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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The author asserts that due to floods in the region, Louisiana loses how much land each year?
(a) Three acres.
(b) Seven hundred acres.
(c) Fifty square miles.
(d) A thousand square miles.

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

3. In 1928, Congress enacts the Flood Control Act to start what?
(a) Old and New Rivers Effort.
(b) Atchafalaya River and Levees Project.
(c) Mississippi River and Tributaries Project.
(d) Rivers, Tributaries, and Levees Effort.

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

5. 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?
(a) Concrete seawalls.
(b) Prosperous economic boom.
(c) Drought conditions.
(d) Extended, raised levees.

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

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

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

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

10. What does the author say happens in the area of the Atchafalaya River in the spring of 1973?
(a) Freak storms from the north bring snow to the region, freezing the rivers solid.
(b) River levels rise and surrounding fields are covered in brown floodwater.
(c) Dry conditions bring the river levels down, grounding countless boats.
(d) Three hurricanes devastate the region, leaving millions homeless.

11. The livelihood of approximately how many people is affected by the Old River Control?
(a) 31 thousand.
(b) 3 million.
(c) 3 thousand.
(d) 13 hundred.

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

13. What river does the author mention that connects the Atchafalaya and the Mississippi to form an H?
(a) Red River.
(b) Old River.
(c) Black River.
(d) New River.

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

15. By 1812, the east bank of the Mississippi River is levied up to which city?
(a) Lake Charles.
(b) Baton Rouge.
(c) Shreveport.
(d) Alexandria.

Short Answer Questions

1. A navigation lock on the bank of the Mississippi River lowers ships down to where?

2. What does the 1927 flood in Louisiana teach officials about levees?

3. After the U.S. Army Corps takes control of the Atchafalaya, Old Cajun bayou life is:

4. During high spring waters, what danger forms unseen beneath turbulent waters at the outflow to the Atchafalaya?

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

(see the answer keys)

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