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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The annual income of Las Vegas is what percentage of the entire gross national product of Egypt, according to the author in Chapter Four?
(a) 40%.
(b) 5%.
(c) 10%.
(d) 25%.

2. The population of San Francisco went over how many in 1853?
(a) 150,000.
(b) 100,000.
(c) 75,000.
(d) 50,000.

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

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

5. What were a series of conflicts between the city of Los Angeles, farmers and ranchers in the Owens Valley of Eastern California, and environmentalists called?
(a) The Aquatic Revolution.
(b) The Urban Water Hoard.
(c) The Great Acquisition.
(d) The California Water Wars.

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

7. The author begins Chapter Three by stating, “When archaeologists from some other planet sift through the bleached bones of our civilization, they may well conclude that our temples were” what?
(a) Rivers.
(b) Oceans.
(c) Dams.
(d) Deserts.

8. Who does the author refer to as “horse-drawn Fresnoscraper kind of contractor” in Chapter Four?
(a) Jim Casey.
(b) Emil Haury.
(c) Harry Morrison.
(d) W. A. Bechtel.

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

10. Who did Charles Rockwood convince to join forces with him in irrigation, according to the author in Chapter Four?
(a) Michael Robinson.
(b) Bill Warne.
(c) George Chaffey.
(d) N.H. Darton.

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

12. When was the Reclamation Act established?
(a) 1939.
(b) 1897.
(c) 1902.
(d) 1854.

13. According to the author, “New England was completely forested in 1620 and nearly deforested” how many years later?
(a) 150.
(b) 120.
(c) 85.
(d) 30.

14. Where was William Mulholland born?
(a) Lisbon, Portugal.
(b) Dublin, Ireland.
(c) Stockholm, Sweden.
(d) London, England.

15. What is the title of Chapter Three?
(a) “The Red Queen.”
(b) “First Causes.”
(c) “Things Fall Apart.”
(d) “A Country of Illusion.”

Short Answer Questions

1. Harry Morrison and Morris Knudsen, two engineers formerly with the Bureau of Reclamation, went into business together where, according to the author in Chapter Four?

2. How many acres of marsh and swamp forest were converted to farms in Arkansas and Louisiana, according to the author in the Introduction?

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

4. Who does the author refer to as “an egomaniacal small-time construction tycoon” in Chapter Four?

5. When did Harrison Gray Otis move to Santa Barbara, California?

(see the answer keys)

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