EVR 3011 Environmental Resource and Pollution
Midterm 2 Examination (Spring 2013) : Full points = 100
1. Which of the following substance is not hazardous ? A) Radioactive B) Strong Alkali or acid
C) explosives D) all are hazardous
2. Which of the following activities generate the most waste in US? A) Agricultural B)
Manufacturing C) Mining D) Household
3. Which among the following is the largest component of municipal waste? A) Yard trimming
B) food scrap C) Plastic D) paper
4. Per capita generation of MSW (Municipal Solid Waste) in the last ten years in US has A)
increased by more than 25% B) increased by less than 10% C) decreased by less than 10% D)
decreased by more than 25%
5. Which among the following is the most preferred way of waste management? A)
Incineration with energy recovery B) Landfilling C) Source reduction D) Recycling
6. Approximately what percentage of MSW is being recycled at present in USA? A) 10% B) 50%
C) 33% D) 75%
7. Which among the following is the most recycled solid waste in US? A) Glass containers B)
Soda cans C) office paper D) Auto batteries
8. What is the most common way of disposing of MSW in US A) Dumping in the ocean B)
Burning C) Landfilling D) Recycling
9. Which of the following will make a good site for sanitary landfill? A) area with thick clay
layer B) area with thick sand layer C) area with high water table D) area near the coast
10. ‘Bathtub Effect” refers to the leak of toxic, radioactive water from a nuclear power plant B)
wastage of filtered water in US because a large percent of people take bath in a large
bathtub here C) overflow of leachates from a sanitary landfill D) propagation of diseases in
crowded swimming pools
11. Love Canal, near Niagara falls was the site of A) radioactive leak from a nuclear power
plant B) leakage of toxic chemicals from underground dumps C) Atmospheric pollution from
coal fired power plants D) Contamination of ground water due to underground mining
12. Which of the following states was chosen to be the site of high level nuclear waste in US? A)
New York B) California C) Texas D) Nevada
13. Yucca Mountain is the site of A) the largest toxic waste dump in USA B) largest nuclear
power plant in USA C) Site of the largest nuclear leak in USA D) None of the above
14. Ore is ___ A)any rock that contains metals B) waste material that is produced during the
mining of a metal C) any rock from which a metal can be profitably extracted D) minerals
other than the desired metal in a rock D) amount of overburden that has to be removed to
expose a metal bearing horizon
15. Which among the following is a scarce metal? A) Iron B) Aluminum C) Copper D) Manganese
16. PBT stands for Persistent, Bioaccumulative, Toxic. Which among the following is not a PBT
metal? A) Arsenic B) Lead C) Aluminum D) all these are PBT metals
17. What is the main source of energy in US at present? A) Coal B) Oil C) Natural Gas D) Hydro
18. At the present rate of consumption, how long will USA’s coal reserve will last? A) 50 years B)
100 years C) 200 years D) 500 years
19. Which of the following is not caused by burning of fossil fuels? A) Eutrophication B) Acid
Rain C) Global Warming D) Burning of fossil fuels contribute to all of these
20. Car ownership in US has ___ A) increased at the same rate as the population B) has
increased at a rate lower than the population increase C) has increased at a rate higher than
the population growth D) Car ownership has nothing to do with the population
21. Europeans make only 50% of their trips by cars while the average US citizen makes 87% of
their trips by car. Why? A) Europeans are more healthy B) European cities are more
compact C) Europe has a better public transport system D) both b and c.
22. National City Lines was formed by GM, Standard Oil, Mack and Firestone in order to ___ A)
improve the public transportations in US cities B) establish more railway and trolley lines in
US cities C) make public transportation more safe D) to destroy established railway and
trolley lines in US cities
23. US Clean Air Act required reduction of which of the following gases from vehicle emissions
A) CO B) NOx C) emission of toxic gases D) All of the above
24. Why was MTBE (Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether) added to gasoline in US? A) As an anti-knock
agent B) to oxygenate the gasoline so that it burns better C) to make gasoline less smelly D)
to reduce pollution in the event of a gasoline leak.
25. Which of the following measures can reduce vehicular emission in US cities? A) car pooling
B) Oxygenated Gasoline C) Electric cars D) All of the above
26. Itai-itai disease is cuased by the environmental pollution by A) Mercury B) Arsenic C)
Cadmium D) Lead
27. Minamata tragedy in Japan was caused by ______ pollution. A) mercury B) Arsenic C)
Cadmium D) Lead
28. The main exposure by Cadmium on humans is by A) polluted air B) polluted water C) Food
and tobacco D) All of the above
29. Edwin Dobb’sarticle “Pennies from Hell” chronicles the history of a major metal deposit. In
which state was this deposit located? A) Utah B) Texas C) California D) Montana
30. Active solar heating ___ A) requires the construction of a green house B) involves installing
solar electric (Photo voltaic) cells C) circulating water heated by sun D) None of the above
31. What are the environmental effects of installing solar power plant? A) Indirect pollution –
requires much more steel, glass and metal than a comparable nuclear or coal burning
power plant B) Large scale disruption of land use C) Disruption of evaporation and surface
run-off patterns D) All of the above
32. A heliostat is _____ A) an array of directed solar reflectors B) an array of solar PV cells C) a
solar powered pump D) none of the above
33. What forced Anaconda to sell it’s interest in Summit Hill Copper Mines to ARCO in 1977? A)
the mines had run out of copper B)the international price of copper had dropped C)
Salvadore Allende in Chile had nationalized all Chilean copper companies including those
owned by Anaconda D) the owner of Anaconda had died
34. An event on June 8, 1917 precipitated years of labor unrest, martial law, deployment of
national gurads and troops in Butte, Montana. What precipitated this unrest? A) Firing of
workers by the company management B) Fighting between rival labor unions C) a horrible
underground fire in the mines that killed 168 miners D) Closure of the mines because of
drop in price of copper
35. ARCO lobbied hard to change which of the following provisions of the Superfund Law? A)
Successor Liability B) Joint and Several Liability C) Retroactive Liability D) All of the above
36. What environmental problem will arise if the water in the Berkley Pit rises to the so called
‘Critical Level” ? A) At this height the pit water will overflow the Berkley pit B) the pit water
will join the groundwater table C) The pit water will reach the soil layer above the hard
rocks and will flow through the soil towards the valley and the town D) The pit water will
come in contact with a Arsenic rich layer in the pit wall.
37. Which state in US is most suitable for wind power generation? A) Florida B) North Dakota C)
new Mexico D) California
38. Overburden is _____ A) amount, above the same limit, of a pollutant in the environment B)
Minerals other than ore present in a rock C) soil and rock overlying a deposit D) soil and
rock discarded after mining a deposit
39. Gangue is ______ A) Minerals other than ore present in a rock B) band of French criminals
C) a type of environmental hormone D) any cancer causing mineral
40. Which among the following is not an abundant metal? A) Manganese B) Titanium C) Silicon
D) Copper
41. Which among the following will not result in an increase of reserve (of a metal) ? A) better
exploration technology B) Increase in the price of the metal C) recycling of the metal D) All
of the above will result in the increase of the reserve.
42. Emission of particulate matter in the air is associated with which phase in the life-cycle of a
metal? A) mining B) smelting C) Manufacturing D) all of the above releases particulate
matter.
43. Why are Hydrogen Fuel Cells deemed to be environment-friendly? A) it does not produce
any toxic emission B) it is more efficient than gasoline burning internal combustion engines
C) Production of hydrogen fuel does not require any mining D) all of the above
44. The new CAFÉ standard mandates ____ A) inspection of all cafeteria for health violation B)
reduction in the amount of fat and sugar and additives in cafeteria food C) fuel economy
standards in automobiles D) both a and b
45. Which of the following is not true? A) in US, 5% of the world population uses >40% of world
consumption of gasoline B) car ownership in US has increased six times faster than
population growth C) two-thirds of US consumption of petroleum is imported D) all of the
above are true.
46. Which of the following gases is not a major component of automobile exhaust? A) SO2 B)
CO C) NOx D) all are major component of vehicular emissions.
47. What is the biggest source for energy in US/ A) Nuclear B) Hydro C) Petroleum D) Coal
48. At the present rate of consumption the world will not run out of which of these following
resources in around 50 years? A) Petroleum B) Natural Gas C) Coal D) All of the above will
run out.
49. A major component of the high level nuclear waste are the control rods in a nuclear
reactor. The control rods are used
a. As Nuclear fuel that feed the reactor
b. To slow down neutrons in a reactor
c. To absorb neutrons in a reactor
d. To speed-up neutrons in a reactor
50. The nuclear process in a hydrogen bomb where two atoms join to form a heavier
atom is called
a. Radioactive decay
b. Nuclear Fusion
c. Nuclear Fission
d. Radioactivity