By 1850, a mere 40 years after the first steamboat appeared on the Big Muddy, and less than half a century after Robert Fulton had created the first of the “danged” things, no fewer than 185 vessels had been blown skyward in explosions of wood, metal, smoke, and steam, with the total loss of life estimated at more than 1,400. Yet, despite the record of maritime mayhem, steamboating on America’s inland waterways, and especially on the Mississippi, is still cloaked in excitement, romance, and nostalgia. People long for the romantic river travel of the past. And it should come as no surprise to any history buff to learn that the year 1973 was celebrated all up and down the Big Muddy because of a number of important anniversaries, most of them related to the steamboat.

#15 Nostalgia means:
a. Adventure
b. Bittersweet memories of the past
c. Homesickness
d. Longings for future events

#14 From context, you can tell that mayhem means:
a. Willful harm or destruction
b. Confusion
c. Madcap pranks
d. Impractical or impossible
accomplishments