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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. When did a National Academy of Science report show no significant increase in birth defects of the children of victims in Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

2. How many kilotons of TNT were used by Al-Qaeda on September 11, 2001?

3. How much power can a healthy person produce by pedaling a bicycle?

4. How many square miles of sunlight at midday could provide a gigawatt of electric power?

5. What was the blast radius of the M83 bombs carried by the B-52s?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is oil used so widely instead of other types of energy?

2. How does food compare in energy to gasoline and to TNT?

3. How might a solar plane be useful for surveillance?

4. What caused most of the death and damage from the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs?

5. What are hydrogen bombs and their power?

6. How did the terrorists who carried out the bombing of the World Trade Center use their basic knowledge of airport security?

7. How long will the U.S. be able to use coal?

8. Under what circumstances might a sophisticated group of terrorists make a weapon in the kiloton range?

9. What does the author say about the ineptness of suicide bombers?

10. In Chapter 7, was the United States running out of fossil fuels?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Nuclear waste can take a very long time to become innocuous. How long can it take nuclear waste to become innocuous? Why is it less dangerous than other types of waste created from power generation using other sources of energy like coal?

Essay Topic 2

Analogies are used to compare an unfamiliar object or idea to a familiar one in an attempt to explain the unfamiliar. How does the author use analogies in the book? How do analogies help readers understand unfamiliar ideas or understand events?

Essay Topic 3

Propaganda is using misinformation to influence the opinion of a person or group. What types of propaganda are discussed in the book? Why are physicists not likely to use propaganda? Why might scientists believe propaganda will help present their case, especially regarding global warming?

(see the answer keys)

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