California: Geography Quiz
72
The "Golden State"
Shortly after I published Canada: Geography Quiz, my HubPages readers asked me what the subject of my next geography quiz was going to be.
I decided upon California, the state in which I live. I learned a lot while doing the research for the quiz. I hope you'll learn a lot about the "Golden State," too, when you take the quiz.
The answers to the questions can be found immediately above the Comments section. Please be sure to post the score you receive, and remember...guess, if you don't know the answer, rather than looking at a map of the state or doing Internet research.
1.
The highest peak in the contiguous 48 states — 14,505 feet (4,421 meters) — is located in California. What is the name of this mountain?
A. Mammoth Mountain
B. Mount Whitney
C. Mount Shasta
D. Mount San Gorgonio
2.
The oldest lake in the world, formed at least 760,000 years ago, is located in California. The lake is in a basin and does not have an outlet to the Pacific Ocean. Because there is no outlet to the ocean, dissolved salts make the lake very saline and alkaline. What is the name of the lake?
A. Great Salt Lake
B. Salton Sea
C. Mono Lake
D. Lake Saltaire
3.
The 1984 Summer Olympics — the XXIII Olympiad — was held in Los Angeles.
In which city were the road cycling events held?
A. Los Angeles
B. Malibu
C. Hermosa Beach
D. Mission Viejo
4.
In which area in California will you find the lowest, driest, and hottest locations in North America?
Badwater, situated at this location, has the lowest elevation in North America — 282 feet (86 meters) below sea level. The average annual precipitation in the area is 2.36 inches (60 mm). Furnace Creek had the highest temperature recorded in the western hemisphere — 134°F (56.7°C).
A. Sand Dunes National Park
B. Yosemite National Park
C. Dry Creek State Park
D. Death Valley
5.
With 8.5 miles of uninterrupted beaches, which city in California is known as Surf City USA®?
A. Laguna Beach
B. La Jolla
C. Huntington Beach
D. Hermosa Beach
6.
Which bridge in California, built in 1937 and stretching over 4200 feet (1280 meters), is considered to be one of the top ten construction achievements of the 20th Century?
A. San Francisco Bay Bridge
B. Coronado Bay Bridge
C. Golden Gate Bridge
D. Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel
7.
Built on the site of the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, the Great Park, a county park, features a tethered balloon ride. In which city is the Great Park Balloon located?
A. Oceanside
B. Irvine
C. Anaheim
D. San Francisco
8.
The Spreckels Organ, one of the world's largest outdoor pipe organs, was constructed for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition. In which city is the Spreckels Organ Pavilion located?
A. Los Angeles
B. San Francisco
C. Manhattan Beach
D. San Diego
9.
This mansion property, designed between 1919 and 1947, is located in an unincorporated portion of the Central Coast of California in the area know as San Simeon. In 1957, the property was donated to the state of California. The mansion is now a National Historic Landmark.
A. Leland Stanford Mansion
B. Woodbury-Story Estate
C. Bidwell Mansion
D. Hearst Castle
10.
The California mission pictured in the photograph to the right was founded on All Saints Day — November 1 — in 1776.
Legend has it that cliff swallows return to the mission every year from their winter home in Argentina on or about March 19 — St. Joseph's Day.
What is the name of the mission, and in which city is it located?
A. Mission San Fernando Rey de España, Mission Hills
B. Mission San Juan Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano
C. Mission San Diego de Alcala, San Diego
D. San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo, Carmel
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Quiz Answers
Question #
| Answer
|
|---|---|
1
| A
|
2
| C
|
3
| D
|
4
| D
|
5
| C
|
6
| C
|
7
| B
|
8
| D
|
9
| D
|
10
| B
|
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- Interesting (7)
CommentsLoading...
I got all but two right! Of course I live in California too! Great hub Daisy! It was fun with the quiz. Voted up!!!!
I got six but they were mostly guesses! Great idea for a Hub. Up & interesting.
Alecia,
Thanks for taking the quiz. This was a fun one to create since it's my home state. I haven't been to all the locations pictured...yet.
Lisa,
Which two questions did you not answer correctly?
In what part of California do you live?
Keri,
It's very nice to meet you. Have you taken any of my other quizzes?
Hi Daisy, yes just had a little run of them! I'm not very good, but I do enjoy them. Would you consider doing a UK one so that I have a better chance of getting a decent score? : )
Yay, 8 out of 10, but then I live in California. Missed the first two though and am glad to learn those new facts. Voting this Up and Interesting.
I got just half. I'm a CA native, but don't know much about So. Cal. I'm strictly a No. Cal gal. As far as "surf city," and the bicycle race, I don't participate in or follow either sport, explaining my ignorance of those 2 items. I was born & raised in SF, so the bridge question was easy, as was Mono Lake, because of my geology studies.
Maybe it's my turn to stump everyone with an all NorCal quiz. LOL
Good job, here--fun stuff. Voted up & shared.
Keri,
I'm collecting suggestions for future quizzes. I'll be doing a Florida quiz and a Great Britain quiz...perhaps separate quizzes for England and Scotland and maybe Wales...
Aurelio,
Good job! I was expecting at least 80% from you. We live in the same county, and I knew you wouldn't let me down.
Have you ever gone for a ride in the Great Park Balloon? I've seen the balloon up in the air many times, and I've thought about, but I keep hesitating.
Ms. Lizzy,
It's good to hear from you again. I tried to include a mix of questions from Northern California, Central California, and the Southern part of the state. I was aware of all the areas I mentioned, but I haven't actually been to the locations featured in questions 1, 2, and 4.
Daisy, separate quizzes for England, Scotland, Wales would be brilliant, and people would learn more and get more of an idea of the cultural and landscape differences between the three countries. I love all three countries (born in Wales, lived mainly in England, call myself a Brit because I'm ethnically English).
Keri,
I'll put all three on my list. May I ask what country you're currently living in?
I got 7/10...passing right? I lived in southern California for three years as a kid, so I knew some of it...I got the bridge wrong...the beach and the lake...not bad for not being there in almost 40 years! (now I really feel old...)
justateacher,
It's nice to meet you. Thanks for taking the quiz. Yes, 70% is a passing score. If you get a chance, see how well you do on my other quizzes.
Woot! Eight right. Man, I love these quizzes! Keep them coming, Daisy!
Got them all right but one, number 8. Of course, I live in California. I've been to San Diego more times that I can count but can't say I've heard of the Spreckels Organ. Thanks for the fun and educational hub, Daisy!
another interesting hub daisy. i'll need to retake this when u return the comment, because i forgot to write down my answers.
Hi Daisy, I'm in England - near Bath and Bristol.
Dave,
I'm glad your geography quiz scores are improving! Your enthusiasm for my quizzes is so nice to read. Let's see how you do on the England quiz that I'm writing.
Rick,
I'm glad someone from Southern California did so well on this quiz!
Since you've been to San Diego many times, can I assume you've been to Balboa Park? The Spreckels Organ Pavilion is in the park.
Justin,
Your comment gave me an idea...For my future quizzes, I going to mention in the introduction to be sure to write down one's answers.
Please post another comment when you take the quiz again.
Keri,
Get to know the writing of Judi Bee. She's from your part of England.
Daisy, only once on a school field trip what seems like ages ago. Don't recall seeing it then but maybe my memory is failing me!
Daisy,
I missed #3 & #7. Living in Hemet, but moving back up to Idyllwild soon!
Rick,
The next time you're in San Diego, go to Balboa Park. It's a not-to-be-missed spot.
Lisa,
You missed #3!?! My house is just out of the field of view in that photo. I've seen #7 in the air, but I'm too timid to try a balloon ride.
8/10 again. I missed #1 and #5. I've lived in Downey, Saugus, & Quartz Hill.
Great job, Susan!
I'm currently writing a quiz about the geography of England. I'm sure you'll do well on that quiz.
I live in the city pictured in question #3. It's a great place to live.
Daisy, there's also a quiz capsule option. You could write the quiz up top and allow us to record our answers below...
Justin,
I used the quiz capsule for one of my quizzes. The problem with the quiz capsule is that there is a limit to the number of characters each question can contain...and photographs can't be included in the quiz.
Also, the quiz has to be the full width of the page. You can't have a narrow column for the quiz, with a narrow column of images to the right of the quiz.
Didn't do so well on this one. Just 6 right.
Deborah,
Thanks for taking another of my geography quizzes. Have you ever been to Florida? A Florida geography quiz is the next one I'll be publishing.
I will surely partake in this quiz, but I'm sure I will score a zero on it, because I don't know anything about California, but this makes me motivated to find out, more about geography as a whole, because I can only write about New York City, Philadelphia, and pretty much many places I've lived across the east coast in general, since I'm from NYC.
I love the quiz idea of an entire hub, and thought of doing such a while back, but I will bring some light to this sort of cool creative hub interaction you so elegantly displayed for us all here. Awesome job!
I'll be back for sure to give it a try, maybe I'll go do some research first about California, and specifically your town, before I return, so I can do my best on your cool quiz here.
Thanks for sharing such a nice hub with us all, oh and great question you asked in the Q&A area, it lead me here.
Cloud Explorer,
It's very nice to meet you. A comment in one of my Hubs resulting from a question I posted in the Q&A area on HubPages is a first for me.
Please return after you've taken this quiz and let us know how you did. I've also written geography quizzes about the United States, Europe, Canada, and England. Why don't you take one of those when you have time?
My Florida geography quiz will be published later today. A New York quiz is already on my "to write" list. I'll add Philadelphia. That's a great idea.
Hi Daisy
thanks for pointing me towards Judi Bee - I love her writing and am now following.
Keri,
I'm glad you enjoy Judi Bee's writing. I especially enjoy reading her series of articles about British pubs.
Five out of ten on this one. I have been to California but never to Mission Viejo and some of the other places, but I love the state and I consider the Pacific coast of California to be the most beautiful in the world.
Suzette,
Thanks for taking another of my quizzes. I'm very fortunate...Mission Viejo is a beautiful city in which to live.
Hey, I am proud to be a californian...lol
btw, you wrote letters as answers this time so, had to go back and find the letters for my words...good trick :)
80% score...I am going to sing "i left my heart in SF" tonight thanks to your quiz and thanks to the legend, tony bennett :)
Ruchira,
I'm glad you enjoyed this quiz. I wasn't able to use the quiz capsule when creating the quiz. With the quiz capsule, there is a limit to the number of characters a question can contain.
Oh Dear! I did not do well at all in your quiz about one of my favourite U.S. states. I have visited California 3 times, I should know more! Voted up etc, etc.
I got 8/10 right, and I was born in California and have now lived here over half of my life. Strangely enough, the two I got wrong (1 & 3) I was sure I got right, and I got lucky with a couple of guesses I made. Fun quiz!
Jason,
Thanks for taking another of my quizzes and posting your score.
Regarding question #3, I think that many people know that the 1984 Summer Olympics were held in Los Angeles, but they don't realize that not all of the events were held in Los Angeles County.
Mission Viejo (the answer to #3) is a big sports city. A few former Olympians live (or lived, in the case of FloJo) in Mission Viejo. I used to see her running near where I live, and once saw her buying nail polish in a drugstore.
The question about the Golden Gate Bridge is probably the easiest for out-of-staters ...
MJFenn,
It's nice to meet you. Thanks for commenting.
I put question #6, for which the answer was the Golden Gate Bridge, in my quiz so that everyone, not just people from outside California, would most likley get at least one question correct.
LOL! We actually grew up in El Toro, which is not far from Mission Viejo (we had friends there). As for FloJo buying nail polish: not difficult to believe! As far as I can remember, her flashy nails were an indelible part of her visual persona.
Daisy Mariposa: YW; # 6 was just about the only one I knew (with the possible exception of the one about Death Valley).
Jason,
Thanks for stopping by again.
El Toro borders Mission Viejo, home of the Nadadores swim team.
You're correct...FloJo's fingernails were extremely long and part of her visual persona. I think I must have stared at her when I saw her. She nodded at me, smiled, and said "hello."
Alecia Murphy Level 7 Commenter 3 months ago
Fail! Once again. I need to really get some topography books. I shouldn't be this ignorant about other states. I liked the quiz though. Great job!