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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Throughout the book, a predominant theme is that the following gets in the way of man's plans:
(a) The economy.
(b) Machinery.
(c) Environmental Protection Agency.
(d) Nature.

2. While aboard the Mississippi on his annual trip, General Sands tries to:
(a) Capture poachers.
(b) Fine environmentalists.
(c) Generate new contracts.
(d) Settle differences.

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

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

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

6. The writing on Dugie's belt buckle reads:
(a) To help control the Mississippi.
(b) To serve nature and protect man.
(c) To tame the wild Atchafalaya.
(d) To conquer nature and advance humanity.

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

8. This book is a:
(a) Historical nonfiction novel.
(b) Science fiction novel.
(c) Traditional science textbook.
(d) Traditional history textbook.

9. Every thousand years or so, the Mississippi River goes through a major shift that leaves behind what?
(a) Bayous and natural levees.
(b) Dry mudflats.
(c) Large, deep saltwater lakes.
(d) Stranded bird colonies.

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

11. In the mid-1800s, the United States Congress passes a Swamp and Overflow Land Act to:
(a) Deed swampland to individual states.
(b) Create a new water control system.
(c) Evict land squatters.
(d) Take away ownership rights.

12. 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) The two-hundred thousand ton structure is vibrating.
(b) An intense lightning storm develops over the area.
(c) A hurricane is headed his way.
(d) A freak tidal wave is coming towards the structure.

13. 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) Hosts the Water Recreation Festival.
(c) Takes a Low Water Inspection Trip.
(d) Trains new U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recruits.

14. For how many years after the Old River Control begins does the operation appear to be successful?
(a) Sixteen.
(b) Twenty-one.
(c) Two.
(d) Ten.

15. In 1973, what happens to the Old River Control structure despite engineers drilling it and filling it with cement?
(a) The structure is knocked down and rebuilt.
(b) The entire project is cancelled.
(c) Funding to strengthen the structure is cut.
(d) The foundation is eroded and undermined.

Short Answer Questions

1. The author notes that many regard the Old River Project as what?

2. 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?

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

4. In the 1800s, swamps in Louisiana are drained and used as what?

5. In feet, how long is the towboat Mississippi?

(see the answer keys)

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