Spring 2000

40 Multiple Choice Questions—Select the best answer

1. Architects and designers affect the aural environment primarily by designing

A. senders
B. interveners
C. receivers
D. all of the above

2. A bass voice, when compared to a soprano voice, features

A. longer wave lengths
B. more watts per centimeter squared
C. a frequency to which the human ear is more sensitive
D. all of the above

3. Sound intensity is measured on a logarithmic scale (decibels)

A. to make it easier to add sound intensities
B. to better relate to human perception of sound
C. to match the capabilities of sound measurement instruments
D. all of the above

4. To an unprotected human ear, a 130 dB machine shop noise

A. causes pain and immediate, irreversible damage
B. causes damage after eight hours of exposure
C. is safe to listen to for any period of time
D. none of the above

5. From her position in front of the class, the teacher hears three students speak individually at 40 dB. When they all speak at once she hears

A. 40 dB
B. 43 dB
C. 44.8 dB
D. 46 dB

6. The busy freeway adjacent to your site produces 75 dB at the nearest site boundary, 25 feet from the freeway. At the building site, an additional 75 feet away, you’d expect the freeway noise to be

A. 72 dB
B. 69 dB
C. 66 dB
D. 60 dB

7. The outdoor space that acts almost like a free field is

A. a windy Palouse wheat field
B. a small, protected, grassy courtyard
C. an urban street canyon
D. none of the above

8. A band shell mitigates the free field effect by

A. increasing the reverberation time
B. providing a sound-reinforcing reflection to the audience
C. eliminating the reduction of sound intensity over distance
D. all of the above

9. Predock’s Albuquerque Heart Clinic uses a barrier wall with small, fixed-glazing windows to counter the noise of an adjacent freeway. This is an example of

A. an effective acoustic strategy
B. a misunderstanding of free field sound mechanics
C. an effective acoustic strategy if the windows were removed
D. cool looking design that ignores environmental forces

10. When a material absorbs sound

A. it vibrates at its characteristic frequency
B. it heats up imperceptibly
C. it diffuses the sound
D. none of the above

11. An effective acoustic barrier can be made of

A. lightweight sound absorbing materials
B. massive sound reflecting materials
C. composite construction featuring both A and B above
D. all of the above

12. A silence goal room usually features

A. sound-reflecting surfaces
B. a relatively low reverberation time
C. curved walls
D. all of the above

13. Before classes as the room fills and students anticipate the thrill of another thought-provoking ECS lecture, UCC110 exhibits the characteristics of a

A. a democracy of sound
B. a plutocracy of sound
C. an anarchy of sound
D. an aristocracy of sound

14. A sound barrier with an STC of 65 will

A. be effective at mitigating sounds up to 65 dB
B. cause an NR of 65 dB in the receiving room
C. reduce sounds transmitted through the barrier by about 65dB
D. all of the above

15. My 12’ x 20’ x 10’ living room has plaster walls and ceiling (a = 0.01) and a cluttered floor (a = 0.71). It’s reverberation time is

A. 0.14 sec
B. 0.33 sec
C. 0.66 sec
D. 1.34 sec

16. The geometry of the St. Augustine’s chapel in Moscow

A. causes focusing of sound
B. allows creep along the wall behind the pews
C. both of the above
D. causes flutter echoes

17. Eugene’s symphony hall in the Holt Center is a wide hall with a relatively low ceiling. This configuration

A. causes a long reverberation time
B. is mitigated by reflective balcony edges and convex clouds over the stage
C. caused the designers to add electronics to enhance T_r and early reflections
D. allows great sight and sound lines for enhanced sound quality

18. To clearly model the effect of a band shell you would best

A. use clay plan and section models in a shallow water tray
B. use a reflective scale model of the shell and a laser pointer
C. use a 10:1 scale model of the shell, a spark generator, and an oscilloscope
D. hire an acoustical consultant

19. Boston Symphony hall

A. had Wallace Sabine as the acoustical consultant
B. is a classic shoebox hall
C. features diffusely reflective surfaces and shallow balconies
D. all of the above

20. The architectural site on the slide/tape Music and Architecture tour that features music written to exploit its long reverberation time is

A. Taj Mahal
B. Speyer Cathedral
C. le Petit Trianon
D. all of the above

21. In a temperate climate, the most energy-efficient residential heating system would be

A. a gas-fired forced-air furnace
B. electric resistance baseboard heaters
C. a ground-coupled heat pump
D. a coal-fueled boiler with a radiant slab

22. An energy wheel saves energy by

A. exchanging heat between exhaust and supply air
B. exchanging humidity between exhaust and supply air
C. both of the above
D. none of the above

23. The all-air HVAC system that would ensure maximum comfort in a multi-story, mixed-use building is

A. dual duct
B. four pipe
C. high speed, dual duct
D. any of the above

24. A daylighting scheme for an office building should rely on

A. direct sun as the source of illumination
B. the sky as the source of illumination
C. exterior reflections as the source of illumination
D. none of the above

25. The main reason that stars appear brighter from the top of Moscow Mountain than from the middle of Moscow’s Main Street is that

A. you’re closer to them
B. there’s less atmosphere to diffuse their light
C. there’s less competing luminous stimulus
D. all of the above

26. To mitigate glare in a room with windows on the west wall only, a daylighting designer should

A. add a light shelf
B. slope the ceiling to reflect light back to the window wall
C. use translucent glazing
D. paint the window wall and mullions light blue

27. A well-designed skylight should

A. use insulating glazing
B. have a deep lightwell
C. have an aperture area no larger than 25% of the floor area it serves
D. all of the above

28. It is beyond the capability of a physical daylighting model to accurately represent the effect of

A. sun penetration
B. shading devices
C. texture and color of surfaces
D. none of the above

29. New electronic ballasts for fluorescent lamps are an improvement over magnetic ballasts because they

A. eliminate visible flicker
B. can provide continuous dimming
C. are lighter in weight
D. all of the above

30. The lumen or zonal cavity method would predict the lighting for the back row in UCC 110 to be

A. the same as for the front row
B. about twice as bright as the front row
C. about 10 foot-candles brighter than the front row
D. about one quarter as bright as the front row

31. Among the qualities rated by Malcolm Wells’ Wilderness-Based Checklist for Design and Construction is

A. beauty
B. maintenance
C. use of solar energy
D. all of the above

32. The second-best residential cooling system will have a second law efficiency

A. of less than 100%
B. equal to its COP times 100
C. near 90%
D. equal to the Btus of cooling delivered divided by the potential Btus in its fuel

33. Which of the following is the worst match of fuel to task

A. solar energy for water heating
B. gasoline for mass transit
C. nuclear power generated electricity for cooking
D. hydroelectricity for electric-resistance space heating

34. In order to determine the life-cycle cost savings of an energy-efficient building, you need to know

A. its annual fuel savings
B. the owner’s time preference for money
C. allowable government tax incentives for energy efficiency
D. all of the above and much more

35. The least expensive (in dollars per Btu) energy generation plant that can be built today is

A. a nuclear power plant
B. a wind farm
C. building-integrated photovoltaics
D. a coal-fired power plant

36. Increasing the density of urban centers, as an alternative to suburban sprawl, has the effect of

A. saving energy
B. reducing storm-water run-off
C. improving the quality of life
D. all of the above

37. Cross-media pollution results in

A. acid rain
B. polluted aquifers
C. cholera epidemics
D. all of the above

38. Moscow’s recent law to allow residential treatment and recycling of grey water can result in

A. conservation of water
B. reduced methane production at the waste water treatment plant
C. higher quality ground water
D. all of the above

39. Constructed wetlands can provide

A. on-site primary treatment for residential black water
B. neighborhood-scale secondary treatment of industrial black water
C. tertiary treatment for a municipal waste water treatment plant
D. all of the above

40. A roof-integrated photovoltaic electrical system can be used as

A. catchment for potable rainwater
B. catchment for potable rainwater, if the water is filtered
C. catchment for potable rainwater, if the water is filtered, tested, and stored in a cistern
D. none of the above

Catch some rays, catch some Zzzzzzzzzzzs, catch some horsehide at the green cathedral of your choice! See you next fall!