Vocabulary
What does it mean if something is affordable?
not costing very much
What does it mean if you damage something?
to harm something
What is a transcontinental railroad?
A railroad that stretches from one end of a continent to the other
What is a laborer?
a worker
What large animal did the Native Americans in the Great Plains hunt for food?
bison
What is a mountain range?
a line of mountains that are close to each other
What is a bison?
a large wild ox native to North America
What was the most amount of track that the special team of workers laid in one day?
10 miles of track
Why did the Central Pacific Railroad Company have a hard time finding workers in California?
California was a new state and there were few available laborers.
What region was the transcontinental railroad built through?
a. Great Plains b. South c. Northeast
a. Great Plains
Who are immigrants?
people who move to another country
What does "isolated" mean?
set apart from others
What were the names of the two railroad companies that were building the transcontinental railroad?
The Central Pacific Railroad Company and the Union Pacific Railroad Company
How did the Chinese immigrant workers struggle when working on the transcontinental railroad?
They faced harassment and discrimination.
Experts say that when the workers were building the railroad, ___ bison roamed the Plains.
a. 60 million b. 30 million c. 10 million
a. 60 million
What are traditions?
customs or beliefs passed on from one generation to another
What does it mean if something is "devastating"?
causing a lot of destruction
The company that laid the most railroad got the most ___.
money
The Central Pacific paid its white laborers $30 a month and provided them with free food and housing. What did the Chinese immigrant workers get?
The railroad companies decided to create special trips for passengers to ___.
hunt by rail
What is recruiting?
attracting people to a job or other cause
Who is an engineer?
a person who designs or constructs things like machines or buildings
The transcontinental railroad cut the price of cross country travel from $1,000 to ___ per person, making the trip much more affordable.
a. $2,000 b. $500 c. $150
c. $150
Who was one of the most important people in the Chinese communities?
The cook. He prepared meals and boiled water for tea, washing and bathing.
What happened to the Native Americans as a result of overhunting of bison?
Native Americans had to travel further from camp to hunt.