View a FREE sample

This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Down the River.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. To what does Kolbert compare being hit by a jumping carp?
(a) Being knocked out in a boxing ring.
(b) Being hit by a wiffle-ball bat.
(c) Being struck by a truck.
(d) Being smacked in the face.

2. Prior to the digging of the canal, Chicago’s waste ran into the Chicago River and into Lake Michigan, which led to what regular outbreaks?
(a) Scarlet Fever and Yellow Fever.
(b) Typhoid and Cholera.
(c) Consumption and West Nile Virus.
(d) Bird Flu and Swine Flu.

3. How much land mass has the Isle de Jean Charles lost since the 1950s?
(a) It has shrunk from thirty-five square miles to half a square mile.
(b) It has shrunk from thirty-five square miles to fifteen square miles.
(c) It has shrunk from thirty-five square miles to twenty-five square miles.
(d) It has shrunk from thirty-five square miles to five square miles.

4. Why was the Old River Control Auxiliary Structure created?
(a) To redirect the flow of the Atchafalaya.
(b) To attempt to control the Old River.
(c) To attempt to control a tributary of the Mississippi River called the Atchafalaya.
(d) To dam up the water coming from the Mississippi River.

5. What is wrong with the Wood Screw Pumps in the twenty-four pumping stations that pump water out of the city?
(a) They are difficult to replace.
(b) They are not effective at keeping out water.
(c) They are speeding up the sinking of the city.
(d) Many are broken and need to be fixed.

Short Answer Questions

1. Kolbert moves onto a visit to the Old River Control Auxiliary Structure located how many miles upriver of Baton Rouge?

2. Why was electric shock chosen to deter the fish?

3. What had those living in the Plaquemenes done to protect their homes after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita?

4. What is NOT something that Kolbert says human domination over nature has caused?

5. With whom does Kolbert ride in a boat far down along the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal?

(see the answer key)

This section contains 412 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample