1. According to the author in the Introduction, “On the east side of the Sierra-Cascade crest, moisture drops immediately from as much as 150 inches of precipitation on the western slope to as little as” how many inches on the eastern slope?
(a) 22.
(b) 4.
(c) 38.
(d) 13.

2. John Wesley Powell figured that if you evenly distributed all of the surface water flowing between the Columbia River and the Gulf of Mexico, you would have what?
(a) A desert almost indistinguishable from what is there today.
(b) The most productive agricultural system the world has ever seen.
(c) Lush green pastures as far as the eye can see.
(d) Astounding yields on farms covering a quarter of the country.

3. What word used in the book’s Introduction means allowing the maximum passage of light, as glass?
(a) Translucent.
(b) Pellucid.
(c) Irradiate.
(d) Reflective.

4. Which Texas historian wrote an article for Harper’s entitled “The American West, Perpetual Mirage”?
(a) Lloyd Tevis.
(b) Walter Prescott Webb.
(c) Harry Morrison.
(d) Cordell Hull.

5. What mountain range described in the Introduction stretches approximately 160 miles from the Utah-Idaho border, south through central Utah in the western United States?
(a) The Cascade Range.
(b) The Sierra Nevada.
(c) The Wasatch Range.
(d) The Brooks Range.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to the author in the Introduction, “Modern Utah, where large-scale irrigation has been going on longer than anywhere else,” has what percent of its land area under cultivation?

2. How much of the water in California is used for irrigation purposes, according to the author?

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

4. What river is known as the River of No Return?

5. The Reclamation Act was authored by what U.S. Representative?

(see the answer key)

This section contains 308 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page)

View a FREE sample