,Test Bank Chapter 1
Natural Hazards and Disasters, 4e Natural Hazards and Disasters
Chapter 1
NATURAL HAZARDS AND DISASTERS
MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS
1. People live in dangerous areas for what reasons?
a. for the views
b. because of cheap land
c. because the land is fertile
d. for proximity to recreational opportunities
e. for all of these reasons
ANSWER: e
2. Catastrophic natural disaster losses in developed countries involve which of the following?
a. large numbers of deaths
b. large financial costs to individuals and companies
c. primarily losses borne by insurance companies
d. large numbers of deaths and large financial costs
e. primarily losses borne by state governments
ANSWER: b
3. Areas of cities that are subjected to significant natural hazards should be used for which of
the following?
a. office buildings because they can withstand the effects of the hazard
b. inexpensive single-family houses
c. parks and natural areas
d. shopping malls
e. factories and industrial complexes
ANSWER: c
4. When people or government agencies try to control the activities of natural events, the
common result is which of the following?
a. The effect is the opposite of that intended.
b. The effort is wasted because it is impossible to do.
c. We have become quite effective at such control.
d. This doesn’t happen since the federal government doesn’t permit tampering with nature.
e. Our problem with nature is transferred elsewhere, to someone else, or postponed.
ANSWER: e
1
,Test Bank Chapter 1
Natural Hazards and Disasters, 4e Natural Hazards and Disasters
5. Natural disasters generally involve which of the following?
a. events with a single clear-cut cause
b. events that involve overlapping natural causes
c. events wholly caused by the activities of man
d. events that are unaffected by the activities of man
e. events that always involve interaction between closely related processes
ANSWER: b
6. Most natural disasters are which of the following?
a. cyclic, in that they occur at predictable intervals
b. rarely if ever cyclic because there are too many overlapping effects
c. completely random in that they involve processes that we cannot hope to understand
d. interactions between two closely related events
e. processes that start small and build toward a climax at a more-or-less constant rate
ANSWER: b
7. A fractal system is one that involves which of the following?
a. numerous intersecting fractures
b. similarity in form at a wide range of scales
c. completely unrelated processes that interact to produce an event
d. closely related processes that interact to produce a larger event
e. processes that are unrelated and static
ANSWER: b
8. An insurance company decides on the cost of a policy for a natural hazard by:
a. adding up the total cost of the most recent disaster of the type.
b. multiplying the probability of the loss by the number of policies sold.
c. averaging their probable dollar loss for all disasters that they insure.
d. calculating the cost of the probable loss times the probability of that event.
e. multiplying the cost of the largest loss of that type times the number of times that loss has
occurred.
ANSWER: d
9. The costs of catastrophic events continue to increase primarily because:
a. more people are moving into more hazardous areas.
b. not enough people pay for insurance in hazardous areas to even out the costs.
c. insurance companies are not making enough profit to satisfy their shareholders.
d. insurance companies are refusing to insure most natural hazard losses.
e. natural hazards are becoming more difficult to understand.
ANSWER: a
2
, Test Bank Chapter 1
Natural Hazards and Disasters, 4e Natural Hazards and Disasters
10. Which of the following is an example of a counterproductive governmental policy to mitigate
natural disasters?
a. relocating homes to less hazardous regions after an event
b. monitoring stream behavior and flow, providing a false sense of security
c. providing disaster assistance without a large cost-sharing component
d. forbidding uninsured casualty losses from being deducted from a disaster victim’s
income taxes
e. using computer models to determine risk levels and loss potential
ANSWER: c
11. What kind of natural hazards are NOT normally insurable?
a. earthquakes
b. volcanoes
c. landslides
d. floods
e. windstorms
ANSWER: c
12. What is the most common human reaction to a current or potential catastrophe?
a. Try to stop ongoing damage.
b. Prepare the public through drills.
c. Move to a less risky region.
d. Wait until the window of opportunity has passed.
e. Lobby for additional funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
ANSWER: a
13. What is the normal relationship between the number of a particular type of event and the size
of such events?
a. There are an equal number of small, medium, and large events of any given type.
b. There are few small events, a moderate number of larger events, and many giant events
of any given type.
c. There are many small events, many medium-size events, but for most hazards no giant
events.
d. There are many small events, a moderate number of larger events, and few giant events
of any given type.
e. For most types of natural hazards, there are medium and large events but no small events
of equivalent type.
ANSWER: d
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Natural Hazards and Disasters, 4e Natural Hazards and Disasters
Chapter 1
NATURAL HAZARDS AND DISASTERS
MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS
1. People live in dangerous areas for what reasons?
a. for the views
b. because of cheap land
c. because the land is fertile
d. for proximity to recreational opportunities
e. for all of these reasons
ANSWER: e
2. Catastrophic natural disaster losses in developed countries involve which of the following?
a. large numbers of deaths
b. large financial costs to individuals and companies
c. primarily losses borne by insurance companies
d. large numbers of deaths and large financial costs
e. primarily losses borne by state governments
ANSWER: b
3. Areas of cities that are subjected to significant natural hazards should be used for which of
the following?
a. office buildings because they can withstand the effects of the hazard
b. inexpensive single-family houses
c. parks and natural areas
d. shopping malls
e. factories and industrial complexes
ANSWER: c
4. When people or government agencies try to control the activities of natural events, the
common result is which of the following?
a. The effect is the opposite of that intended.
b. The effort is wasted because it is impossible to do.
c. We have become quite effective at such control.
d. This doesn’t happen since the federal government doesn’t permit tampering with nature.
e. Our problem with nature is transferred elsewhere, to someone else, or postponed.
ANSWER: e
1
,Test Bank Chapter 1
Natural Hazards and Disasters, 4e Natural Hazards and Disasters
5. Natural disasters generally involve which of the following?
a. events with a single clear-cut cause
b. events that involve overlapping natural causes
c. events wholly caused by the activities of man
d. events that are unaffected by the activities of man
e. events that always involve interaction between closely related processes
ANSWER: b
6. Most natural disasters are which of the following?
a. cyclic, in that they occur at predictable intervals
b. rarely if ever cyclic because there are too many overlapping effects
c. completely random in that they involve processes that we cannot hope to understand
d. interactions between two closely related events
e. processes that start small and build toward a climax at a more-or-less constant rate
ANSWER: b
7. A fractal system is one that involves which of the following?
a. numerous intersecting fractures
b. similarity in form at a wide range of scales
c. completely unrelated processes that interact to produce an event
d. closely related processes that interact to produce a larger event
e. processes that are unrelated and static
ANSWER: b
8. An insurance company decides on the cost of a policy for a natural hazard by:
a. adding up the total cost of the most recent disaster of the type.
b. multiplying the probability of the loss by the number of policies sold.
c. averaging their probable dollar loss for all disasters that they insure.
d. calculating the cost of the probable loss times the probability of that event.
e. multiplying the cost of the largest loss of that type times the number of times that loss has
occurred.
ANSWER: d
9. The costs of catastrophic events continue to increase primarily because:
a. more people are moving into more hazardous areas.
b. not enough people pay for insurance in hazardous areas to even out the costs.
c. insurance companies are not making enough profit to satisfy their shareholders.
d. insurance companies are refusing to insure most natural hazard losses.
e. natural hazards are becoming more difficult to understand.
ANSWER: a
2
, Test Bank Chapter 1
Natural Hazards and Disasters, 4e Natural Hazards and Disasters
10. Which of the following is an example of a counterproductive governmental policy to mitigate
natural disasters?
a. relocating homes to less hazardous regions after an event
b. monitoring stream behavior and flow, providing a false sense of security
c. providing disaster assistance without a large cost-sharing component
d. forbidding uninsured casualty losses from being deducted from a disaster victim’s
income taxes
e. using computer models to determine risk levels and loss potential
ANSWER: c
11. What kind of natural hazards are NOT normally insurable?
a. earthquakes
b. volcanoes
c. landslides
d. floods
e. windstorms
ANSWER: c
12. What is the most common human reaction to a current or potential catastrophe?
a. Try to stop ongoing damage.
b. Prepare the public through drills.
c. Move to a less risky region.
d. Wait until the window of opportunity has passed.
e. Lobby for additional funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
ANSWER: a
13. What is the normal relationship between the number of a particular type of event and the size
of such events?
a. There are an equal number of small, medium, and large events of any given type.
b. There are few small events, a moderate number of larger events, and many giant events
of any given type.
c. There are many small events, many medium-size events, but for most hazards no giant
events.
d. There are many small events, a moderate number of larger events, and few giant events
of any given type.
e. For most types of natural hazards, there are medium and large events but no small events
of equivalent type.
ANSWER: d
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