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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. What size blade could a knife have before 9/11 to be carried on board a plane?

2. What percent of the energy of gasoline is carried by the best rechargeable batteries?

3. How many horsepower do car engines deliver?

4. How many horsepower was the maximum that the author's 1966 Volkswaagen Beetle produced?

5. In the Manhattan Project, how much uranium did scientists believe was needed for a critical mass?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the greatest threat when it comes to nuclear weapons getting into the hands of terrorists, and why might that be a relatively low threat?

2. What second round of terrorism occured after the 9/11 attacks?

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

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

5. What was the Davy Crockett weapon?

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

7. How does the energy released by jet fuel or gasoline compare to TNT, and why is TNT used instead of other sources with more energy?

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

9. What anecdote does the author share regarding a conversation between one of his student's and a physicist?

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

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

Some people believe that oil is in short supply. Why are people concerned that oil reserves will run out? How does new technology make it possible to extract more oil? How can oil be produced? Why does a study from 1956 indicate that the oil supply will never be totally depleted?

Essay Topic 3

People are confused and misinformed about radioactivity. What confusion and misinformation surrounds discussions of radioactivity? How many people have died from radiation accidents? How do people usually die in a nuclear disaster? What are the risks of radiation exposure? How can safety measures decrease those risks?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,047 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample