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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. When floodwaters cover twenty-six thousand square miles in 1927, how is New Orleans saved?

2. In the early 1800s, private plantation owners in Louisiana levee riverbanks to:

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

4. Rabalais says he remembers being taught in high school that one day, these would be built:

5. Throughout the book, a predominant theme is that the following gets in the way of man's plans:

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Major General Thomas Sands' annual Low Water Inspection Trip along the Mississippi River.

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

3. Explain what the author says about Old Cajun bayou life in the Atchafalaya region after the Corps took control.

4. Explain who thinks the Old River Control project is an arrogant enterprise, and why they think this.

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

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

7. What are some of the predominant problems in the regions populated near the Atchafalaya and Mississippi rivers?

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

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

10. What is the goal of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with regards to the Atchafalya and Mississippi rivers?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Based on what the author has described about each region, is it viable for residents to continue living there? Provide your answers for the following regions:

1. In Louisiana near the Atchafalaya and Mississippi rivers.

2. By the active volcanoes of Hawaii.

3. In the volcanic island of Heimaey off the coast of Iceland.

4. In the plains below the San Gabriel Mountains of Southern California.

Essay Topic 2

Throughout the book, the author discusses people who try to control nature as well as people who respect nature and choose to live with it instead of working against it. Compare and contrast these two groups of people using specific examples from each section.

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast how residents of Hawaii and residents of Iceland handle the challenges that come from living on volcanic lands.

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This section contains 990 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample