Passage 4
Questions 12 to 15 are based on the following passage:
12. The author refers to the impact of railroads before the late 1860’s as "limited" because ______.
A. the track did not take the direct route from one city to the next
B. passengers and freight had to transfer to other modes of transportation to reach western destinations
C. passengers preferred stagecoaches
D. railroad travel was quite expensive
13. What can be inferred about coaches and wagon freighters as the railroad expanded?
A. They developed competing routes.
B. Their drivers refused to work for the railroads.
C. They began to specialize in private investment.
D. There were insufficient numbers of trained people to operate them.
14. Why does the author mention the Sierra Nevada in line 17?
A. To argue that a more direct route to the West could have been taken.
B. To identify a historically significant mountain range in the West.
C. To point out the location of a serious train accident.