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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. With "City Flow" moving towards them in Heimaey, what do pumping crews do?
(a) Abandon efforts and run away.
(b) Dismantle and move equipment to save it.
(c) Send an emergency request for more crews and equipment.
(d) Board a ship and leave.

2. When does the author visit Vestmannaeyjar?
(a) When the ice shelf collapses.
(b) Fifteen years after the eruption.
(c) Fifteen years after the collapse of the ice shelf.
(d) During the eruption.

3. Heimaey is considered to be an important what?
(a) Fishing center.
(b) Cultural hub.
(c) Lumber producer.
(d) Polar bear sanctuary.

4. Officials propose to protect Hilo, Hawaii's second-largest city and port, against lava flows through what?
(a) Careful monitoring.
(b) Plexiglass shields.
(c) Relocation.
(d) Barriers.

5. The oldest parts of Iceland are how old?
(a) One and a half million years.
(b) Five millions years.
(c) Fourteen million years.
(d) Twenty-nine million years.

6. After being hosed down, how long does it take for red-hot lava to turn black?
(a) Four weeks.
(b) A month and a half.
(c) Hours to days.
(d) Two and a half weeks.

7. In "Cooling the Lava," when the author redirects his conversation to Hawaii he talks about the The Hawaiian Research Association which formed in:
(a) 1932.
(b) 1956.
(c) 1885.
(d) 1911.

8. When Magnus Magnusson takes the author to visit an old monument in Iceland, what do they do?
(a) Leave a wreathe and sing a battle song.
(b) Read its inscription and view the landscape.
(c) Carve a new inscription on the monument.
(d) Say a prayer for those who died in the eruption.

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

10. What happens when the north side of the volcanic mountain in Vestmannaeyjar breaks loose?
(a) It falls into the ocean depths.
(b) It moves towards the town and harbor.
(c) It crushes most of the town's homes.
(d) It melts into the lava flow.

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

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

13. Valdimar Jonsson is a professor of what?
(a) Thermal fluids.
(b) Volcanic eruptions.
(c) Mob mentality.
(d) Icelandic folklore.

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

15. Why do residents of Heimaey hose down oncoming lava?
(a) Create a chilled wall of lava to stop the flow.
(b) Because of local superstitions.
(c) Act of desperation in fear of the oncoming lava.
(d) It was attempted there before successfully.

Short Answer Questions

1. During the 1973 volcanic eruptions, many farmers and fishermen leave Heimaey:

2. What do work crews call the two-million ton floating mountain that breaks off during the 1973 eruptions?

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

4. Heimaey is about the same size as:

5. How long does the the Mauna Loa eruption of 1984 last?

(see the answer keys)

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