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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The Old River Control began its operations in what year?
(a) 1917.
(b) 1931.
(c) 1988.
(d) 1963.

2. What are residents of French Acadia called?
(a) Arcadians.
(b) Cajuns.
(c) Francadians.
(d) Mississipiuns.

3. The author asserts that due to floods in the region, Louisiana loses how much land each year?
(a) Three acres.
(b) Fifty square miles.
(c) A thousand square miles.
(d) Seven hundred acres.

4. What does James B. Eads invent to explore the Mississippi River?
(a) Underwater camera.
(b) Water telescope.
(c) Submarine.
(d) Glass-bottom boat.

5. In the early days of New Orleans, residents build their homes on what?
(a) Concrete risers.
(b) Natural levees.
(c) Sand piles.
(d) Metal bridges.

6. When was the Kent, a small towboat used by the U.S. Army Corps, put into service?
(a) 1952.
(b) 1973.
(c) 1989.
(d) 1964.

7. Sympathetically, who does McPhee blame for destructive actions against the natural order of the environment?
(a) The Executive branch of government.
(b) Foreign policy.
(c) The United Nations.
(d) Man.

8. When floodwaters cover twenty-six thousand square miles in 1927, how is New Orleans saved?
(a) Blowing up a downstream levee.
(b) Layering sandbags along the riverbanks.
(c) Building concrete walls around the city.
(d) Quickly digging a diversion channel.

9. What river does the author mention that connects the Atchafalaya and the Mississippi to form an H?
(a) Red River.
(b) Old River.
(c) Black River.
(d) New River.

10. What does Major General Thomas Sands do each year on the Mississippi in late summer or early fall?
(a) Conducts Homeland Security military exercises.
(b) Trains new U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recruits.
(c) Takes a Low Water Inspection Trip.
(d) Hosts the Water Recreation Festival.

11. Who is Raphael G. Kazmann?
(a) Developer of electromagnetic therapy.
(b) Author of Modern Thermodynamics.
(c) Developer of tripod pilings.
(d) Author of Modern Hydrology.

12. In 1928, Congress enacts the Flood Control Act to start what?
(a) Mississippi River and Tributaries Project.
(b) Atchafalaya River and Levees Project.
(c) Old and New Rivers Effort.
(d) Rivers, Tributaries, and Levees Effort.

13. What is a weir?
(a) Large gate.
(b) Small tugboat.
(c) Small dam.
(d) Large lock.

14. What is the author's role in this book?
(a) Passive observer.
(b) Influential politician.
(c) Investigative reporter.
(d) Trained scientist.

15. From the time that the U.S. Army Corps takes control of the Atchafalaya, what word does the author associate with the river and the region?
(a) Collision.
(b) Cooperation.
(c) Confusion.
(d) Control.

Short Answer Questions

1. The author tells stories of the following people in conflict with forces of nature:

2. Atchafalaya is a what?

3. When the author recalls his first time in the Atchafalaya swamps with Charles Fryling in 1980, what does he fondly remember?

4. During the fifty years between New Orleans' floods of 1735 and 1785, what does the author say brings a false sense of security against flooding?

5. In the spring of 1973, what does the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers do to try to alleviate the tremendous force of water against the control structure?

(see the answer keys)

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