General Awareness: Environmental Problems Quiz

1. The greatest danger facing most endangered species is...

a) Hunting
b) Habitat loss
c) Disease
d) Capture for the pet trade

The correct answer is b) Habitat loss

2. Which of the following is not listed as an endangered species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act?

a) Cheetah
b) Bald eagle
c) Blue whale
d) Hawaiian monk seal

The correct answer is b) Bald eagle

3. The Bronx Zoo once had a picture frame covered by cloth. It was labelled 'The most dangerous species in the world'. If you removed the cover, you saw...

a) A great white shark
b) A mirror
c) A virus
d) A mountain lion

The correct answer is b) A mirror

4. Which of the following substances is not biodegradable?

a) Paper
b) Food refuse
c) Styrofoam
d) Sawdust

The correct answer is c) Styrofoam

5. What environmental problem is the result of chemical reactions in the atmosphere that involve sulfur?

a) Deforestation
b) Acid rain
c) Holes in the ozone layer
d) Smog

The correct answer is b) Acid rain

6. What chemicals have been banned in most of the world because of their role in destroying the ozone layer?

a) DDT
b) Metal oxides
c) Peroxides
d) Chlorofluorocarbons

The correct answer is d) Chlorofluorocarbons

7. Who wrote 'Silent Spring', the first book documenting many of the problems caused by pesticides?

a) Aldo Leopold
b) Henry David Thoreau
c) Rachel Carson
d) Jaques Cousteau

The correct answer is c) Rachel Carson

8. Which of the following is not a renewable resource?

a) Timber
b) Wild mushrooms
c) Fish
d) Gold

The correct answer is d) Gold

9. Which of the following practices produces the most organic water pollution?

a) Intensive livestock farming
b) Paper mills
c) Recreational boating
d) Humans bathing in the water

The correct answer is a) Intensive livestock farming

10. 'Ecology' comes from two Greek words meaning...

a) Natural life
b) Study of the world
c) Study of the house
d) Nature study

The correct answer is c) Study of the house