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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. About how many stars can be seen from Earth using a two-inch telescope?
(a) 3 million.
(b) 30,000.
(c) 300,000.
(d) 3,000.

2. Earth is the only planet in the solar system to have what?
(a) Storms.
(b) Plate tectonics.
(c) Mountains and valleys.
(d) Moons.

3. Vesto Slipher's work at the Lowell Observatory in Arizona led him to discover that distant stars are moving away from us, with the farthest stars moving the fastest, suggesting that the universe is:
(a) Oscillating.
(b) Expanding.
(c) Stable.
(d) Shrinking.

4. Which famous scientist was once an unknown patent clerk in Switzerland?
(a) Charles Darwin.
(b) Albert Einstein.
(c) Joseph Lister.
(d) Thomas Edison.

5. What happened to the dinosaur bone discovered in New Jersey in 1789?
(a) It is part of a wealthy family's private collection.
(b) It was sold to a museum in England.
(c) It had been permanently misplaced.
(d) It is on permanent display at the Smithsonian.

6. The first eruption of Yellowstone took place how many years ago?
(a) 74 thousand.
(b) 16.5 million.
(c) 19.7 billion.
(d) 630 thousand.

7. According to Einstein's theories, what is the nature of space?
(a) It has missing points.
(b) It is a flat plane.
(c) It is a straight line.
(d) It curves.

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

9. When did the last supervolcano erupt on Earth?
(a) 9,000 years ago.
(b) 23,000 years ago.
(c) 74,000 years ago.
(d) 1,100 years ago.

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

11. Using a depth sounder during World War II, Harry Hess discovered that ocean floors:
(a) Have canyons and trenches.
(b) Are too deep to be measured.
(c) Are flat.
(d) Have swirling sand drifts.

12. Pluto is the first planet to be discovered by an:
(a) American.
(b) Australian.
(c) Argentine.
(d) Austrian.

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

14. James Hutton was a geologist who wondered why:
(a) The Great Barrier Reef is off the coast of Australia.
(b) There are no polar bears in Antarctica.
(c) Seashell fossils are found on mountaintops.
(d) Polar ice caps do not melt.

15. The Geiger counter is a:
(a) Molecular microscope.
(b) Magnetic imager.
(c) Radioactivity detector.
(d) Voltage meter.

Short Answer Questions

1. What followed the last supervolcanic eruption on Earth in the region that is now northern Sumatra?

2. Which of the following is not part of an atom?

3. While the Compte de Buffon was spouting his theories of the new world, what was Frenchman Georges Cuvier doing?

4. When was Pluto discovered?

5. According to the author, humans today have 625 percent more what in their bloodstream compared to previous generations?

(see the answer keys)

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