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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

3. What does James B. Eads invent to explore the Mississippi River?
(a) Submarine.
(b) Underwater camera.
(c) Glass-bottom boat.
(d) Water telescope.

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

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

6. At one point, Rabalais drives the author first to the Mississippi River and then to the Atchafalaya River, showing him that the Mississippi is 18 feet above sea level while the Atchafalaya is how many feet above sea level?
(a) One.
(b) Nineteen.
(c) Five.
(d) Twenty-five.

7. A navigation lock on the bank of the Mississippi River lowers ships down to where?
(a) Atchafalaya River.
(b) Atlantic Ocean.
(c) Red River.
(d) Gulf of Mexico.

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

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

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

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

12. From St. Louis down to the Atchafalaya, General Sands takes note of what?
(a) Number of bird colonies.
(b) Complaints.
(c) Number of private boats.
(d) Storms.

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. The author mentions that when he met Rabalais, he wore what in his pocket?

2. In 1973, what happens to the Old River Control structure despite engineers drilling it and filling it with cement?

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

4. Initially, Rabalais is hired as a construction inspector to watch for what at the navigation lock?

5. Henry Shreve changes the Mississippi River by introducing what?

(see the answer keys)

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