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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. Our universe is at least how many light-years wide?
(a) 50 million trillions.
(b) 100 billion.
(c) 5 trillion.
(d) 350 trillion.

3. Max Planck ignored those who urged him to avoid physics and ended up doing groundbreaking work on:
(a) Acceleration.
(b) Electromagnetism.
(c) Entropy.
(d) Optics.

4. With scientists having found so many dinosaur bones by the dawn of the twentieth century, what did they conclude about the age of Earth?
(a) It is no older than 5 million years.
(b) Nobody will ever figure out its age.
(c) It is hundreds of billions of years old.
(d) It has to be much older than 20 million years.

5. Richard Owen coined the term paleontology as the study of prehistoric life forms and called the giant animals dinosaurian, meaning:
(a) Enormous creature.
(b) Large reptile.
(c) Terrible lizard.
(d) Ancient animal.

6. As of July 2001, approximately how many asteroids had been identified?
(a) 2,700.
(b) 240.
(c) 26,000.
(d) 29,000,000.

7. Which of the following is not a major geological era?
(a) Mesozoic.
(b) Precambrian.
(c) Paleozoic.
(d) Precolumbian.

8. James Hutton believed that the natural forces forming the geology of Earth are:
(a) Impossible to classify.
(b) Now extinct.
(c) Still at work.
(d) Random and unpredictable.

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

10. What is an extremophile?
(a) A researcher who explores extremely isolated regions.
(b) A scientist who studies climate extremes.
(c) An organism adapted to living in extreme conditions.
(d) An extremely large living organism.

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

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

13. Halley believed that once scientists figured out the distance from the sun to the Earth, they could then calculate what?
(a) Distances to distant stars.
(b) Weight of the sun.
(c) Weight of Earth.
(d) Distances to other planets.

14. Scientists eventually figured out that certain unusual rocks near Manson, Iowa, were not because of ancient volcanic activity as they first surmised, but the result of what?
(a) A mini ice age.
(b) A huge meteor.
(c) A dynamite explosion.
(d) A lightning storm.

15. According to the Superstring Theory, the components making up protons, neutrons, electrons, and neutrinos are not regular particles, but instead are:
(a) Gravity pockets.
(b) Super particles.
(c) Super-cooled forces.
(d) Vibrating strings.

Short Answer Questions

1. Pluto is the first planet to be discovered by an:

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

3. In the 1700s, people were finding holes in theories. For example, if the thoughts on erosion were completely correct, then:

4. According to James Ussher, an Archbishop of the Church of Ireland who was alive in the 1600s, Earth had been created:

5. What is found at the very center of the Earth?

(see the answer keys)

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