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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. When the canal in Chicago reversed the flow of the river, into where did it eventually lead?
(a) The Pacific Ocean.
(b) The Gulf of Mexico.
(c) The Atlantic Ocean.
(d) The St. Lawrence River.

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

4. Kolbert jumps to a day when she meets Alex Kolker, a professor at LSU, who has what as a side gig?
(a) Giving demonstrations to locals of how to protect their homes against flooding in New Orleans.
(b) Giving bike tours around New Orleans.
(c) Giving lectures at local libraries around New Orleans.
(d) Giving walking tours around New Orleans.

5. What is a NOT a technique listed by Kolbert to support species that were brought back from the brink of extinction?
(a) Supplemental feeding.
(b) Managed burns.
(c) Captive breeding.
(d) Catch and release.

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

7. What problem does Joe Harvey mention to Kolbert?
(a) The flood problem.
(b) The carp problem.
(c) The sinking problem.
(d) The sewage problem.

8. In Down the River Chapter 1, what examples of metaphors does Elizabeth Kolbert give involving rivers?
(a) Rivers are metaphors for all the problems that humans have caused.
(b) Rivers are metaphors for depth, reflection, and life.
(c) Rivers are metaphors for loneliness.
(d) Rivers are metaphors for pollution, destruction, and decay.

9. To what island does Kolbert compare desert ecosystems?
(a) The Great Plains.
(b) Galápagos.
(c) The Amazon.
(d) The Arctic.

10. How deep is Devil’s Hole at its deepest?
(a) At least 1,500 feet deep.
(b) At least 50 feet deep.
(c) At least 5,000 feet deep.
(d) At least 500 feet deep.

11. How did Kolbert first learn of Devil’s Hole?
(a) In a grad course in college.
(b) From a television advertisement.
(c) A business trip to Nevada.
(d) A crime that was committed there that was considered a felony.

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

13. What two drainage basins were linked with the reversal of the Chicago River and the creation of the Sanitary and Ship Canal?
(a) The Mississippi River and Chicago River.
(b) The Great Plains and the Great Lakes.
(c) The Chicago River and Great Lakes.
(d) The Mississippi River and Great Lakes.

14. What two events sped up the drop in pupfish numbers?
(a) Rising sea levels and air temperatures.
(b) An earthquake and drought.
(c) Over-crowding of species and an overgrown fungus.
(d) Regular above ground nuclear blasts and the pumping of water for a new community.

15. Why do people in Asia not want to buy Asian carp from the U.S.?
(a) They do not realize American rivers have Asian carp.
(b) They prefer to support their own fisheries.
(c) They prefer fresh fish to frozen.
(d) They do not trust American companies.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why is one of the locals at the town hall meeting against the creation of holes in the levees?

2. Darwin’s ideas regarding evolution were first known as what?

3. When Manly and the others arrived at the edge of Death Valley, what did they think the fish were that they saw swimming in the cavern pool?

4. What animal does Darwin use to support his beliefs about evolution?

5. Manly and nearly how many argonauts gathered in Salt Lake City to travel together to gold country in northern California?

(see the answer keys)

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