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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who was to the man to “discover a malleable yellow rock in the tail race of Sutter’s Mill on the American River above Sacramento” in the 1800s,” according to the author in Chapter One?
(a) Floyd Dominy.
(b) C.W. Hollister.
(c) Emil Haury.
(d) James Marshall.

2. The Sierra Nevada foothills are how many miles across the Central Valley from San Francisco?
(a) 80.
(b) 150.
(c) 35.
(d) 225.

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

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

5. What from San Bernardino found their way to the 1884 World’s Fair in New Orleans, where they attracted crowds?
(a) Red Delicious apples.
(b) Valencia oranges.
(c) Himalayan blackberries.
(d) Bing cherries.

6. For what organization was Marc Reisner a staff writer from 1972 to 1979?
(a) The Sierra Club.
(b) The World Wildlife Fund.
(c) The Nature Conservancy.
(d) The Natural Resources Defense Council.

7. Almost all of the rain in Napa Valley falls between which months?
(a) March to July.
(b) May to September.
(c) November to March.
(d) August to December.

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

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

10. The drop to the Colorado River is nearly how many feet?
(a) 7,600.
(b) 13,000.
(c) 5,000.
(d) 9,400.

11. When was Harry Chandler born?
(a) 1864.
(b) 1885.
(c) 1918.
(d) 1933.

12. In what year was the Hoover Dam dedicated?
(a) 1935.
(b) 1922.
(c) 1949.
(d) 1956.

13. When did Harrison Gray Otis move to Santa Barbara, California?
(a) 1876.
(b) 1924.
(c) 1855.
(d) 1911.

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

15. 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) Deserts.
(b) Dams.
(c) Rivers.
(d) Oceans.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who wrote the sonnet “Ozymandias,” which is quoted in the opening of Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water?

2. Where was John Wesley Powell born?

3. Where was William Mulholland born?

4. From whom did Harrison Gray Otis purchase the Santa Barbara Press?

5. When was Marriner Stoddard Eccles born?

(see the answer keys)

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