Many people believe that a large earthquake, often referred to as "the Big One;" will hit California within the next 100 years. Due to a lack of understanding about the earth's plates, some wrongly believe that "the Big One" will cause California to break off of the continent and fall into the Pacific Ocean. Others fear that the transform boundary running through California will open up and the earth will swallow buildings, people, and cars. Why are these people wrong?

1. in 1492, spain expelled after being under their rule for centuries. a. the portuguese b. the basques c. the castilians d. the moors 2. an important cultural center during the renaissance was the city of a. milan b. bologna c. florence d. naples 3. what is the connection between the minoan civilization and a volcanic eruption on thera? a. the earthquake happened a century before the collapse of the civilization. b. the earthquake created a graben. c. the earthquake caused the collapse of the civilization. d. the earthquake caused a volcanic eruption. 4. throughout history, other cultures influenced greece through a. military conquest b. shared ideals c. trade agreements 5. geographically, spain is isolated from the rest of europe by a. portugal b. the atlantic ocean c. the pyrenees mountains d. narrow coastal plains 6. most of central spain is known as the meseta, which is the spanish word for a. mountains b. plateau c. peninsula d. plains 7. for the people of ancient greece, the  iliad, and the  odyssey  a. copied western ideals b. were not popular c. presented community standards d. were children’s poems\ 8. western cultures got many of their ideas about from ancient greece. a. warfare b. democracy c. education d. agriculture 9. how is greece’s natural vegetation similar to that of other mediterranean countries? a. it has been damaged by forest fires. b. it is mainly deciduous forests. c. it grows rapidly in the wet climate. d. it has been reduced to scrub vegetation by overgrazing. 10. what is the most productive agricultural area in italy? a. the alps b. the po valley c. southern italy d. the apennines 11. many factories in northern italy use for energy. a. coal b. hydroelectricity c. nuclear energy d. natural gas 12. what major landform covers much of italy? a. the apennines b. the po river valley c. the alps