Question 1

The outlook environmentalists call the "logic of growth" follows from the fact that our way of life in the United States is based on

Accepted Answer

A) the value of leisure and a belief in fate. 
B) a quest for material comfort and a belief in progress. 
C) preservation of the natural environment and a quest for harmony. 
D) living simply and planning for the future.

Question 2

According to the limits-to-growth thesis, global supplies of oil and natural gas are already falling sharply and will continue to drop, a little faster or more slowly depending on

Accepted Answer

A) the logic of modernization. 
B) zero-population growth efforts in western Europe. 
C) the efficacy of EPA regulations in developing nations. 
D) the speed at which developing nations industrialize.

Question 3

In all, the world's rain forests cover what percentage of Earth's total land surface?

Accepted Answer

A) 10 percent 
B) 25 percent 
C) 50 percent 
D) 75 percent

Question 4

According to which political point of view must government reforms include enacting and enforcing laws to limit further environmental damage, and for global organizations to work to protect the remaining rain forests?

Accepted Answer

A) conservative 
B) radical right 
C) radical left 
D) liberal

Question 5

How many motor vehicles are there in the United States, a nation with an adult population of about 200 million people?

Accepted Answer

A) 160,000 
B) 1.6 million 
C) 26 million 
D) 260 million

Question 6

The designers at a manufacturing company are coming out with a new product but they want to sell more units, so they deliberately engineer the products to have a limited useful life.This illustrates the concept of

Accepted Answer

A) cultural diffusion. 
B) deliberate dumping. 
C) conspicuous consumption. 
D) planned obsolescence.

Question 7

According to conservative analyst Julian Simon, the fact that the planet supports six times as many people as it did when Malthus was alive is cause for

Accepted Answer

A) great concern. 
B) enacting laws to limit population. 
C) celebration about how productive the world has become. 
D) a major increase in spending to study environmental issues.

Question 8

Knowledge that people apply to the task of living in a physical environment is

Accepted Answer

A) ecology. 
B) technology. 
C) ethnology. 
D) anthropology.

Question 9

Precipitation, made toxic by air pollution, that destroys plant and animal life, is referred to as

Accepted Answer

A) acid rain. 
B) killer cloudbursts. 
C) infected water. 
D) pea soup.

Question 10

George is an optimist and is fairly conservative.He agrees with the concept of the logic of growth approach, which

Accepted Answer

A) recognizes that natural resources such as oil, clean air, fresh water, and topsoil are limited. 
B) claims that human ingenuity will probably solve any problems of pollution and scarcity. 
C) recognizes that economic growth must have limits. 
D) asserts that we cannot expect Earth to support more and more people with higher living standards without harming the environment and ourselves.

Exam 16: Technology and the Environment