North to Alaska

1. The idea of an Alaska Highway had been under consideration for years. The start of World War II (a)  

the United States government into finally acting.

2. Building the Alaska Highway would be a big job. The construction crew of troops and civilian workers (a)  

all their energy to complete the task.

3. Japanese forces occupied three islands in the Aleutian chain. The United States was not prepared to _________

control of the Alaskan mainland to Japan and therefore took steps to prevent it.

• cede

• cedes

• ceded

• ceding

4. Without the highway, there was no way to defend Alaska. Faced with that possibility, the cost of building the highway was almost (a)   .

5. The highway would need to be built over Canada’s soft, swampy land. This difficulty had at first seemed (a)   but now needed to be surmounted.

6. Canada’s agreement was crucial to the building of the highway. Its territory is

(a)   to both Alaska and the lower forty-eight states.

7. Many people worked together to complete the 1,442-mile Alaska Highway in record time. It certainly did not __________ out of nowhere.

• material

• materialize

• materializes

• materiales

8. Those responsible for the highway knew that building it would not be easy. Twenty thousand military and civilian workers were needed to (a)   the plan.

9. Extreme cold was the great enemy during wintertime construction. During the summer months, the workers were (a)  

by hordes of mosquitoes.

10. Highway planners quickly determined the best path to take. A(n) (a)   route would best avoid obstacles.