller elements that do not contribute to global climate change
C) is an unproven technology that is in the early stages of development
D) has been shown to be more dangerous to the environment than releasing carbon dioxide

Question 24

Which of the following is a benefit of using nuclear power?

A) Mining activities enhance ecosystems.
B) Core meltdown of reactors can provide "bonus" energy for electricity production.
C) The increasing costs of nonrenewable energy sources make nuclear energy more economically viable.
D) Few greenhouse gases are emitted.
E) Using nuclear power causes more use of fossil fuels.

Question 25

The most abundant fossil fuel in the United States is _.

A) nuclear power
B) coal
C) crude oil
D) natural gas

Question 26

Describe the distinction between conventional and unconventional oil and gas, and give examples of the unconventional varieties.

Question 27

Which of the following statements about tar sands is true?

A) Hydrofracking is used to extract oil from tar sands.
B) Most of Canada's petroleum reserves are in the form of tar sands.
C) Most of the petroleum reserves in North Dakota are in the form of tar sands.
D) Deposits of tar sands are generally found in sandy deserts such as the Arabian Desert in the Middle East.

Question 28

The use of high-pressure liquids to extract oil from rocks is called .

A) hydrolyzation
B) hydrofracking
C) freaking
D) hydroextraction

Question 29

Scientists search for fossil fuels in many ways. Identifying pockets of fossil fuels by sending sound waves into the ground to reflect off of rock layers is called three-dimensional .

A) dynamite surveying
B) sonar surveying
C) seismic surveying
D) geologic surveying

Question 30

can be isolated from crude oil through the process of fractional distillation.

A) Natural gas
B) Gasoline
C) Oil shale
D) Vegetable oil

Question 31

The source of energy for reactions on the sun is .

A) hydrogen fuel
B) nuclear fusion
C) natural gas
D) nuclear fission

Question 32

Fossil fuels are considered nonrenewable sources of energy because .

A) carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are too high to allow fossil fuels to form
B) people are cutting down too many forests to allow trees to turn into coal
C) they are used more quickly than they can naturally be replaced
D) they release carbon dioxide when they are burned

Question 33

At the current rates of use, the United States has enough coal to last the next _.

A) 100- 250 years
B) 60- 90 years
C) 15- 20 years
D) 40- 50 years