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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How do the returning residents benefit from the cooled but still hot lava rocks on Vestmannaeyjar?
(a) Lava rocks are used to create healing hot springs.
(b) The rocks are used for heating purposes.
(c) Heat from the rocks promotes growth of beneficial bacteria.
(d) The heat provides protection against invaders.

2. In 1973, the eruptions in Heimaey begin on January 23 and continue vigorously before diminishing in strength through when?
(a) March 1st.
(b) January 30th.
(c) February 5th.
(d) February 25th.

3. In Hawaii, how many volcanoes are there within the group that includes Mauna Loa?
(a) Two.
(b) Seven.
(c) Five.
(d) Ten.

4. The U.S. Army Air Corps' actions on an insulating vent on Mauna Loa volcano in 1935 result in what?
(a) Better seismic readings.
(b) Debris buildup and redirected lava flows.
(c) Cooled lava.
(d) Temporary halt of lava flows.

5. Vestmannaeyjar holds how much of Iceland's total population?
(a) Forty-two and a half percent.
(b) Twenty-two percent.
(c) Two and a half percent.
(d) Twelve percent.

6. The Civil Defense Council in the Reykjavik National Emergency Center is established in 1962 as what?
(a) Natural disaster preparedness center.
(b) Command-post bomb shelter.
(c) Volcano eruption monitoring station.
(d) Storm-monitoring communication headquarters.

7. When the author recounts the moments before the 1973 eruption in Heimaey, he describes what?
(a) A violent shaking of the ground.
(b) An uncanny silence settling over the land.
(c) Vibrations that are not unusual for the region.
(d) A loud, deep sound emanating from the volcano.

8. What childhood fear does Magnus Magnusson share with the author?
(a) Helgafell will erupt.
(b) Vestmannaeyjar will fall into the sea.
(c) Iceland will break in half.
(d) Heimaey will become a ghost town.

9. When the author walks the streets of Iceland's Heimaey years after the 1973 eruption, what does he see?
(a) A town twice as large as before the eruption.
(b) A completely deserted ghost town.
(c) Vacant houses that have never been repaired.
(d) Several new neighborhoods built atop cooled lava flows.

10. What does the author observe about historical attempts to control lava?
(a) Most have worked well.
(b) They're usually not successful.
(c) Too many workers perish.
(d) Lava is impossible to control.

11. When workers in Vestmannaeyjar hose down lava, why do they keep moving?
(a) To keep their boots from burning up.
(b) To cool down other parts of the flow.
(c) To stay warm in the cold climate.
(d) Because the lava flow keeps shifting.

12. Reykjavik is the capital city of what nation?
(a) Iceland.
(b) Greenland.
(c) Poland.
(d) Denmark.

13. After the eruptions of 1973 end, how many of Heimaey's evacuees return?
(a) Two-thirds.
(b) Only a handful.
(c) All of them.
(d) Half.

14. Sveinn Eiriksson is a man of:
(a) Few words.
(b) Ill repute.
(c) Poor judgment.
(d) Action.

15. After work crews deal with the moving mountain on Iceland's erupting island, what challenge do they face?
(a) Pumps that fail due to excessive heat.
(b) Blinding blizzard that buries the equipment.
(c) New lava flow that threatens the town.
(d) Orders from Iceland's government to stop all cooling efforts.

Short Answer Questions

1. During Thorbjorn Sigurgeirsson's test run to cool lava by the coastline, what happens?

2. How tall does the erupting volcano in Heimaey grow to above sea level?

3. Thorbjorn Sigurgeirsson is a native of which country?

4. In gallons, how much water is pumped onto the lava flows of Heimaey each day?

5. When Magnus Magnusson takes the author to visit an old monument in Iceland, what do they do?

(see the answer keys)

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