Anne’s Quiz #8

Alaska

I have been intriqued with this vast territory since a trip up the AlCan Highway in 1969. With so few people, there are very few strangers. And the mountains and wilderness are breathtaking. I remember an advertisement for 'Dairy Queen - 100 miles' and being hot in Fairbanks in August; it was over 90 deg F according to a bank sign. We also got snowed in at Mt. McKinley National Park (now Denali) on August 8th. The picture to the right was taken by my parents there.

1. How large is Alaska?

a) Twice the size of Texas

b) Half the size of Texas

c) 100,000 acres

d) The same size as California

2. What significant event occurred at 5:35 pm, March 27, 1964?

a) Alaska joined the Union as the 49th state.

b) The Alaskan Gold Rush began with the discovery of gold in Sitka.

c) The largest earthquake ever recorded in North America at 9.2 on the Richter scale destroyed much of Anchorage.

d) The Russians attempted to invade Alaska across the Bering Strait.

3. What is permafrost?

a) The underside of a glacier.

b) A cave that remains cold enough all year to keep caribou meat frozen.

c) Curly frozen grass.

d) Ground that has stayed frozen for more than two years.

4. What do Alaskan penguins eat?

a) Nothing, they don't live here.

b) Blue sedge grass.

c) Trout and other fish.

d) Tundra brush.

5. What is ptarmigan?

a) The Inuit version of pemmican.

b) The state bird, similar to quail.

c) A tent made of walrus hide.

d) Glacier melt-water.

6. What is an Alaskan igloo?

a) An Inuit (Eskimo) home made of driftwood and sod.

b) A shelter made of snow and ice blocks.

c) The deep freeze storage place for caribou carcasses.

d) A plastic water container.

7. Where did the Bering Sea get its name?

a) From Vitus Bering, the first Russian to reach Alaska from the West.

b) From the Bering seal which thrives here.

c) From a corruption of Bear King, the name of a local Indian guide.

d) From the numerous bears the first explorers saw.

8. To what does the term "Seward's Folly" refer?

a) Secretary of State William Seward's ill-fated trip to Alaska in 1866.

b) The fact that the United States refused to let Alaska become a state due to Secretary of State William Seward's bad advice.

c) The purchase of Alaska from Russia by Secretary of State William Seward in 1867.

d) Secretary of State William Seward insisted that Anchorage be the capitol of the new state.

9. How long is Alaska's coastline?

a) 45,000 miles

b) 2000 miles

c) nonexistent

d) 10,000 hectares

10. Why was the 1440-mile Alaska Highway built?

a) The gold miners wanted a more reliable way to get to and from the gold fields.

b) Alaska couldn't become a state until it could be reached by car.

c) The US government wanted to be able to move troops to bases in Fairbanks, Anchorage, and other towns.

d) The Canadians wanted better access to their northern neighbor.

Alaskan Igloo (Barrow - 1969)


Like to learn more? Visit www.everythingalaska.com!

                               

quiz 8 created 1996