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

2. How many bowl-shaped excavations line the San Gabriel Mountains to catch debris falling from the mountains?
(a) One hundred and twenty.
(b) Two hundred and nine.
(c) Twenty-three.
(d) Sixty-four.

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

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

5. During high spring waters, what danger forms unseen beneath turbulent waters at the outflow to the Atchafalaya?
(a) A crack in a gate of the control structure.
(b) Treacherous new rip currents.
(c) The partial collapse of one of the pylons.
(d) An enormous hole larger and deeper than a football stadium.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers distributes Atchafalaya river water to swamps, bayous, towns, and cities in:

3. What does "City Flow" do in Heimaey?

4. What does James B. Eads invent to explore the Mississippi River?

5. When the author recounts the moments before the 1973 eruption in Heimaey, he describes what?

(see the answer key)

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