Deck 19: Environmental Sociology

Question 1

What is the phenomenon that allows the sun's heat to pass through to the Earth's surface while stopping it from spreading back into space?

A) greenhouse effect
B) global warming
C) ozone layer
D) CO₂ emission

Answer 1

A

Question 2

According to Marx and Engels, not only all of society, but the __________ depended on transforming natural resources into material possessions.

A) clergy
B) nature of individuals
C) nobility
D) division of labor

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Why do different people take on different views of the environment?

A) If they are conservative, they are against the environment.
B) If they are liberal, they tend to take a realistic view of the environment.
C) They either believe in science or believe in pseudoscience.
D) Their views reflect the contexts in which their environment and society interact.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

__________ made the correlation between magic and the control of the environment while observing the rites of Trobriand Islanders before ocean fishing expeditions.

A) Margaret Mead
B) Bronislaw Malinowski
C) Colonial administrators
D) Emile Durkheim

Question 5

A Native American rain dance and cloud seeding represent the use of __________ and __________ to tame nature.

A) religion; science
B) art; technology
C) the primitive; the modern
D) natural; unnatural means

Question 6

The field of __________ revealed how so-called primitive societies __________ nature.

A) anthropology; are dependent on
B) environmental sociology; are interdependent on
C) ecology; are based on
D) archaeology; worship

Question 7

Given Durkheim's consideration of "primitive" religion, the natural environment is revered in proportion to a society __________.

A) seeing itself as connected to nature
B) recognizing its sacred totems
C) recognizing environmental rituals as sacred
D) participating in environmental rituals

Question 8

One clan of indigenous peoples in Papua New Guinea adopted the fish as the __________ of their group.

A) religious identity
B) mascot
C) animal symbol
D) totem

Question 9

The scientist who first began monitoring levels of CO₂ in the atmosphere and linked it to human activities was __________.

A) Herman Wouk
B) Charles David Keeling
C) Michael Morris Mann
D) Phil Jones

Question 10

What happens to regions just above sea level when the sea ice melts?

A) Sea levels fall.
B) They are subject to flooding and possibly disappearing under water.
C) New land becomes available for farming.
D) Immigration increases.

Question 11

What did Rik Scarce (2005) discover about the local ranchers' reaction to the reintroduction of the gray wolf into Yellowstone Park?

A) They were not threatened by the wolves, but rather by wealthy outsiders who simply wanted their wilderness more authentic.
B) They believed the wolves would impact their livelihoods and that their issues were being ignored by other stakeholders in the region.
C) They feared the wolves would eat their livestock and felt undermined by outsiders who could impose their will on them.
D) The ranchers saw themselves as the victims of class warfare conducted from as far away as Hollywood.

Question 12

What does Jared Diamond's study of New Zealand's Maori contribute to our understanding of how one society exploits its environment and that of other societies?

A) how global advantages and inequalities arise from geographic differences
B) how a purely Marxist interpretation is incomplete
C) how Western Europe enjoys a huge advantage in raw materials
D) how primitive people are as much at fault for their disappearance as the West is

Question 13

The __________ distinguishes other technological leaps in history from the Industrial Revolution.

A) railroad
B) steamboat
C) mining of coal
D) steam engine

Question 14

According to Taylor (1998), early American settlers destroyed forests for reasons in addition to clearing the land. Why did they do this?

A) The forests were seen as dark and evil.
B) They needed the wood for enormous houses they did not have back in Europe.
C) They were superstitious and believed the forests were inhabited by witches.
D) They wanted to deny dangerous animals and Indians a place to hide.

Question 15

Even before the Industrial Revolution, humans began exerting some control over their natural environments. Which of the following would be the earliest manifestation?

A) crop irrigation
B) animal domestication
C) permanent settlements
D) trade and barter

Question 16

What did Emile Durkheim discover about the clans of various Aboriginal tribes in Australia?

A) They were united by elaborate family ties symbolized by an animal.
B) Clans could either be plant people or animal people.
C) One did not have to have a blood kinship to his or her clan, but rather an allegiance to a particular totem.
D) They observed a religious faith called "totemism."

Question 17

The transition from a(n) __________ to a(n) __________ mode of production was realized through social revolutions that reorganized society around commodity production.

A) anthropocentric; capitalistic
B) agricultural; anthropocentric
C) capitalistic; agricultural
D) agricultural; capitalistic

Question 18

__________ is the branch of science that studies the relationship between organisms and their environment.

A) Environmental Science
B) Ecology
C) Sociobiology
D) Anthropology

Question 19

Marx, Engels, and Diamond are sometimes labeled __________ because their theories imply that a society's environment determines everything else-from its social structure to individuals' thoughts.

A) communists
B) determinists
C) materialists
D) socialists

Question 20

The division of labor led to the development of a(n) __________ and __________ power.

A) priestly class; religious
B) egalitarian society; shared
C) food surplus; water-driven
D) elite class; economic

Question 21

Global warming theorists predict that up to __________ will be extinct by the turn of the next century.

A) 50 percent of all species
B) 50 percent of currently endangered species
C) 20 percent of animal and plant species
D) 60 percent of the polar bear population

Question 22

What is the lesson of Easter Island?

A) that it teaches us about the collapse of an ecosystem
B) that one industry (carving enormous statues) can induce an ecological collapse
C) that deforestation can lead to the extinction of humankind
D) that living things that dwell interdependently in a particular place share energy and resources

Question 23

The petroleum released by the Deepwater Horizon explosion created a "kill zone" of 80 square miles. What happens in a kill zone?

A) Virtually all sea life is eventually destroyed from the oil released into the water.
B) The oxygen levels are so depleted that any animal that swims into this area is suffocated.
C) All the animal and plant life drowns.
D) Underwater fireballs literally burn all the sea life.

Question 24

What is the sociological effect of New York City having filled up its own landfills?

A) New York can reclaim its landfills as public spaces for parks and the like.
B) New York citizens have to be mindful of the garbage they dispose.
C) New Yorkers must contract with other municipalities to collect their garbage.
D) Poorer parts of the United States have created an industry selling New York space in their landfills.

Question 25

Despite efforts to educate the public and establish recycling programs, each American produces approximately __________ pounds of trash in a day.

A) 15
B) 10
C) 5
D) 2.5

Question 26

In addition to oil, what other underground resource is being depleted and not being regenerated at the same historical rates?

A) water
B) soil
C) aquifers
D) salt

Question 27

Who established the Yosemite region in California, which eventually became the first national park?

A) John James Audubon
B) William Howard Taft
C) Henry David Thoreau
D) Theodore Roosevelt

Question 28

The small island nation of __________ may soon be completely underwater due to the melting of polar ice and warming ocean temperatures.

A) the Canary Islands
B) Hawaii
C) Cuba
D) the Maldives

Question 29

Why are such phenomena as Hurricane Katrina and rare earthquakes in regions where oil shale is fracked called "hundred-year" events?

A) They take place every other century.
B) They can be statistically averaged as taking place every 100 years.
C) They are statistical outliers that typically do not occur within a normal human lifespan.
D) They use a folkloric term that is intended to be hyperbole.

Question 30

Most deforestation in the world is a result of __________.

A) making charcoal for fuel
B) farming
C) logging
D) livestock

Question 31

What is a "throw-away society"?

A) a society that is not working toward sustainability
B) a society that uses Styrofoam
C) a society that uses products for convenience and disposability
D) a society that does not have enough landfills

Question 32

What might offset ever-greater carbon emissions, and which is also contributory to these increased emissions because it, too, is a resource that is being overused?

A) forests
B) coral reefs
C) sea ice
D) acid rain

Question 33

Why are clean air and healthy lungs "luxuries" developing societies cannot afford?

A) Developing societies feature cultures in which environmental awareness is a foreign concept.
B) Developing societies may not have to, since many of these countries are already benefiting from cleaner technologies.
C) Developing societies have to make the hard choice between clean air and cheaper energy.
D) Developing societies must go through all the phases of capitalism, so these problems are unavoidable.

Question 34

Tropical rainforests provide a natural habitat for __________ of all species on Earth.

A) two-thirds
B) one-half
C) one-third
D) one-fourth

Question 35

Which world river is threatened by the damming projects of the developing nations through which it and its tributaries flow?

A) the Amazon
B) the Yellow
C) the Nile
D) the Mississippi

Question 36

Ecologists estimate that __________ are being driven into extinction each day due to __________.

A) New England's fisheries; gigantic nets
B) up to 10 kinds of fish; overfishing
C) about 150 species; CO₂ pollution
D) about 137 species; deforestation

Question 37

Which byproduct of smog is formed and dispersed by naturally occurring weather patterns?

A) respiratory illness
B) ozone depletion
C) smog alerts
D) acid rain

Question 38

__________ is one of the earliest American texts that inspired its readers to value the environment for its intrinsic rather than economic value.

A) Uncle Tom's Cabin
B) Nature
C) The Raven
D) Walden

Question 39

Climatologist Michael Mann and his colleagues have graphed a thousand-year period (the famous "hockey stick" chart) that shows how __________ were more or less constant until they spiked __________.

A) CO₂ levels; 100 years ago
B) carbon dioxide and monoxide; in the last century
C) global temperatures; in the past half-century
D) organic matter levels; in the past half-century

Question 40

What is the sociological impact of an environmentally catastrophic event such as Deepwater Horizon?

A) People lose their jobs and homes.
B) Vacationers, fishermen, and other stakeholders in the region become more likely to join environmental causes.
C) Coastal residents discover that the government and oil companies have failed them.
D) Coastal fishermen and vacationers experience inequality vis-à-vis the oil companies.

Question 41

Summarize various ways in which people can create a sustainable lifestyle for themselves and thus begin the process of environmental justice on an individual basis.

Question 42

What special problems do developing nations face given such treaties as the Kyoto Protocol?

A) Such treaties fall disproportionately on them rather than on the wealthy nations that cause the most pollution.
B) It forces them to modernize without the capital to do so.
C) They are forced to falsify their compliance.
D) They see such treaties as constraining their ability to modernize.

Question 43

Two major branches of the environmental justice movement exist. One concerns itself with environmental problems as violations of civil rights and the other is largely concerned with __________.

A) environmental rights of the white working class
B) protecting people from exposures to toxic substances
C) landfills and the like
D) global warming

Question 44

The U.S. environmental justice movement got its start primarily from what kinds of incidents and concerns?

A) the disproportionate exposure of minority Americans to hazardous waste
B) Three Mile Island
C) Love Canal
D) the lead paint found in ghetto neighborhoods

Question 45

For as long as she can remember, Emma, a high school senior, has been fascinated with the environment. She has a basic understanding of the connection we have with the natural world and now wants to explore this relationship further. Which of the following fields of study would best fit Emma's interests?

A) anthropology
B) ecology
C) sociobiology
D) sociology

Question 46

Explain why scientists are switching from the term "global warming" to "climate change."

Question 47

Carl loves to go camping in the woods, but his camping habits surprise his friends. Sometimes he cuts down small trees where he wants to put up his tent. He seldom picks up his trash and ignores pleas to be more respectful of the area. Carl contends that the land is there to serve him, not the other way around. Which of the following belief systems describes Carl's attitude and actions?

A) anthropocentrism
B) conservationism
C) determinism
D) totemism

Question 48

Which of the following is the greatest environmental problem that the world faces today?

A) pollution
B) climate change
C) deforestation
D) depletion of coal

Question 49

__________ is revealed in the inability of people to evacuate before or after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, similar to the victims of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

A) Socially patterned vulnerability
B) Environmental racism
C) Ecojustice
D) Synergy

Question 50

Jing Li wants his community to become more serious about protecting the environment. He has tried to implement some ecological programs, but he is having trouble getting others involved. Of the following actions that Jing Li could take, which is more likely than the others to achieve his goal and to produce the best and most enduring results in his community?

A) establish incentives that make recycling and conservation more appealing, cost effective, and easier to incorporate into daily life
B) host informational lectures by environmental experts
C) send mass mailings identifying locations of local recycling centers
D) create social media messages about the dangers of pollution and climate change

Question 51

Which of the following is an implication of the treadmill-of-production idea?

A) The economy must be restructured.
B) Polluters will pick up and leave if regulations are enforced.
C) Incentives will reduce pollution.
D) Policies and companies must work in harmony.

Question 52

Discuss Allan Schnaiberg's assessment of the uncontrolled destruction of the environment as an essential feature of the contemporary economic system. What is the end result of his "treadmill of production"?

Question 53

In July 1995, a severe heat wave in Chicago revealed how one element of the population was particularly vulnerable in a scenario that anticipated likely tragedies, such as what happened in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. What did the sociologist Eric Klinenberg reveal and what special phrase did he coin to describe it?