Lesson test: The oasis

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The oasis

1.[2p]
Where does the water of a Tarim Basin oasis come from?

Snow and glacier melt off the Kunlun and Tian Shan, spreading over alluvial fans

Correct

Rainfall, which is heavy in spring

The answer is: Snow and glacier melt off the Kunlun and Tian Shan, spreading over alluvial fans

Artesian springs rising in the centre of the desert

The answer is: Snow and glacier melt off the Kunlun and Tian Shan, spreading over alluvial fans

The Tarim River, which flows out of the basin to the sea

The answer is: Snow and glacier melt off the Kunlun and Tian Shan, spreading over alluvial fans

2.[2p]
What is the Turfan name for a gently sloping underground irrigation tunnel with vertical shafts? One word.

CorrectNot quite: karez

3.[3p]
An open canal 20 km long and 3 m wide crosses the Turfan basin, where potential evaporation is 3 m a year. How many cubic metres does it lose to evaporation annually?

CorrectNot quite: 180000

4.[2p]
The Hanshu gives Shanshan 14,100 persons and 2,912 men able to bear arms. What percentage is able to bear arms?

CorrectNot quite: 20.7

5.[2p]
The Hanshu's figures for household size and fighting strength are consistent from one Tarim kingdom to the next.

True

The answer is: False

False

Correct

6.[2p]
Why did an oasis of a few thousand people have power out of proportion to its size?

All traffic had to buy fodder and water there, and there was no alternative for hundreds of kilometres

Correct

Its walls could not be taken by any contemporary army

The answer is: All traffic had to buy fodder and water there, and there was no alternative for hundreds of kilometres

The Han granted the oases legal immunity from taxation

The answer is: All traffic had to buy fodder and water there, and there was no alternative for hundreds of kilometres

It controlled the only source of silk in the region

The answer is: All traffic had to buy fodder and water there, and there was no alternative for hundreds of kilometres

7.[3p]
Why is an abandoned irrigated oasis expensive to reoccupy?

Select all that apply

Karez tunnels silt up and collapse without constant maintenance

Correct

Newcomers inherit blocked tunnels rather than working channels

Correct

Restoring the system requires organised labour that a small group cannot supply

Correct

The soil becomes permanently sterile within a decade

The answer is: Karez tunnels silt up and collapse without constant maintenance, Newcomers inherit blocked tunnels rather than working channels, Restoring the system requires organised labour that a small group cannot supply

8.[2p]
What fixed the spacing of caravanserais at roughly 30 km?

The distance a loaded caravan covers in a day

Correct

The range of a signal fire between watchtowers

The answer is: The distance a loaded caravan covers in a day

The limit of a ruler's jurisdiction

The answer is: The distance a loaded caravan covers in a day

The distance between natural springs

The answer is: The distance a loaded caravan covers in a day

9.[3p]
Match each place to what it is known for in this lesson.

Turfan
Niya
Loulan
Merv

abandoned around 400 CE with houses left standing
the shifting Lop Nur and Hedin's wandering lake
a great city engineered from the Murghab river
a network of karez tunnels below sea level

Show the answer

Turfan: a network of karez tunnels below sea level Niya: abandoned around 400 CE with houses left standing Loulan: the shifting Lop Nur and Hedin's wandering lake Merv: a great city engineered from the Murghab river

1.[2p] Where does the water of a Tarim Basin oasis come from?

2.[2p] What is the Turfan name for a gently sloping underground irrigation tunnel with vertical shafts? One word.

3.[3p] An open canal 20 km long and 3 m wide crosses the Turfan basin, where potential evaporation is 3 m a year. How many cubic metres does it lose to evaporation annually?

4.[2p] The Hanshu gives Shanshan 14,100 persons and 2,912 men able to bear arms. What percentage is able to bear arms?

5.[2p] The Hanshu's figures for household size and fighting strength are consistent from one Tarim kingdom to the next.

6.[2p] Why did an oasis of a few thousand people have power out of proportion to its size?

7.[3p] Why is an abandoned irrigated oasis expensive to reoccupy?

8.[2p] What fixed the spacing of caravanserais at roughly 30 km?

9.[3p] Match each place to what it is known for in this lesson.

1.[2p]
Where does the water of a Tarim Basin oasis come from?

2.[2p]
What is the Turfan name for a gently sloping underground irrigation tunnel with vertical shafts? One word.

3.[3p]
An open canal 20 km long and 3 m wide crosses the Turfan basin, where potential evaporation is 3 m a year. How many cubic metres does it lose to evaporation annually?

4.[2p]
The Hanshu gives Shanshan 14,100 persons and 2,912 men able to bear arms. What percentage is able to bear arms?

5.[2p]
The Hanshu's figures for household size and fighting strength are consistent from one Tarim kingdom to the next.

6.[2p]
Why did an oasis of a few thousand people have power out of proportion to its size?

7.[3p]
Why is an abandoned irrigated oasis expensive to reoccupy?

8.[2p]
What fixed the spacing of caravanserais at roughly 30 km?

9.[3p]
Match each place to what it is known for in this lesson.