GED Practice Quiz

Directions:

1		Below are five statements about these newly available meats. Which represents an opinion rather than a fact?
			A)	Chianina averages 36 percent fewer calories than regular beef.
			B)	Zebu has a more pleasant flavor than pure beef.
			C)	Beefalo is produced by crossing bison with cattle.
			D)	Chianina and regular beef have about the same amount of cholesterol.
			E)	Brae contains less fat than regular beef.
2		According to the information given, what factor is MOST responsible for Americans’ switch to chicken?
			A)	the desire for a change
			B)	the low cost of chicken
			C)	the delicious taste of chicken
			D)	difficulty in cooking beef
			E)	concern for their health
3		Scientists sometimes try to produce rain in dry regions through cloud seeding. They use airplanes to spray chemicals into clouds or release chemicals on the ground so that wind drafts carry them upward to the clouds. The chemicals cause moisture in the clouds to condense and fall to the ground as precipitation. For cloud seeding to work, which of the following factors must be assumed?
			A)	The land area is excessively dry and parched.
			B)	There is already enough moisture in the clouds to condense and fall.
			C)	The air is warmer than the land region over which it lies.
			D)	The chemicals released into the clouds will speed up molecular action.
			E)	The force of gravity in that region is too weak to allow rain to fall without help.

Questions 4 and 5 refer to the following illustration.

<a onClick="window.open('/olcweb/cgi/pluginpop.cgi?it=jpg:: ::/sites/dl/free/0809222302/45297/ART04.jpg','popWin', 'width=NaN,height=NaN,resizable,scrollbars');" href="#"><img valign="absmiddle" height="16" width="16" border="0" src="/olcweb/styles/shared/linkicons/image.gif"> (37.0K)</a>

4		If a radio communications satellite is working correctly, it may be assumed that it is in which layer of the atmosphere?
			A)	exosphere only
			B)	troposphere and stratosphere only
			C)	stratosphere and ionosphere only
			D)	stratosphere only
			E)	ionosphere only
5		Most commercial airliners fly at an altitude of between 30 and 35 thousand feet. Based on the diagram, in which layer Earth’s atmosphere would you MOST LIKELY be traveling during a flight across the country?
			A)	troposphere
			B)	stratosphere
			C)	ionosphere
			D)	exosphere
			E)	above the exosphere
6		An electron beam that sweeps rapidly back and forth across a screen produces the picture that we see on a television set. In the United States, a total of 525 lines make up each image on a television screen. A consumer comparing color TV sets in an appliance store observes that the picture on a 9-inch screen is much sharper than the picture on a 26-inch screen. Which of the following best explains this difference?
			A)	The electron beam is more focused on a large screen.
			B)	The 525 lines that make up the picture are farther apart on a larger screen than on a smaller screen.
			C)	More than 525 lines are used with a smaller screen.
			D)	The electrons occupy less space on a large screen
			E)	The pictures are actually equally sharp, but the color is dimmer on the larger screen.
7		Corals are tiny sea animals that live in colonies. They remain attached to rocky seafloors in clear seawater that is no deeper than 46 meters and has a temperature of 18–21°C. They make their shells from the chemicals in seawater. When corals die, their shells remain attached to the rocks, and new corals grow on top of them. These large deposits of the shells and skeletons of many corals are called coral reefs. Coral reefs have been found buried under thousands of feet of rock in western Texas. What conclusion does this evidence help support?
			A)	Corals do not always grow in water.
			B)	Coral reefs are actually formed by mineral deposits rather than from the growth of small animals.
			C)	At one time western Texas was covered by a shallow sea.
			D)	Corals can attach themselves to many different kinds of rock surfaces.
			E)	Scientists do not understand very much about coral reefs.
8		Bacteria in milk from a sick cow can cause severe diseases in people. Pasteurization is a process that involves heating the milk to about 150 degrees to kill these bacteria. A woman who knows what pasteurization is hears an advertisement on the radio for natural unpasteurized milk. At the store she carefully avoids the brand of milk that came from the dairy that did not pasteurize its product. Which of the following assumptions is she MOST LIKELY making?
			A)	Pasteurization ruins the flavor of the milk.
			B)	Some of the nutritional value of the milk is lost during pasteurization
			C)	The dairy would not be aware that a cow is sick.
			D)	Dairy herds are routinely tested for disease-causing bacteria.
			E)	Pasteurization is a modern process.
9		There are two types of foods that have many calories—foods high in sugars and foods high in fats. Over the last few years, scientists have been going back and forth over the assumption that eating too much sugar is a leading cause of obesity. Which of the following observations would help to support the belief that the assumption is probably wrong?
			A)	Sugar is very fattening.
			B)	Pies and cakes contain fattening substances other than sugar.
			C)	The body can store sugar for later use.
			D)	Overweight people tend to eat more high-calorie foods than people of normal weight.
			E)	Some people of normal weight consume more sugar than overweight people do.
10		An amateur astronomer counts meteors each night during mid-August when the Perseid Meteor Shower is known to occur each year. She then sends all her data to the American Meteor Society. Several of her reasons for doing this are listed below. Which of the statements below indicates that values are involved in her hobby?
			A)	The origin of a meteor shower can be determined most accurately if it is observed from several different locations on earth.
			B)	When data gathered by amateurs at many different places are put together, facts not apparent to an individual observer can be determined.
			C)	An experienced amateur can determine the peak time of shower activity.
			D)	An amateur’s reward is knowing that he or she has made a useful contribution to science.
			E)	The hourly counts of meteors observed by amateurs indicates the density of the meteor cloud.