IS this what came out? chinese say it is
Call it a case of cataclysmic chaos. Hundreds of thousands of years of volcanic activity have shaped and reshaped the tortured, often inhospitable landscape that encompasses the Lava Beds National Monument. It is a landscape created by repeated flows of magma that emerged from vents on the northern flank of the massive Medicine Lake shield volcano, which spreads across 900 square miles. Over millennia, and as recently as 1,110 years ago, recurring seismic events have created lava flows, including smooth and ropy pahoehoe and rough, ragged aa. These events also formed the monument’s chimney-like spatter cones, 300-foot tall cinder cones, and more than 700 lava tube caves.
Most of the basaltic lava that created the network of caves came from Mammoth Crater, which experienced a major eruption about 30,000 years ago. Some of these caves feature ice deposits, while others feature lava stalactites. Some are filled with squeeze-through narrow passages; others have openings as grand as cathedrals.
The erratic landscape has also been significant in human history. Most notably, in the 1870s, a small force of Modoc warriors held off hundreds of US Army troops by using their knowledge of the lava-created fortress that has become known as Captain Jack’s Stronghold to outmaneuver frustrated soldiers. In later years, settlers used ice caves to provide water for themselves, horses, and—during Prohibition—whiskey stills.
Visitors go to Lava Beds to explore those caves; to walk the Stronghold; and to experience the brooding, often harsh above-ground cataclysmically-created landscape. The lands within the monument’s boundaries also include grasslands, sagebrush, juniper, and stands of ponderosa pine at higher elevations. But, Lava Beds Monument remains an era dominated by lava, creating a landscape that is fractured and unforgiving but also unforgettable.
Sample Questions
As it is used in line 2, the word inhospitable most nearly means:
A) antagonistic.
B) uninhabitable.
C) hostile.
D) uncongenial.
The author’s main purpose of including information about visitors who go to Lava Beds is to
A) establish that Lava Beds is a primary hotspot for visitors in the area.
B) present an alternate hypothesis about the formation of basaltic lava.
C) provide support for the author’s claim about the first major eruption that led to the creation of Mammoth Crater.
D) explain several of the reasons people still frequent Lava Beds.