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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In what way are chemicals not harmful to human health?
(a) They can weaken the immune system.
(b) They can be cancer-causing.
(c) They can change our genetic structure.
(d) They can be developed to have a positive environmental effect.

2. When and where do Bill and Michael meet?
(a) In 1992 at an Earth Summit meeting.
(b) In 2004 at the Democratic convention.
(c) In 1990 at an academic convention in San Diego.
(d) In 1996 on an airplane.

3. Why does Michael tether himself to the smoke stacks at Ciba-Geigy?
(a) To blame consumers for the large amount of toxins in the environment.
(b) To protest the fur industry and the use of chemicals on animals.
(c) To bring attention to a chemical spill caused by the company, Ciba-Geigy.
(d) To compete his experiment on the effects of toxic waste on the human body.

4. What does Paul Erlich write about?
(a) The possibility of government control over industry.
(b) The global consequences of recycling.
(c) The negative consequences of overpopulation and rampant production.
(d) The positive influence of industry on consumers.

5. How have companies responded to the concerns of the public over the decades?
(a) They have given more control to governments.
(b) They have tried to improve their production for less toxicity and better use of materials
(c) They have increased the toxicity chemicals used in production.
(d) They have ignored public opinion.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which of the following is not a goal of eco-efficiency?

2. What are the Romantic writers inspired by?

3. What is the result of more and more efficient agriculture?

4. All of the following are examples of crude products as defined by the author, except...

5. What is an example of Bill and Michael's unique ideas for design?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain what the authors mean by "brute force."

2. Describe one of Bill and Michael's ideas for completely positive design.

3. Describe how the authors use soap as an example of designing products for "worst-case" scenarios.

4. Describe the vision that both Bill and Michael have for the future of the environment.

5. Compare the ideas of less-bad and completely positive design.

6. Describe how early industrialists considered nature and the environment.

7. Name two common household objects and their hidden health effects because of the chemicals they contain.

8. Explain how recycling is really downcycling.

9. Describe the arguments against the Industrial Revolution throughout its history.

10. Describe why books are traditionally difficult to recycle and how this book itself is a more positive design.

(see the answer keys)

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