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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 Chapter 30, the author notes that, in the past, some larger species became extinct because:
(a) They stopped mating.
(b) Humans hunted them to extinction.
(c) The earth's gravitational strength changed.
(d) Of their underdeveloped brains.

2. How many elements occur naturally on Earth?
(a) 12.
(b) 52.
(c) 92.
(d) 142.

3. What is the highest elevation that humans are able to live and survive on Earth continuously without special accommodations?
(a) 14,000 feet.
(b) 27,000 feet.
(c) 18,000 feet.
(d) 22,000 feet.

4. What organisms does the author say are the most enduring inhabitants of our planet?
(a) Spiders.
(b) Fungi.
(c) Bacteria.
(d) Humans.

5. Alan Thorne's multiregional hypothesis asserts that modern man evolved from:
(a) Three primary regions in Africa.
(b) Four primary regions in northern Asia.
(c) Seven families in seven regions across the globe.
(d) Ongoing movement between cultures and regions.

Short Answer Questions

1. With so many hominid species existing in the past, why did only one survive?

2. Which of the following is not one of the five major extinction episodes on Earth?

3. Species appear to exist, on average, how long?

4. When the KT meteor that killed the dinosaurs hit Earth, what percentage of life on the planet perished?

5. The internal workings of cells are:

Short Essay Questions

1. What is a hominid? Describe some of the hominids that existed in the past.

2. What does Bryson caution regarding extinction?

3. Describe what happened when the KT meteor crashed on Earth, killing off the dinosaurs.

4. What is the water distribution across the world's major oceans?

5. What did Charles Darwin do on the HMS Beagle?

6. What does the author lament about the study of wildlife throughout much of human history?

7. What type of scientific work did the monk and scientist Gregor Mendel do?

8. What are cyanobacteria? How did they affect the environment billions of years ago?

9. What does the author say about bacteria and humans, particularly their interaction?

10. Describe the fossilized traces of microbes found in Greenland.

(see the answer keys)

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