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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

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

4. Henry Shreve changes the Mississippi River by introducing what?
(a) Mississippi steamboat.
(b) Vegetation native to Mexico.
(c) New fish breeds.
(d) Gambling along the river.

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

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) Open up all eleven gates.
(d) Purposely flood the entire region.

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

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

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

10. In the early days of New Orleans, residents build their homes on what?
(a) Metal bridges.
(b) Natural levees.
(c) Concrete risers.
(d) Sand piles.

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

12. After the U.S. Army Corps takes control of the Atchafalaya, Old Cajun bayou life is:
(a) Diminished.
(b) Lost.
(c) Enriched.
(d) Renewed.

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

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

2. In a conversation between General Sands and Oliver Houck on a floating conference boat, what does the General remind Houck regarding the vital role of the U.S. Army Corps?

3. Every thousand years or so, the Mississippi River goes through a major shift that leaves behind what?

4. The author states that how much of New Orleans lies fifteen feet below sea level?

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

(see the answer keys)

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