The range of the American bison extended over about one-third of the

The range of the American bison extended over about one-third of the entire continent of North America. Starting almost at tide-water on the Atlantic coast, it extended westward through a vast tract of dense forest, across the Alleghany Mountain system to the prairies along the Mississippi, and southward to the Delta of that great stream. Although the great plains country of the West was the natural home of the species, where it flourished most abundantly, it also wandered south across Texas to the burning plains of North-eastern Mexico, westward across the Rocky Mountains into New Mexico, Utah, and Idaho, and northward across a vast treeless waste to the bleak and inhospitable shores of the Great Slave Lake itself. It is more than probable that had the bison remained unmolested by man and uninfluenced by him, he would eventually have crossed the Sierra Nevadas and the Coast Range and taken up his abode in the fertile valleys of the Pacific slope.

Had the bison remained for a few more centuries in undisturbed possession of his range, and with liberty to roam at will over the North American continent, it is almost certain that several distinctly recognizable varieties would have been produced. The buffalo of the hot regions in the extreme south would have become a short-haired animal like the Gaur of India and the African buffalo. The individuals inhabiting the extreme north, in the vicinity of Great Slave Lake, for example, would have developed still longer hair, and taken on more of the dense hairiness of the musk ox. In the “wood” or “mountain buffalo” we already have a distinct foreshadowing of the changes which would have taken place in the individuals that made their permanent residence upon rugged mountains.

1. What is the main purpose of the author in writing the passage?

(A) To explain how man’s activities have had a negative effect on ecology
(B) To argue that efforts need to be made to conserve a particular species of animal
(C) To discuss the geographical distribution of a species
(D) To assert that at one time the American bison populated over 30 percent of North America
(E) To compare the American bison with other similar species

2. The passage mentions each of the following as a negative impact of man’s activities on the American bison EXCEPT:

(A) The bison could not inhabit the valleys of the Pacific slope.
(B) Certain new varieties of the bison could not be produced.
(C) The bison could not cross the Sierra Nevada.
(D) There was a drastic fall in the bison population.
(E) The bison’s ability to roam at will was curtailed.

3. Which of the following can be inferred from the information provided in the passage?

(A) The American bison has now become extinct.
(B) The American bison is a long-haired animal.
(C) The American bison is related to the Indian Gaur.
(D) The Rocky Mountains were not the ideal habitat for the American bison.
(E) The Mountain buffalo is descended from the American bison.