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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Los Angeles Against the Mountains.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When the author visits Vestmannaeyjar, what does he notice?
(a) Steam still rises from the ground.
(b) Few survived the flu epidemic.
(c) No polar bears are left.
(d) Most residents have moved out.

2. During Thorbjorn Sigurgeirsson's test run to cool lava by the coastline, what happens?
(a) Lava cools completely and stops flowing.
(b) Water solidifies lava, but it doesn't cool completely.
(c) Water evaporates before it can solidify lava.
(d) Lava cools slightly, but it doesn't solidify.

3. What does the author watch Wade Wells and his assistant Edwin Harp do while working in the San Gabriel Mountains?
(a) Take soil samples from steep inclines.
(b) Inspect the structural integrity of a basin.
(c) Plant pine trees to stabilize the soil.
(d) Measure the volume of debris caught in a basin.

4. At one point, Rabalais drives the author first to the Mississippi River and then to the Atchafalaya River, showing him that the Mississippi is 18 feet above sea level while the Atchafalaya is how many feet above sea level?
(a) One.
(b) Nineteen.
(c) Five.
(d) Twenty-five.

5. What do work crews call the two-million ton floating mountain that breaks off during the 1973 eruptions?
(a) Dettifoss the Mountain.
(b) Haukadalur the Ominous.
(c) Surtsey the Fiery.
(d) Flakkarinn the Wanderer.

Short Answer Questions

1. When was the Kent, a small towboat used by the U.S. Army Corps, put into service?

2. What often precedes the heaviest rainfall that can trigger a debris flow down the San Gabriel Mountains?

3. In describing Los Angeles, McPhee states that the city sits where:

4. A common trait of chaparral is that it:

5. Congress mandates that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers survey the Mississippi and tributaries in order to assure and improve what?

(see the answer key)

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