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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How do the returning residents benefit from the cooled but still hot lava rocks on Vestmannaeyjar?
(a) The rocks are used for heating purposes.
(b) The heat provides protection against invaders.
(c) Heat from the rocks promotes growth of beneficial bacteria.
(d) Lava rocks are used to create healing hot springs.

2. After work crews deal with the moving mountain on Iceland's erupting island, what challenge do they face?
(a) Blinding blizzard that buries the equipment.
(b) New lava flow that threatens the town.
(c) Orders from Iceland's government to stop all cooling efforts.
(d) Pumps that fail due to excessive heat.

3. To cool the lava flows of 1973, what does Valdimar Jonsson suggest?
(a) Using ten times more water.
(b) Stacking ice blocks along the lava's path.
(c) Using ice and snow.
(d) Redirecting the flow towards an iceberg.

4. What gives Thorbjorn Sigurgeirsson the idea to cool the oncoming flow of lava?
(a) Watching children play by the water.
(b) Watching lava cool by the sea.
(c) Stories he'd heard of ancestors doing the same.
(d) His post-graduate studies.

5. Heimaey is about the same size as:
(a) San Francisco north of Chinatown.
(b) Washington, D.C. east of the Washington Monument.
(c) Manhattan south of the Empire State Building.
(d) Seattle west of the Space Needle.

6. In Heimaey, who is Sveinn Eiriksson?
(a) Fire chief.
(b) Reporter.
(c) Physician.
(d) Volcano expert.

7. When the author recounts the moments before the 1973 eruption in Heimaey, he describes what?
(a) An uncanny silence settling over the land.
(b) A loud, deep sound emanating from the volcano.
(c) Vibrations that are not unusual for the region.
(d) A violent shaking of the ground.

8. Officials propose to protect Hilo, Hawaii's second-largest city and port, against lava flows through what?
(a) Barriers.
(b) Plexiglass shields.
(c) Relocation.
(d) Careful monitoring.

9. Reykjavik is the capital city of what nation?
(a) Greenland.
(b) Poland.
(c) Denmark.
(d) Iceland.

10. What childhood fear does Magnus Magnusson share with the author?
(a) Heimaey will become a ghost town.
(b) Iceland will break in half.
(c) Helgafell will erupt.
(d) Vestmannaeyjar will fall into the sea.

11. Heimaey is considered to be an important what?
(a) Polar bear sanctuary.
(b) Cultural hub.
(c) Lumber producer.
(d) Fishing center.

12. The oldest parts of Iceland are how old?
(a) Fourteen million years.
(b) Twenty-nine million years.
(c) One and a half million years.
(d) Five millions years.

13. In 1973, the eruptions in Heimaey begin on January 23 and continue vigorously before diminishing in strength through when?
(a) February 25th.
(b) February 5th.
(c) January 30th.
(d) March 1st.

14. What position does Magnus Magnusson hold in 1973?
(a) Mayor.
(b) Ambassador.
(c) Prime Minister.
(d) Governor.

15. How long does the the Mauna Loa eruption of 1984 last?
(a) Three months.
(b) Thirty-three days.
(c) Three weeks.
(d) Thirty-three weeks.

Short Answer Questions

1. With "City Flow" moving towards them in Heimaey, what do pumping crews do?

2. What does the author observe about historical attempts to control lava?

3. When Magnus Magnusson takes the author to visit an old monument in Iceland, what do they do?

4. What does Magnus Magnusson tell Thorbjorn Sigurgeirsson to protect first during the eruptions of 1973?

5. How tall does the erupting volcano in Heimaey grow to above sea level?

(see the answer keys)

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