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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Astronomer Edmond Halley believed that the distance from the Earth to the sun could be deduced from the:
(a) Size of solar flares.
(b) Position of Mars.
(c) Transits of Venus.
(d) Distance to the moon.

2. Through the examples provided about Thomas Midgley's inventions, what is the author trying to say about science?
(a) Pursuing scientific avenues is always justified, regardless of outcome.
(b) Science is the cause of all our modern ills.
(c) Science can better our lives but used unwisely it can be dangerous to the planet.
(d) Without science, we would still be living in caveman days in primitive dwellings.

3. When was the Big Bang Theory first proposed?
(a) 1920s.
(b) 1790s.
(c) 1960s.
(d) 1850s.

4. During the time of the dinosaurs, Earth's magnetic field was:
(a) Fluctuating wildly.
(b) Three times weaker than today.
(c) Three times stronger than today.
(d) Same as it is now.

5. In the 1700s, people were finding holes in theories. For example, if the thoughts on erosion were completely correct, then:
(a) Icebergs would have eroded long ago.
(b) There would be no mountains, only smooth hills.
(c) Sand would be ground to fine powder.
(d) All farmland would have been washed away.

6. Atoms are made up of smaller particles, including:
(a) Cells.
(b) Molecules.
(c) Bytes.
(d) Quarks.

7. Plate tectonics refers to:
(a) The motion of the Earth's crust.
(b) The mechanism behind sand dunes.
(c) The motion of the Earth's atmosphere.
(d) The mechanism behind hurricanes.

8. According to the Caltech physicist Richard Feynman, the most important discovery ever made is what?
(a) Electricity.
(b) Atoms.
(c) Pasteurization.
(d) Penicillin.

9. When radiation was first discovered, people thought it must have:
(a) Healthful properties.
(b) High toxicity.
(c) Been caused by thunderstorms.
(d) An extraterrestrial origin.

10. Today, scientists know that radiation in high doses is:
(a) Tolerable.
(b) Healthy.
(c) Safe.
(d) Toxic.

11. What is the average distance between asteroids found in the inner solar system between Mars and Jupiter?
(a) A thousand miles.
(b) Ten billion miles.
(c) A million miles.
(d) Ten thousand miles.

12. When radiation was first discovered, it was sometimes added to:
(a) Stews and casseroles.
(b) Toothpastes and laxatives.
(c) Drinking water.
(d) Gasoline and alcohol.

13. While the Compte de Buffon was spouting his theories of the new world, what was Frenchman Georges Cuvier doing?
(a) Writing the first ever description of the enormous mastodon, a new world discovery.
(b) Living among indigenous people of the New World and writing down their languages.
(c) Cataloging edible plant species found in the New World.
(d) Studying the archeology of the Incas, Mayans, and Aztecs.

14. Harry Hess determined that, in the Atlantic, the ocean floor is:
(a) Super heated.
(b) Super cooled.
(c) Shrinking.
(d) Expanding.

15. The strongest earthquake ever recorded was measured off the coast of Chile in 1960. What did it measure on the Richter scale?
(a) 10.2.
(b) 8.9.
(c) 7.8.
(d) 9.5.

Short Answer Questions

1. An asteroid strike on Earth would most likely affect the climate for how long?

2. Earth is composed of 8 to 12 larger plates and about how many smaller ones?

3. What campaign did geologist Clair Patterson take on?

4. What massive bone belonging to a dinosaur was found in New Jersey in 1789?

5. Using a depth sounder during World War II, Harry Hess discovered that ocean floors:

(see the answer keys)

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