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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Over a number of centuries, how does the Mississippi River form the state of Louisiana?
(a) By irrigating carefully cultivated fields.
(b) By creating all of the state's boundaries.
(c) By overflowing river banks.
(d) By cutting deep, rocky canyons into the land.

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

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. In the early 1800s, private plantation owners in Louisiana levee riverbanks to:

2. Throughout the book, a predominant theme is that the following gets in the way of man's plans:

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

4. What are residents of French Acadia called?

5. On General Sand's floating conference boat, Oliver Houck is the only board member who is active in what?

Short Essay Questions

1. In the 1700s, why did people settle in New Orleans and surrounding areas despite the region clearly being a floodplain?

2. Throughout the 1700s and 1800s, what did people in southern Louisiana do to protect their communities and land against floods?

3. Describe what McPhee writes about Morgan City, Louisiana.

4. What is the goal of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with regards to the Atchafalya and Mississippi rivers?

5. Describe Major General Thomas Sands' annual Low Water Inspection Trip along the Mississippi River.

6. What is the Old River Control project developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers?

7. Explain what the author says about Old Cajun bayou life in the Atchafalaya region after the Corps took control.

8. What are some of the predominant problems in the regions populated near the Atchafalaya and Mississippi rivers?

9. In 1927, what happened to the region of the Mississippi River during the great flood?

10. Explain who thinks the Old River Control project is an arrogant enterprise, and why they think this.

(see the answer keys)

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