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

2. What do doctors dispense to workers who are cooling down the lava in Iceland to soothe their hoarse throats?
(a) Icelandic throat lozenges.
(b) Finnish cough drops.
(c) Norwegian chest drops.
(d) Swedish chest lozenges.

3. For the most part, residents of Heimaey are what during the 1973 eruptions?
(a) Calm.
(b) Indifferent.
(c) Frightened.
(d) Panicked.

4. Heimaey is about the same size as:
(a) Washington, D.C. east of the Washington Monument.
(b) Seattle west of the Space Needle.
(c) Manhattan south of the Empire State Building.
(d) San Francisco north of Chinatown.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Thorbjorn Sigurgeirsson is a native of which country?

2. When the author walks the streets of Iceland's Heimaey years after the 1973 eruption, what does he see?

3. After the eruptions of 1973 end, how many of Heimaey's evacuees return?

4. What nickname do the residents of Heimaey give to Sveinn Eiriksson?

5. When the author recounts the moments before the 1973 eruption in Heimaey, he describes what?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration protect its sensitive, expensive equipment against damaging lava in Hawaii?

2. How do the views of Hawaiian natives towards volcanoes differ from the views of the U.S. Army Air Corps?

3. How do residents of Heimaey benefit from the cooling but still hot lava after the 1973 eruptions?

4. How old are the oldest parts of Hawaii and Iceland?

5. How do the working crews stop the large chunk of mountain from crashing into Heimaey's town and port?

6. The author moves away from his discussion of Iceland's 1973 lava eruptions to talk about Hawaii's volcanoes. Describe what he writes about the U.S. Army Air Corps' attempts to stop lava from burying Hawaii's towns and cities.

7. Who is Thorbjorn Sigurgeirsson, and what idea does he come up with?

8. Describe how Thorbjorn Sigurgeirsson and Sveinn Eiriksson work together to fight against the lava that threatens Heimaey's town and harbor.

9. What is threatened in Heimaey as a result of the unexpected volcanic eruption of 1973?

10. Describe how Heimaey residents are evacuated following the eruptions that begin unexpectedly in 1973.

(see the answer keys)

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