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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In the early 1800s, private plantation owners in Louisiana levee riverbanks to:
(a) Protect their land.
(b) Irrigate their land.
(c) Combine river water.
(d) Store river water.

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

3. When floodwaters cover twenty-six thousand square miles in 1927, how is New Orleans saved?
(a) Layering sandbags along the riverbanks.
(b) Building concrete walls around the city.
(c) Blowing up a downstream levee.
(d) Quickly digging a diversion channel.

4. Norris F. Rabalais was born and raised in what Louisiana parish?
(a) Evangeline.
(b) West Feliciana.
(c) Concordia.
(d) Avoyelles.

5. Of the Old River Control Project, LeRoy Dugas, also known as Dugie, is what initially?
(a) Furious.
(b) Critical.
(c) Supportive.
(d) Indifferent.

6. 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?
(a) Dig a ditch to re-route the water.
(b) Dam up water north of the structure.
(c) Purposely flood the entire region.
(d) Open up all eleven gates.

7. The author tells stories of the following people in conflict with forces of nature:
(a) Residents.
(b) All of the them.
(c) Engineers.
(d) Government officials.

8. What is commonly fished from the bayou regions around the Atchafalaya?
(a) Trout.
(b) Salmon.
(c) Lobster.
(d) Crawfish.

9. The Old River Control began its operations in what year?
(a) 1917.
(b) 1988.
(c) 1963.
(d) 1931.

10. In the 1800s, why do levee districts and boards form in Louisiana?
(a) For diplomatic reasons.
(b) To establish water claims.
(c) To spread levee costs.
(d) To control water levels.

11. When the author recalls his first time in the Atchafalaya swamps with Charles Fryling in 1980, what does he fondly remember?
(a) Floating among trees under silently flying birds.
(b) His first encounter with a baby alligator.
(c) The water rushing through locks and gates.
(d) Seeing lightning bugs for the first time.

12. What is a weir?
(a) Small tugboat.
(b) Large gate.
(c) Large lock.
(d) Small dam.

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

14. A snagboat is a river boat that does what?
(a) Transports workers from one town to another.
(b) Removes obstructions from rivers.
(c) Carries large logs to sawmills.
(d) Pulls barges through turbulent water.

15. 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.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. On General Sand's floating conference boat, Oliver Houck is the only board member who is active in what?

3. A towboat is designed to:

4. During the fifty years between New Orleans' floods of 1735 and 1785, what does the author say brings a false sense of security against flooding?

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

(see the answer keys)

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