Controlling the Uncontrollable Quiz

What is the main idea of the text?

• That there have been a lot of wildfires in northern New Mexico.

• That the consequences of the Cerro Grande Fire were irreparable.

• That the 'controlled burn' technique has proven to be effective among the main wildfires in the US.

• That wildfires have a purpose in nature and sometimes humans cannot control them.

According to paragraph 1, what was the consequence of people preventing fires once they settled in northern New Mexico?

• Hotter and longer wildfires.

• Dead wood and grass.

• More plants, bushes and trees.

• A rainfall season.

What happened in the years following the 1996 Dome Fire?

• The rainfall years followed a few years of drought.

• The weather patterns did not change at all.

• A few years of drought followed the rainfall years.

• The years of rainfall killed much of the vegetation.

What does the author mean when he says that 'the employees of the National Park Service at Bandelier National Monument nearly destroyed Los Alamos' in paragraph 4?

• The employees removed the dead plants in Los Alamos.

• The decision the employees made was right.

• The author does not agree with the decision the employees made.

• The employees cut the trees down in Los Alamos.

What can we infer when the author says that 'the Park Service mistakenly decided to employ a technique called a 'controlled burn'?

• This technique brought about a lot of benefits to Los Alamos.

• The Park Service shouldn't have employed that technique.

• The Park Service didn't know how to employ the technique.

• The technique had two main purposes.

According to paragraph 6, what is the main objective of setting a fire on purpose?

• Firefighters will know how to manage a fire.

• Firefighters will learn how dead plants can be removed.

• Firefighters will know if the 'controlled burn' technique is effective or not.

• Firefighter will learn how to grow new plants.

What does the word 'its' in paragraph 7 line 8 refer to?

• Los Alamos Canyon

• The laboratory

• The town

• The fire

What is not mentioned as a consequence of the Cerro Grande fire that affected New Mexico?

• The evacuation of the town's 18 000 residents.

• The cost of approximately $906 million.

• New regulations for 'controlled burns'.

• The extinction of some species of plants.

What is the purpose of the last paragraph?

• To support other methods to clear dead trees.

• To discuss the support and opposition to the controlled burn technique.

• To convince the reader that the controlled burn technique should be replaced by other methods.

• To explain the consequences of using the controlled burn technique.

This passage would most likely appear in which of the following course books?

• A history book

• An engineering book

• An environmental sciences book