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Practice Test 3 - AP Environmental Science

20 questions. Answer them in any order, then submit to see your score and every explanation.

  1. A new operator confuses primary and secondary treatment. Which description correctly matches secondary treatment?
  2. A report compares greenhouse gases and notes that CO2_2 has the largest increase in atmospheric concentration since 1750. Which reason best supports why CO2_2 is emphasized in climate policy?
  3. A city water utility draws from an aquifer. The aquifer recharges at about 20 million m3^3/year from rainfall infiltration, but current withdrawals are 35 million m3^3/year. On a human timescale, how should the groundwater resource be classified in this scenario and why?
  4. A montane ecosystem experiences a 2.5 ∘C2.5\,^{\circ}\mathrm{C} increase in average summer temperature over several decades. A cold-adapted pika population shifts upslope, but the mountain's summit area is limited. Meanwhile, lower-elevation shrubs expand upward, changing plant community composition. Which HIPPCO threat is most directly illustrated, and what outcome is most likely for the pika population if warming continues?
  5. A student draws a map with arrows showing winds at 70∘70^\circ N blowing from west to east. Which is the best critique based on global wind belts?
  6. A volcanic eruption creates new land. Scientists measure soil organic matter (%) over time: 0% at year 0, 1% at year 20, 4% at year 80, and 8% at year 200 as vegetation changes from lichens to grasses to shrubs to forest. Which conclusion best matches these data?
  7. A climate graph (monthly data) shows temperatures ranging from −10∘-10^\circC in winter to 20∘20^\circC in summer, and precipitation averaging ~80 mm/month year-round. Which biome best matches these conditions in mid-latitudes?
  8. A streambank is trampled by livestock, removing vegetation and loosening soil. During high flow, the bank collapses and sediment enters the stream. Which prevention method would be most effective?
  9. Two frog species have the following temperature tolerance information: - Species A: survives 8–26°C; optimal 16–20°C. - Species B: survives 14–32°C; optimal 24–28°C. A pond is consistently 18°C during the breeding season. Which claim is most supported?
  10. A farmer uses high levels of nitrogen fertilizer on sandy soils. After irrigation, nitrate levels in groundwater rise. Which property of nitrate contributes most to its movement into groundwater?
  11. A coastal region bans drift nets due to high bycatch and ghost fishing. What is ghost fishing?
  12. A wetland is burned and cleared repeatedly; which soil change is most likely over time?
  13. A desert spring supports an endemic snail species found nowhere else. Groundwater pumping for agriculture lowers the water table and the spring dries seasonally. What is the most likely consequence for the snail population?
  14. A population pyramid for Country I shows a very wide base and steeply narrowing sides, but the male side is noticeably wider than the female side in the 20–39 cohorts. Which is the best explanation?
  15. A rare freshwater fish is endangered because an invasive snail carries a parasite lethal to fish. Which is the best first step in a conservation plan?
  16. Which outcome best indicates chronic exposure to loud traffic noise as a form of pollution?
  17. A city plans to redevelop a 10-hectare downtown district currently covered by asphalt parking lots and concrete sidewalks. The city wants to reduce peak stormwater runoff during heavy rain events while also improving water quality. Which redesign choice most directly reduces runoff by increasing infiltration through the ground surface?
  18. A family uses an unvented gas heater in a poorly ventilated room. Which major pollutant is most likely to build up indoors from incomplete combustion and reduce oxygen delivery in the body by binding to hemoglobin?
  19. A government report states: "The country's biodiversity is declining." The data show (i) the number of forest ecosystem types has stayed constant, (ii) the number of bird species recorded nationwide has stayed constant, but (iii) several bird populations have become very small and isolated, with reduced gene flow among them. Which level of biodiversity is most clearly declining according to the report's data?
  20. In a model, carbon moves from the atmosphere into the ocean when CO2_2 dissolves and forms bicarbonate/carbonate. Which change would most likely reduce this ocean absorption flux?

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