Question

Social Studies reading passage:

These great and dominant physical facts-a low coast belt, a high interior plateau, a lofty, rugged mountain-range running nearly parallel to, and not very far from, the shore of the ocean, whence the rainclouds come, a strong sun, a dry climate-have determined the character of South Africa in many ways. They explain the very remarkable fact that South Africa has, broadly speaking, no rivers. Rivers are, indeed, marked on the map-rivers of great length and with many tributaries; but when in travelling during the dry season you come to them you find either a waterless bed or a mere line of green and perhaps unsavoury pools. The streams that run south and east from the mountains to the coast are short and rapid torrents after a storm, but at other times dwindle to feeble trickles of mud. In the interior there are, to be sure, rivers which, like the Orange River or the Limpopo, have courses hundreds of miles in length. But they contain so little water during three-fourths of the year as to be unserviceable for navigation, while most of their tributaries shrink in the dry season to a chain of pools, scarcely supplying drink to the cattle on their banks. This is one of the reasons why the country remained so long unexplored. People could not penetrate it by following waterways, as happened both in North and in South America; they were obliged to travel by ox-wagon, making only some twelve or sixteen miles a day, and finding themselves obliged to halt, when a good bit of grass was reached, to rest and restore the strength of their cattle. For the same reason the country is now forced to depend entirely upon railways for internal communication. There is not a stream (except tidal streams) fit to float anything drawing three feet of water.

What is one effect of the size of South African rivers?

A. Farmers were unable to raise livestock.

B. No rivers are marked on maps of South Africa.

C. The large rivers allowed mining equipment to be brought to the interior.

D. Exploration was limited because there were no rivers on which to travel into the interior.

Answer 1

The size and intermittent flow of South African rivers limited exploration and settlement, as they were unsuitable for navigation, unlike in other regions where rivers supported the development of civilizations.

Step-by-step explanation:

The notable size and intermittency of South African rivers had a significant impact on early exploration and development. As the passage describes, these rivers were not navigable for most parts of the year, limiting exploration because there were no waterways on which to travel into the interior.

Explorers had to rely on ox-wagons for extremely slow overland journeys, and as a result, people could not penetrate the interior by following waterways as they did in other regions, such as North and South America. Consequently, this lack of navigable rivers prevented the development of civilizations that depended on river systems, influencing the geographic and economic development of South Africa and limiting rapid exploration and settlement.