The frog contest took place in a steamboat on the mississippi.
a. true
b. false

The correct option is B, as the statement is false. According to the text (The Celebrated Jumpling Frog of Calaveras County), the frog contest took place in an old mining camp.

"The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" is a tale written by Mark Twain in 1865, his first major success as a writer, which earned him national attention in the United States. It was also published as "Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog" (his original title) and "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County". In it, the narrator tells the story he heard from a bartender, Simon Wheeler, at the Angels Hotel in Angels Camp, California, about a bettor named Jim Smiley. Twain describes him: "If he saw a cockroach go anywhere, he wanted to bet to know how long it would take to get to the point of his destination, and if they took his word he would go after the cockroach to Mexico without thinking about distance or time you would lose".

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County is also the name of a collection of short stories by Mark Twain. Launched in 1867, the writer's first book gathers 27 stories previously published in magazines and newspapers.

they remained in rural areas and worked at jobs such as lumbering or farming.