1. Environmental Issues in Southeast Asia
Pop Quizzes

2. 1. To which does the Ganges flow after it leaves India?
China
Pakistan
Afghanistan
Bangladesh
2. Where does the Ganges River flow into the sea?
Bay of Bengal
East China Sea
Sea of Japan
Yellow Sea
3. Which is true about the Ganges River?
The river is ignored by Indian religious rituals.
People do not drink the water because it is so polluted.
Many people use the river for transportation as well as a water supply.
Plant and animal life have not been affected by the poor quality of the river’s water.

3. 4. How has India’s need to develop more industry ended up creating problems along the Ganges River?
Factories along the river dump industrial waste and chemicals into the river every day.
No one is allowed to cremate dead bodies along the river since the large factories have been built.
Industries along the river use so much water that the Ganges is almost dry by the time it reaches the sea.
Factory owners have refused to allow the Indians living along the river to bathe in the water or use the water for cooking.
5. How has the Indian practice of cremating their dead been a problem for the river?
People are not allowed to go near the river when cremations are taking place.
The banks along the river regularly catch fire and threaten Indian homes built there.
Factory owners cannot use water once human ashes have been thrown into it upstream.
The bodies of dead animals, as well as the ashes of human beings, have been placed in the water causing pollution.
6. What was the purpose of the Ganges Action Plan begun in the 1980s?
To try and clean up the river
To bring an end to the cremations
To end using the river for drinking water
To slow down the building of new factories

4. 7. Why has the Indian government had such a hard time making much progress in cleaning up the Ganges River?
Most people in India feel the river is not polluted so they are not worried about it.
The government of India has not made the cleaning up of the Ganges River one of its goals.
Few people have gotten sick from the water in the Ganges River, so it is hard to get money for clean-up operations.
India’s combination of growing population and run-off from farming makes it hard to see much progress in controlling pollution.
8. Why is the Yangtze River so important to the population and economy of China?
Water from the Yangtze River is used to irrigate the Gobi Desert.
The Yangtze River is the international border between China and India.
People can use the Yangtze River to get over the Himalayan Mountains.
It supplies millions of people with water for drinking, irrigation, and industrial uses.
9. Into what body of water does the Yangtze flow?
Indian Ocean
Bay of Bengal
East China Sea
South China Sea

5. 10. What are some of the main causes of high levels of nitrogen in the Yangtze River?
The waste is from nuclear power plants.
The bodies of dead animals are thrown into the river.
The chemicals used in fields run into the river.
The exhaust fumes from the millions of cars run into the river.
11. Which is one of the most common industrial pollutants found in the Yangtze River?
Arsenic
Nitrogen
Nuclear waste
Human sewage
12. What has been the effect of the rapid growth of algae in the Yangtze River?
The oxygen levels in the water go down and fish die.
The river dolphins and porpoises can rely on the algae as a food source.
The Yangtze River can no longer be used for shipping and transportation.
The algae have provided a good source of fertilizer for those who live along the river.

6. 13. Why did the Chinese government decide to go ahead with the Three Gorges Dam project along the Yangtze River?
The dam would provide water for all of China’s desert areas.
China’s people needed a reliable source of hydroelectric power.
China needed to be able to store water because the Yangtze river often dried up in the summer.
Careful study showed there would be no environmental problems associated with the dam.
14. How would building sanitary landfills along the Yangtze River help reduce pollution in the water?
The garbage could go into landfills instead of in the river.
The landfills would reduce the general need for more electricity.
The chemicals would no longer run into farmers’ fields and into the river.
All of the garbage would be recycled in landfills and there would be no waste.
15. When Beijing, China was awarded the 2008 Olympics, which environmental issue was a big concern for many of the athletes?
The city’s air pollution
Lack of fresh drinking water
Temperatures would be too hot in the summer in China
Heavy seasonal rains that come to China in the summer

7. 16. Which contributes to air pollution problems in China?
The shrinking population
Use of coal-burning power plants for energy
The gradual drop in the number of new factories
The lack of automobiles and trucks in rural areas
17. Which is a leading cause of death in China?
Skin cancer
Respiratory and heart disease
Injuries from automobile accidents
Injuries related to factory accidents
18. What was the job of the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau in the months before the 2008 Olympics?
Improve the city’s air quality
Work to end the pollution in the countryside
Begin building dams to provide fresh drinking water for the athletes
Keep all cars and buses out of Beijing while the Olympics were in progress

8. 19. Why is acid rain dangerous to the environment?
May cause chemical fires
Can harm plants and animals
Often leads to massive flooding
Causes an increase in air temperature
20. What economic argument does the World Bank make to urge countries to do whatever they need to do to clean up serious environmental problems quickly?
Health problems disappear very quickly once pollution problems are solved.
The process of cleaning up serious environmental problems is usually very easy to do.
Most serious pollution problems can be taken care of without spending a lot of money.
The long-term costs of pollution are often more expensive than the clean-up effort would be.