View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Of the Old River Control Project, LeRoy Dugas, also known as Dugie, is what initially?

2. The writing on Dugie's belt buckle reads:

3. A navigation lock on the bank of the Mississippi River lowers ships down to where?

4. The author asserts that due to floods in the region, Louisiana loses how much land each year?

5. During high spring waters, what danger forms unseen beneath turbulent waters at the outflow to the Atchafalaya?

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

3. Name some of the companies and industries that are attracted to the regions in and around Baton Rouge and New Orleans as these communities develop.

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

5. What is James B. Eads' contribution to the Mississippi River?

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

7. Congress enacts the Flood Control Act in 1928 to launch the Mississippi River and Tributaries Project. What is done through this project?

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

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

10. The Old River Control project began operating in 1963. What happens ten years later?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Using specific examples from "Atchafalaya," describe how engineers, scientists, and politicians create new problems when they try to direct and engineer natural forces in an attempt to help the neighboring communities. What new problems are created? How do experts and officials try to solve these new problems? Are they successful or unsuccessful in their attempts? Explain.

Essay Topic 2

Based on what the author has described about each region, is it viable for residents to continue living there? Provide your answers for the following regions:

1. In Louisiana near the Atchafalaya and Mississippi rivers.

2. By the active volcanoes of Hawaii.

3. In the volcanic island of Heimaey off the coast of Iceland.

4. In the plains below the San Gabriel Mountains of Southern California.

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast how residents of Hawaii and residents of Iceland handle the challenges that come from living on volcanic lands.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 948 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample