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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers develops a plan to do what?
(a) Develop communities along the Mississippi River.
(b) Build twenty large dams on the Atchafalaya River.
(c) Control natural shifts of the Mississippi River.
(d) Protect the fish population of the Atchfalaya River.

2. A towboat is designed to:
(a) Push barges.
(b) Pull barges.
(c) Pull large cargo ships.
(d) Push large cargo ships.

3. What does the 1927 flood in Louisiana teach officials about levees?
(a) They need to be built taller.
(b) They work beautifully.
(c) They make the flooding problem worse.
(d) More need to be constructed faster.

4. The author retells the time when Raphael G. Kazmann walks out onto the five hundred and sixty-six foot structure over the Old River but leaves quickly because:
(a) A hurricane is headed his way.
(b) An intense lightning storm develops over the area.
(c) A freak tidal wave is coming towards the structure.
(d) The two-hundred thousand ton structure is vibrating.

5. In the 1800s, swamps in Louisiana are drained and used as what?
(a) Farmland.
(b) Hideouts.
(c) Military camps.
(d) Storage pits.

Short Answer Questions

1. In 1973, what happens to the Old River Control structure despite engineers drilling it and filling it with cement?

2. Sympathetically, who does McPhee blame for destructive actions against the natural order of the environment?

3. In the early days of New Orleans, residents build their homes on what?

4. The livelihood of approximately how many people is affected by the Old River Control?

5. 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?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the Old River Control project developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers?

2. What are some of the main points the author tries to make through this work of historical nonfiction?

3. Congress enacts the Flood Control Act in 1928 to launch the Mississippi River and Tributaries Project. What is done through this project?

4. Why does the author state that ever since the Corps took control of the Atchafalaya, the river's name means "collision" to him?

5. In 1927, what happened to the region of the Mississippi River during the great flood?

6. Throughout the 1700s and 1800s, what did people in southern Louisiana do to protect their communities and land against floods?

7. Describe what McPhee writes about Morgan City, Louisiana.

8. What is Major General Sands' concluding thoughts regarding the Old River Control Structure?

9. What is James B. Eads' contribution to the Mississippi River?

10. The Old River Control project began operating in 1963. What happens ten years later?

(see the answer keys)

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