The Dust Bowl and Its Impact

Part A: Read the sentence below from the text.

"A dense black cloud sped toward them like a giant locomotive."

What effect does the author create by using this simile?

• a sense of curiosity

• a sense of danger

• a sense of wonder

• a sense of mystery

Part B: Which sentence from the text best supports your answer in part A?

• But it was not a rain cloud.

• It was made up of millions of particles of fine dust

• Winds of more than 60 miles per hour drove the dust

• It came into houses through the tiniest cracks

Read the sentence from the text.

"Congress passed the Soil Conservation Act soon afterward."

What led Congress to pass this act?

• the dust storm that reached the Midwest and East

• the many people who moved to California

• the early attempts of Hugh Bennett to protect farmland

• the deaths of animals in the fields

Read the sentence from the text.

"After years of dust storms, with no crops or income, many people abandoned their land and moved west."

Which phrase from the sentence helps the reader understand the meaning of abandoned in the sentence?

• “years of dust storms”

• “no crops or income”

• “many people”

• “moved west”

Part A: Read the sentence below from the text.

"Modern farming techniques, however, are able to prevent the return of the Black Blizzards of the 1930s."

The word techniques means “methods or ways of doing things.” Which three phrases from the text are examples of farming techniques?

A dense black cloud sped toward them like a giant locomotive. What effect does the author create by using this simile?

• “sell all the wheat they raised”

• “abandoned their land”

• “rotated their crops”

• “plowed the land in curves instead of straight lines”

• “planted trees to slow down the wind”

The following question has two parts. First, answer part A. Then, answer part B. Part A: Which statement best describes the problem that World War I caused the people of the Southern Plains?

• The war destroyed huge areas of American farmland.

• The war forced the people to plow under their wheat crops.

• The war caused a need for food that the people met by growing more wheat.

• The war caused the people to feed their extra wheat to larger herds of cattle.

Part B: Which sentence from the text best supports your answer in part A?

• During and after World War I, from about 1917–1930, there was a great demand for wheat.

• Americans and their allies would be well fed while their opponents did not have enough food.

• Farmers knew they could sell all the wheat they raised, and at fair prices.

• There was a great demand for American beef, too, as cattle ranchers increased the size of their herds.

The following question has two parts. First, answer part A. Then, answer part B. Part A: Which conclusion can be made about the author’s opinion of the people of the Dust Bowl?

• The author believes the people were not willing to work hard.

• The author believes the people were proud to live in the Southern Plains.

• The author sees the people as suffering from the damage to their environment.

• The author sees the people as tough cattle ranchers and stubborn farmers.

Part B: Which sentence from the text best supports your answer in part A?

• It simply stopped raining.

• So many people went to California that guards were sent to the state’s border to keep them out.

• They had little money and few household possessions.

• After years of dust storms, with no crops or income, many people abandoned their land and moved west.

The following question has two parts. First, answer part A. Then, answer part B. Part A: Which statement best summarizes the main idea of the text?

• The Dust Bowl led to new farming practices.

• Congress helped to solve the problems in the Dust Bowl.

• The return of drought to the Southern Plains remains a threat.

• The Dust Bowl greatly affected farms on the Southern Plains.