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Environmental Science: A Global Concern, 7/e

William P. Cunningham, University of Minnesota
Mary Ann Cunningham, Vassar College
Barbara Woodworth Saigo, St. Cloud State University

Water Pollution

Practice Quizzing


1	The principle source of infectious waste material in water is
		A)	industrial waste.
		B)	surface runoff.
		C)	animal feces.
		D)	agricultural pesticides.


2	Oxygen-demanding wastes are contained in effluent from
		A)	agricultural runoff.
		B)	power plants.
		C)	inorganic industrial pollutants.
		D)	mining operations.


3	Examples of point sources of water pollution include
		A)	runoff from farm fields.
		B)	a sewage outfall from a city sewer plant.
		C)	runoff from parking lots.
		D)	all of the above.


4	Nonpoint source pollution
		A)	has widely scattered areas from which it is released to enter a specific body of water.
		B)	refers to pollutants that are toxic to humans or wildlife.
		C)	has, unlike point source pollution, been mostly eliminated in the U.S.
		D)	is characterized by all of the above.


5	Oxygen-demanding wastes
		A)	serve as food supplies for decomposers.
		B)	trigger consumption of dissolved oxygen in water by decomposers.
		C)	can make a stream uninhabitable by many types of aquatic life.
		D)	are characterized by all of the above.


6	______ accounts for the greatest number of miles of impaired water quality in U.S. rivers.
		A)	Sewage treatment effluent
		B)	Agriculture
		C)	Urban runoff
		D)	Removal of vegetation from river banks


7	Oligotrophic lakes and streams are those that are
		A)	uninhabitable by most wildlife.
		B)	uninhabitable by most aquatic plants.
		C)	characterized by low productivity.
		D)	associated with heavy urban pollution.


8	Eutrophication is
		A)	enhanced by fertilizer runoff from lawns.
		B)	a process used to clean up lake and stream pollution.
		C)	used to improve water clarity.
		D)	characterized by reduced biological productivity in lakes and streams.


9	Pfiesteria piscicida is
		A)	a highly toxic organism associated with polluted water.
		B)	extremely poisonous to humans.
		C)	capable of changing into several dozen distinct forms capable of attacking other organisms in diverse ways.
		D)	characterized by all of the above.


10	The gasoline additive MTBE
		A)	is a suspected carcinogen and serious source of groundwater pollution.
		B)	has been found in a significant number of shallow urban wells.
		C)	leaks into groundwater from underground gas storage tanks.
		D)	is characterized by all of the above.


11	The dead zone caused by pollution in the Gulf of Mexico at the mouth of the Mississippi River encompasses _____ square miles.
		A)	50
		B)	200
		C)	1000
		D)	7000


12	Examples of dangerous inorganic pollutants include
		A)	metals such as cadmium and nickel.
		B)	certain soluble salts.
		C)	acidic materials such as released by leather-tanning and electro-plating.
		D)	all of the above.


13	Negative impacts of sediments include
		A)	blocking of sunlight thereby reducing light availability for aquatic plants.
		B)	covering up fish spawning areas.
		C)	creating unaesthetic murky water.
		D)	all of the above.


14	Effectiveness of efforts at protection and restoration of water quality in the U.S. and Canada in recent decades has
		A)	notably declined.
		B)	declined somewhat.
		C)	essentially remained the same.
		D)	improved.


15	About 1.5 million Americans get sick annually from fecal contamination producing large health costs. Preventive measures would cost
		A)	much more.
		B)	slightly more.
		C)	about the same.
		D)	less.


16	The most cost-effective method to reduce water pollution often is to
		A)	use federal grants to construct large water cleanup plants that serve entire regions.
		B)	use block-grants to states to build smaller local water cleanup plants.
		C)	fund research into more cost-effective ways of treating contaminated water.
		D)	avoid production or release of pollutants to begin with.


17	The Clean Water Act has turned out to be _____ in achieving its goals.
		A)	very effective
		B)	marginally effective
		C)	ineffective
		D)	a disaster


18	A major outcome of the Clean Water Act has been to
		A)	set up a mechanism to solve the nonpoint source pollution problem.
		B)	direct substantial amounts of state and federal dollars into construction of municipal sewage treatment plants.
		C)	by and large return the nation’s surface waters to fishable and swimmable condition.
		D)	accomplish all of the above.


19	The central goal of the U.S. Clean Water Act was to
		A)	make all surface waters swimmable and fishable.
		B)	categorize water into types of use and then establish an array of different cleanup goals.
		C)	end all water pollution in the U.S. by 2050.
		D)	eliminate all nonpoint source pollution where economically feasible.


20	Plant nutrients are a type of water pollution.
		A)	True
		B)	False


21	Atmospheric deposition of pollutants is an example of point source pollution.
		A)	True
		B)	False


22	Biological oxygen demand is a measure of the amount of oxygen consumed organisms per unit time.
		A)	True
		B)	False


23	Eutrophication is a natural process that has been greatly stimulated by human activities.
		A)	True
		B)	False


24	The degree of vulnerability of an area to damage from acidified precipitation is determined by the geological make-up of the surface rocks and soils.
		A)	True
		B)	False


25	Runoff of pesticides from lawns, fields, golf courses, and other areas is considered to be one of the most important sources of toxic organic pollution of water.
		A)	True
		B)	False


26	Release of heated water into a stream can have devastating effects on natural ecological processes.
		A)	True
		B)	False


27	The greatest remaining need in rectifying remaining water pollution problems in the U.S. and Canada is solving the point source discharge problem.
		A)	True
		B)	False


28	The pollution history of the Rhine River in Europe illustrates that commitment and cooperation can produce dramatic improvements in river water quality.
		A)	True
		B)	False


29	Direct injection of wastes from chemical plants and other sources into deep aquifers has finally been stopped by federal regulation.
		A)	True
		B)	False


30	Pollution of water in large aquifers is essentially irreversible.
		A)	True
		B)	False

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