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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In 1885, the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad linked Los Angeles directly with what city?
(a) Kansas City.
(b) Chicago.
(c) Boston.
(d) New York City.

2. When was the Bayano Dam built?
(a) 1983.
(b) 1920.
(c) 1976.
(d) 1944.

3. Who wrote the sonnet “Ozymandias,” which is quoted in the opening of Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water?
(a) Percy Bysshe Shelley.
(b) James Marshall.
(c) Michael Robinson.
(d) Jim Casey.

4. According to the author in Chapter Two, “the most persecuted among the virtuous in nineteenth-century America were, besides peaceful Indians and runaway slaves and Mennonites and Quakers, the members of” what faith?
(a) The Christian Science faith.
(b) The Mormon faith.
(c) The Jewish faith.
(d) The Muslim faith.

5. William Mulholland’s father held what profession?
(a) Car salesman.
(b) Postal clerk.
(c) Teacher.
(d) Doctor.

6. When was the revised and updated version of Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water published?
(a) 1979.
(b) 1999.
(c) 1993.
(d) 1985.

7. How many major dams does the author say California has in the Introduction?
(a) 240.
(b) 1,200.
(c) 560.
(d) 50.

8. Which states are touched by the Colorado River?
(a) New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado.
(b) Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and California.
(c) Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and California.
(d) Idaho, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado.

9. In 1848, what was the population of San Francisco?
(a) 2,500.
(b) 9,000.
(c) 800.
(d) 4,500.

10. Where was John Wesley Powell born?
(a) Gary, Indiana.
(b) Mount Morris, New York.
(c) Aurora, Illinois.
(d) Akron, Ohio.

11. What western city does the author describe “with exotic palms and golf-course lawns and a five-hundred-foot fountain and an artificial surf” in the Introduction?
(a) Reno, Nevada.
(b) Bakersfield, California.
(c) Albuquerque, New Mexico.
(d) Phoenix, Arizona.

12. According to the author in Chapter Three, regarding the Bureau of Reclamation, “The most auspicious event in its entire history was the election to the presidency in 1932 of a freewheeling, free-spending” what?
(a) Patrician.
(b) Republican.
(c) Democrat.
(d) Libertarian.

13. What was the population of San Francisco in 1851?
(a) 48,000.
(b) 12,000.
(c) 35,000.
(d) 27,000.

14. When was Harrison Gray Otis born?
(a) 1879.
(b) 1856.
(c) 1837.
(d) 1908.

15. Where was Marc Reisner born?
(a) St. Paul, Minnesota.
(b) Billings, Montana.
(c) Durango, Colorado.
(d) Knoxville, Tennessee.

Short Answer Questions

1. When was Marriner Stoddard Eccles born?

2. What is one of the largest and hottest deserts in North America, with an area of 311,000 square kilometers?

3. The annual income of Las Vegas is what percentage of the entire gross national product of Egypt, according to the author in Chapter Four?

4. What from San Bernardino found their way to the 1884 World’s Fair in New Orleans, where they attracted crowds?

5. What is the name given to the principal hydrological divide of the Americas that separates the watersheds which drain into the Pacific Ocean?

(see the answer keys)

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