Practice questions set 4
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Practice questions for the APES Exam 157- 216
set #4
from Dan Hyke and other sources. revised April 2005
157. Municipalities purify water for drinking by using all of these except
a. chlorine gas
b. iodine
c. ozone gas
d. U-V light
e. copper sulfate
158. An example of commensalism is
a. mistletoe on an oak tree
d. bacteria living in the intestinal tract of a human
b. a lichen
c. an epiphyte living on a rainforest tree
e. bracket fungus living on a deciduous tree
159. Which chemical is organic?
a. H2O
b. sodium chloride
c. sucrose
d. H2S
e. O2
160. Which is the correct order for coal, going from the greatest moisture content to the lowest (also going from decreasing to
increasing hardness)
a. peat, lignite, bituminous, anthracite
b. lignite, peat, anthracite, bituminous
c. bituminous, peat, lignite, anthracite
d. peat, anthracite, lignite, bituminous
e. anthracite, peat, lignite, bituminous
161. Which method reduces waste volume but emits high levels of toxins?
a. putting wastes onto surface landfills
b. putting wastes into sanitary landfills
c. recycling wastes
d. incineration of wastes
e. reusing wastes
162. Which is not derived from petroleum?
a. asphalt
b. DDT
e. nylon
c. cellulose
163. In which of the following areas are roads, logging and mining banned?
a. national parks
b. national wildlife refuges
d. national wildlife preservation areas
d. polystyrene
c. national forests
e. national wilderness areas
164. If a substance has a half-life of 10 years and an activity level of two curies, after how many years will the level be at 0.25 curies?
a. 10 years
b. 20 years`
c. 30 years
d. 40 years
e. 50 years
165. What is the most abundant gas in the atmosphere?
a. argon
b. oxygen
c. carbon dioxide
d. nitrogen
e. hydrogen
166. Which one of the following animals would be found at the lowest trophic level?
a. spider
b. hawk
c. deer
d. lion
e. snake
167. Which of the following countries has the largest coal reserves?
a. India
b. France
c. China
d. Saudi Arabia
e. Japan
168. Overgrazing public lands is an example of
a. the exclusion principle
c. tragedy of the commons
e. the erosion principle
b. the law of tolerance
d. limiting factors
169. Which of the following has the greater attraction to hemoglobin than oxygen?
a. carbon monoxide
b. carbon dioxide
c. nitrogen dioxide
d. sulfur dioxide
e. ozone
170. What is the percent of fresh water (both solid and liquid) on Earth?
a. < 1%
b. 2.5%
c. 6%
d. 11%
e. 17%
171. Where does the El Niño originate?
a. North Atlantic
b. Indian Ocean
d. Antarctica
e. South Pacific
c. East Pacific
172. Which of the following laws explains why things tend to go towards maximum entropy?
a. Law of Tolerance
b. Law of limiting factors
c. Law of Environmental Resistance
d. First Law of Thermodynamics
e. Second Law of Thermodynamics
Practice questions set 4
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173. NEPA requires that before a large construction project is begun, a certain thing must be completed. What is it?
a. A Construction Site Survey
b. an Environmental Brief
c. an Environmental Assessment
d. an Environmental Impact Statement
e. an Environmental Damage Report
174. Which is the closest to the present world population?
a. four billion
b. 5 billion
c. 6 billion
d. 7 billion
e. 10 billion
175. Which of the following foods would be most likely consumed by people living in a developed country?
a. corn
b. beef
c. rice
d. wheat
e. potatoes
176. Which of the following is the most effective in decreasing the effects of acid rain and acid deposition?
a. using taller smokestacks on factories
b. reducing the use of fossil fuels
c. developing acid-resistant crops
d. adding lime to acidified lakes
e. relocating power plants to areas of low population density
177. In order from largest to smallest, what are the 3 most populous countries on Earth?
a. Indonesia, India, Iran
b. India, USA, Asia
c. India, South Africa, Indonesia
d. China, India, Indonesia
E. China, India, USA
178. Which of the following has a cycle with a gaseous phase?
I. carbon
II. phosphorus
III. water
IV sulfur
a. I only
d. all of them
b. I, II & III
c. I, III, IV
179. What is the single largest component found in municipal solid waste?
a. glass
b. paper
c. food
d. wood
e. plastic
180. Which of the following is not a renewable resource?
a. hydropower
b. wind power
c. natural gas
d. salmon
e. solar energy
181. Which of the following is the most costly and inefficient to recycle?
a. cardboard
b. plastic
c,. glass
d. aluminum
e. paper
182. Which of the following chemicals is given off by CFC’s that destroys ozone molecules?
a. chlorine
b. carbon
c. oxygen
d. nitrogen
e. argon
183. Which of the following minerals is used as an energy source?
a. cobalt
b. uranium
c. mercury
d. copper
e. gold
184. Which of the following is inorganic?
a. ethanol
b. benzene
d. methane
e. sugar
c. aluminum
e. carbon
c. table salt
185. Which of the following is the most abundant in the Earth’s crust?
a. nitrogen
b. oxygen
c. sulfur
186. A man-made river designed to carry water from one location to another is called
a. aqueduct
b. aquifer
c. hydraulic pipeline
d. sewer
e. concourse
187. Which atmospheric layer is affected by automobile and industrial pollution?
a. thermosphere & exosphere
b. stratosphere & mesosphere
c. mesosphere & troposphere
d. troposphere & stratosphere
e. exosphere & thermosphere
188. This air pollutant irritates lung tissue, damages plants and is a major cause of acid rain.
a. SO2
b. O3
c. CH4
d. CO2
e. CO
Practice questions set 4
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189. This is a food chain discovered in the Ag area of RHS
flower => katydid => crab spider => alligator lizard => owl
If the katydid eats 1200 calories of plant parts, what’s the maximum energy that the owl can receive?
a. 0.12 kcal
b. 1.2 kcal
c. 12 kcal
d. 120 kcal
e. 1,200 kcal`
190. Photosynthesis is part of which cycle?
a. phosphorus
b. carbon
e. sulfur
c. nitrogen
d. hydrologic
191. The four seasons (winter, spring, fall, summer) are caused by
a. the distance of Earth from the Sun
b. the spinning of the Earth on its axis
c. the gravitational force between the Earth and Sun
d. fluctuations in the output of the Sun’s energy
e. the tilt of the Earth’s axis of rotation
192. Organ Pipe National Monument is primarily covered with plants from which biome?
a. grassland
b. desert
c. coastal sage
d. temperate deciduous forest
193. In an ecosystem, mushroom and other fungi are classified as
a. omnivores
b. herbivores
c. saprophytes
194. Bacteria in the nodules of legumes
I. perform nitrification
II. perform denitrification
IV. change N2 into NH3
V. change NH3 into N2
a. I & IV
b. II & V
195. Examples of legumes are all of these except
a. peas
b. alfalfa
d. carnivores
e. savanna
e. detritivores
III. perform nitrogen fixation
c. III & IV
d. III & V
e. II & V
c. soybeans
d. corn
e. clover
196. The cycles make elements available to organisms. Which of these element matches is incorrect?
a. nitrogen : proteins
b. phosphorous : energy
c. carbon : glucose
d. sulfur : proteins
e. calcium : carbohydrates
197. Serpentine soils lack potassium, an element required by most plants. There are some plants that can live on serpentine soils, but
most cannot. In this case, potassium is
a. part of the range of tolerance
b. an example of Uniformitarianism
c. a limiting factor
d. a low-level toxin
e. an example of synergism
198. Which of these is not one of the macronutrients?
a. hydrogen
b. oxygen
c. nitrogen
d. phosphorous
e. calcium
199. In the formation of sedimentary rocks, which is the correct sequence?
a. eruption of lava, rapid cooling near the surface, small crystals
b. erosion of particles to the ocean, deposition followed by cementation by calcite
c. subduction of rock layers to near melting zones in the crust, then partial recrystalization
d. at spreading zones in the crust, magma rises to the surface and cools slowly forming large crystals
e. evaporation of water from lakes, then precipitation of minerals, followed by slow melting
200. Which of these issues underlies all of the environmental problems on Earth?
a. human population size
a. the material desires of developing countries
a. the material consumption of developed countries
201. Biodiversity is greatest in
a. desert
b. rain forest
c. tundra
d. taiga
e. grasslands
202. Many species of American warblers reduce competition among themselves by feeding at different levels and on different parts of
trees. This is called
a. habitat selection
b. survival of the fittest
c. symbiosis
d. optimum zones
e. resource partitioning
Practice questions set 4
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203. Ms. Melonia is studying the effect of fire on the germination of California poppy seeds. She filled 20 cups with potting soil and
planted each cup with 5 poppy seeds. In ten of the cups she added 20 grams of ashes from burned leaves of sage and sumac. All 20 of
the cups received identical amounts of water, sunlight and warmth. After 25 days, Ms. Melonia counted the number of seedlings in
each cup.
What is the independent variable?
a. the poppy seeds
c. the 10 cups without ashes
b. the potting soil
d. the 10 cups with ashes
204. What is the control group?
a. the poppy seeds
c. the 10 cups without ashes
b. the potting soil
d. the 10 cups with ashes
205. What type of data did Ms. Melonia collect?
a. quantitative
b. qualitative
c. insufficient
206. The efficiency ratio of converting coal energy to electrical energy is about
a. 5 - 10%
b. 15 - 25%
c. 30 - 40%
d. 50%
e. 60 - 75%
207. Most nuclear power plants use _____ fuel.
a. 235 U
b. 238 U
e. 239 U
c. plutonium 239
d. uranium ore
208. The cause of saltwater intrusion beneath coastal cities such as Long Beach is
a. replacement of natural dunes with seawalls
d. overuse of desalination plants
b. excessive irrigation of crops with fresh water
e. overuse of cisterns
c. excessive removal of water from the aquifer that flows into the ocean
209. The international agreement that focuses on trade in wildlife and body parts is
a. CITES
b. EPA
c. NASDAQ
d. IATWP
e. GFFC
210. Forest fragmentation has the greatest effect on
a. specialized species
b. generalist species
c. mammals
e. insects
d. exotic species
211. Mr. Mmabmabi is involved with elephant populations and is contemplating using the concept of maximum sustainable yield
(MSY) for managing the elephants in his country. Which of these is an assumption of MSY?
a. You can harvest enough elephants to bring the population down to half the carrying capacity & it will sustain itself.
b. Mild disturbances such as floods, fires and avalanches have little effect on MSY.
c. MSY is based on rates of birth, death and immigration
d. The most sustainable results from using MSY occur when applied to less complex organisms
212. Which disease is NOT the result of contamination of water supplies by raw sewage?
a. giardiasis
b. cholera
c. cryptosporidosis
d. trypanosomiasis
213. The disease that causes the most number of deaths worldwide is
a. malaria
b. AIDS
c. cancer
d. heart disease
e. alcoholism-related
214. A piece of industrial or commercial property that is abandoned or underused and often environmentally contaminated, yet could
be considered as a potential site for redevelopment is known as a
a. redevelopment site
b. business zone
c. strategic development site
d. Superfund site
e. brownfield
215. Which of the following is most readily recyclable?
a. paper
b. plastic
c. metal
216. Household water is most likely to be contaminated with radon in homes
a. that are served by public water systems that use a groundwater source
b. that are served by public water systems that use a surface water source
c. that have private household wells
d. that use bottled water
e. that are served by water agencies that use ozone to disinfect the water
d. glass
e. all of these