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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. About how much energy does a large nuclear plant produce?
(a) A billion watts.
(b) 900 million watts.
(c) 1 million watts.
(d) 2 billion watts.

2. What is the distance to the nearest star (other than the sun)?
(a) Around 5 light-years.
(b) 8 light-years.
(c) About 4 light-years.
(d) 2 light-years.

3. When was it discovered that the amount of ozone formed in Antarctica was decreasing yearly?
(a) 1970s.
(b) 1950s.
(c) 1980s.
(d) 1960s.

4. If a fusion reactor could be built, how much deuterium and tritium would be needed yearly for a gigawatt power plant?
(a) 350 pounds.
(b) 200 pounds.
(c) 500 pounds.
(d) 150 pounds.

5. When did China become the biggest source of the carbon dioxide increase?
(a) 2007.
(b) 2006.
(c) 2004.
(d) 2005.

6. How far is the moon from the Earth?
(a) 240,000 miles.
(b) 294,000 miles.
(c) 312,000 miles.
(d) 175,000 miles.

7. In 2007, where was a secret nuclear facility discovered when Israel attacked the country?
(a) Pakistan.
(b) Syria.
(c) Turkey.
(d) Albania.

8. What is the Earth's atmosphere?
(a) 98% nitrogen and oxygen.
(b) 99% nitrogen and oxygen.
(c) 96% nitrogen and oxygen.
(d) 97% nitrogen and oxygen.

9. In Chapter 11, when did the U.S. and Russia disclosed the number of nuclear strategic warheads that they had?
(a) 2007.
(b) 2008.
(c) 2005.
(d) 2006.

10. If you weighed 150 pounds on Earth, how much would you weigh on the Moon?
(a) 40.
(b) 25.
(c) 30.
(d) 35.

11. How much did it cost to launch a pound of anything into orbit in 2008?
(a) $3,330.
(b) About $5,000.
(c) Around $7,500.
(d) $4,975.

12. In a pebble bed reactor, how deep is the bed of pebbles where the uranium is placed?
(a) 2 1/2 inches.
(b) 1 1/2 inches.
(c) 3 inches.
(d) 4 inches.

13. In Chapter 18, how many Stinger missiles had been produced?
(a) 55,000.
(b) 80,000.
(c) 70,000.
(d) 65,000.

14. During the last real ice age, how much lower were the oceans than today?
(a) Over 300 feet.
(b) 150 feet.
(c) About 450 feet.
(d) 200 feet.

15. How many tons of high-level nuclear waste were the underground tunnels at Yucca Mountain designed to hold?
(a) 45,000 tons.
(b) 92,000 tons.
(c) 110,000 tons.
(d) 77,000 tons.

Short Answer Questions

1. How many times less toxic is plutonium that cyanide?

2. When was the Los Alamos Primer declassified and published by the United States?

3. How many astronauts were killed in the space shuttle Columbia explosion?

4. How many watts do humans emit?

5. When did the author spend a night with the U.S. Border Patrol?

(see the answer keys)

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