Practice Test #1

The questions on this practice test are drawn from the same bank from which I will draw the multiple guess portion of your first exam. When you feel you have mastered the material in Unit 1, take this practice exam.  A score less than desired indicates that further study is warranted.

1. Skinheads, Cubans in Miami, the gays in most large cities, and teenagers are all examples of:
A.cultures.
B.subcultures
C.ethnocentric groups
D.bureaucratic groups


2. To say that science is objective means that:
A.scientists have no personal values.
B.scientists can set aside their personal values in order to discover the truth.
C.replication is no longer necessary in science.
D.scientists strive to prevent their personal values from affecting their investigations.


3. The tendency to view one's own culture as the best and to judge other cultures in comparison to it is called:
A.innovation.
B.ethnocentrism.
C.subculturism.
D.racism.


4. Which of the following statements with regard to human population growth is TRUE?
A.Human populations have maintained a slow but steady growth throughout history and prehistory.
B.Human populations experienced a significant growth spurt at the start of the Roman Empire, during the early Christian era.
C.Human population growth has been explosive since about 1650.
D.According to the most reliable figures, human population growth began to level off during the 1980s.


5. According to demographic transition theory, the US is in the last stage of the transition. This stage is characterized by
A.a high birth rate and a death rate that has dropped sharply
B.a low birth rate and a relatively low and stable death rate
C.a climbing birth rate and a relatively stable death rate
D.a low birth rate and a relatively high death rate due to aging of the population


6. Why aren't many Third World societies undergoing the "demographic transition"?
A.economic growth has outstripped population growth
B.most Third World economies are stagnated
C.population growth has outstripped economic growth
D.population growth has stagnated


7. The development of cash-crop economies in many parts of Central and Latin America:
A.is the first stage of industrialization
B.promotes the growth of rural-urban parity
C.pushes many peasants off the land
D.is associated with the growth of socialism


8. In respect to the American population
A.it is growing at an annual rate higher than the fastest growing nations in Africa
B.it is growing at a rate of over 3% per year
C.the birth rate has fallen below replacement level
D.it is in sharp decline


9. The term "Third World" is used to describe those nations:
A.having a socialist government
B.whose citizens are not allowed to emigrate to the United States
C.that have won independence from colonial dominance since World War II
D.that have not yet joined the League of Nations


10. The argument that countries with high birth rates will eventually achieve a low birth rate and a stable population when they become sufficiently industrialized is known as
A.the Malthusian trap
B.dependency theory
C.demographic transition
D.the world-system principle


11. Early industrialization usually produces a/an:
A.increase in the birth rate
B.negative growth rate
C.decline in the death rate
D.none of the above


12. The current "birth dearth" in America is in part a result of:
A.greater industrialization
B.higher levels of education
C.the trend of governments providing pensions for the elderly
D.all of the above are factors


13. It is doubtful that many Third World countries will complete a demographic transition because
A.population is often growing faster than economic development
B.some of the most populous countries have been the least successful in reducing their birth rates
C.many countries have too many older people to make a demographic transition possible
D.of rapid industrial growth


14. Periods of rapid population growth are generally the result of:
A.a rise in the birth rate
B.a drop in the death rate
C.unusually high fecundity
D.medical advance


15. The changing status of women in America
A.is decreasing fecundity
B.enhances the economic value of having children
C.is increasing fecundity
D.is reducing fertility


16. What proportion of the world's people live in the less developed societies?
A.nearly one third
B.less than one half
C.approximately three quarters
D.over nine tenths


17. In Third-World countries, poor people look upon children as:
A.souls sprung from heaven
B.economic liabilities
C.future economic security
D.innocent until the age of 7


18. You instructor, F. Elwell, directly attributes the explosive growth in population after 1650 to:
A.improved pre- and postnatal care
B.decreases in the incidence of war
C.improvements in modern medicine
D.increases in the capacity to produce food


19. In his writings about human population growth, T. Robert Malthus argued that:
A.there exists an immutable passion between the sexes that leads to reproduction.
B.societies have a limited ability to produce food.
C.human population tends to grow at a faster rate than does the ability to produce food.
D.all of the above.


20. The food shortages we read of today are rooted in
A.a failure to invest more heavily in agricultural technology
B.failures of distribution
C.the erosion of arable land
D.hoarding by the world's farmers


21. Pollution (entropy) is:
A.due to the actions of evil men and women
B.an integral part of all social infrastructures
C.an unfortunate byproduct of industry that can be eliminated
D.an untapped resource


22. The "green revolution" refers to:
A.the development of high-yield grains to replace lower-yield grains
B.a German political party advocating no-growth economies
C.recent efforts to increase the numbers of wilderness areas to preserve them for future development
D.the worldwide move from urban to rural areas


23. Throughout history, new forms of energy emerged as a result of:
A.innovations that made older sources of energy obsolete
B.the depletion of energy sources that were being used at any given point in time
C.changes in the mode of production
D.new discoveries


24. Which of the following terms refers to the addition to the environment of agents that are potentially damaging to the welfare of humans or other organisms?
A.technological displacement
B.environmental stress
C.pollution
D.structural disequilibrium


25. What is the phenomenon known as the "greenhouse effect?"
A.the decrease in the earth's temperature due to particulate matter in the atmosphere blocking sunlight
B.increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the air which is holding the heat reflected from the earth
C.disturbances in localized weather patterns
D.the cooling of the earth's crust due to utilization of geothermal energy



This is the end of the test. When you have completed all the questions and reviewed your answers, press the button below to grade the test.