Read the following passage.
A. In 1948, the people of Newfoundland voted twice to decide how they would be governed. The ballot offered three paths: continue with the Commission Government, join Canada, or return to responsible government as an independent dominion. The question had a long history. Attempts to bring Newfoundland into Confederation in the 1860s and 1890s had met with lukewarm interest. Then, facing bankruptcy during the Great Depression, the colony's leaders suspended responsible government in 1934 and accepted an unelected Commission Government directed by Britain. The two referendums would settle which of the three paths the colony would follow.
B. The Second World War made Newfoundland an important military base, and American, British and Canadian military spending brought back prosperity. In 1946, voters elected a National Convention to study the colony's political future, and two years of vigorous debate followed. The British government then decided to include confederation on the referendum ballot. The confederation side, led by F. Gordon Bradley and Joey Smallwood, had probably expected this. The anti-confederates, by contrast, seem to have been taken by surprise.
C. The anti-confederate side was divided. The Responsible Government League wanted a simple return to Newfoundland's status in 1933, while the Economic Union Party, led by Chesley Crosbie, promoted a special economic relationship with the United States. Their campaign was inadequately funded and organized. The confederates had more money and an island-wide network, and Smallwood predicted that confederation would win between 60,000 and 70,000 votes on 3 June. He was right: it received 64,066 votes, or 41.1 percent. Responsible government came first with 69,400 votes, or 44.6 percent, and Commission Government, which finished last, was dropped from the second ballot.
D. The second campaign, before the vote on 22 July, was unpleasant. The confederates stressed the role the Roman Catholic Church had played in the first referendum in order to swing Protestant votes, and they attacked the Economic Union Party as disloyal and anti-British. This time confederation won with 78,323 votes, or 52.3 percent. In both referendums, the Avalon Peninsula supported responsible government, while the rest of the country chose confederation. The British and Canadian parliaments then approved the union, and on 31 March 1949 Newfoundland became Canada's 10th province, with Smallwood as its first premier.
E. Not given in any of the above paragraphs.
Decide which paragraph, A to D, has the information given in each statement below. Select E if the information is not given in any of the paragraphs.
AI explanationShows the answer. Tap to open.
Correct Answer: D
Why this is correct: Look at paragraph D: in both referendums the Avalon Peninsula supported responsible government. That is one part of Newfoundland making the same choice twice.
Passage Reference: In both referendums, the Avalon Peninsula supported responsible government, while the rest of the country chose confederation.
Tips: Look for a result that stayed the same across the two votes. Check that it names one area.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph explains the three options on the ballot, but it gives no results for any area.
- B: Paragraph B covers the war years, the National Convention and the start of the campaign. All of this came before either referendum vote.
- C: Paragraph C gives island-wide totals for the first vote only, not how one area voted each time.
- E: The Avalon Peninsula backing responsible government in both votes is reported in paragraph D.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: In 1946, voters elected a National Convention to study the colony's political future, and two years of vigorous debate followed.
Why this is correct: In paragraph B, voters elected a National Convention in 1946 to study the colony's political future. Two years of vigorous debate followed.
Tips: Parliaments appear in paragraph D, but the elected body that debated first is in an earlier paragraph.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A explains the three paths on offer and the history behind them, but no elected assembly debates them.
- C: The third paragraph follows the parties and the first result. The Convention and its debate are not part of it.
- D: The British and Canadian parliaments approve the union in paragraph D. That is a later step, not two years of debate.
- E: The National Convention of 1946 and its two years of debate are described in paragraph B.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: The confederates had more money and an island-wide network, and Smallwood predicted that confederation would win between 60,000 and 70,000 votes on 3 June.
Why this is correct: Notice that paragraph C says Smallwood predicted 60,000 to 70,000 votes for confederation, and he was right. The passage does not explain how he made that forecast. So this detail is missing.
Tips: The prediction is in the text. Ask whether the reason behind it is too.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph sets out the choices and the history of the Commission. There is no forecast in it.
- B: Smallwood appears in paragraph B as one of the leaders of the confederation side, but no prediction or its basis is given.
- C: Paragraph C is the nearest, with the prediction and the result. Yet it says nothing about where his figures came from.
- D: In paragraph D, Smallwood is named as first premier, not as someone explaining a forecast.
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: The anti-confederate side was divided.
Why this is correct: Look at paragraph C: the anti-confederate side was divided. One party wanted a return to the status of 1933. The other wanted a special economic relationship with the United States.
Tips: The anti-confederates appear in several paragraphs. Find the one that names two groups.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A lists three ballot options but says nothing about divisions among the campaigners.
- B: The anti-confederates appear in paragraph B, but only as being surprised, not as split into two groups.
- D: In paragraph D, the confederates attack one party, but no split on the other side is described.
- E: The Responsible Government League and the Economic Union Party, with their different goals, are in paragraph C.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: Then, facing bankruptcy during the Great Depression, the colony's leaders suspended responsible government in 1934 and accepted an unelected Commission Government directed by Britain.
Why this is correct: In paragraph A, the colony's leaders were facing bankruptcy in the Great Depression. So in 1934 they suspended responsible government and accepted an unelected Commission Government. 'Money troubles' matches 'facing bankruptcy'.
Tips: The statement links money troubles to handing over power. Check who gave up power and why, and whether anyone elected the new body.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: The second paragraph describes prosperity returning in the war, the opposite of money trouble, and an elected Convention.
- C: The Commission Government appears in paragraph C only as the option that finished last, not how it began.
- D: Paragraph D covers the second vote and joining Canada, not the loss of responsible government.
- E: Bankruptcy and the move to an unelected Commission in 1934 are both explained in paragraph A.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: The Second World War made Newfoundland an important military base, and American, British and Canadian military spending brought back prosperity.
Why this is correct: Look at paragraph B: the Second World War made Newfoundland an important military base. American, British and Canadian military spending brought back prosperity.
Tips: Several paragraphs mention money. This one is about the war and recovery.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The Great Depression and bankruptcy come up in paragraph A, a time of hardship rather than recovery.
- C: Paragraph C says the confederates had more money, but that is campaign funding, not the colony's economy.
- D: The fourth paragraph deals with the second vote and union, not with the war or the economy.
- E: Military spending by the Americans, British and Canadians in the Second World War is described in paragraph B.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: The confederates stressed the role the Roman Catholic Church had played in the first referendum in order to swing Protestant votes, and they attacked the Economic Union Party as disloyal and anti-British.
Why this is correct: In paragraph D, the confederates stressed the role the Roman Catholic Church had played in the first referendum. They did this to swing Protestant votes. That is using religious differences to gain support.
Tips: Find the campaign before the second vote. Then ask what one side did to win support, and whether it had to do with religion.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph explains the ballot and the Commission. Religion is not mentioned.
- B: Paragraph B names Bradley and Smallwood as leaders of the confederation side, with no reference to churches.
- C: In paragraph C, there are campaign tactics of a kind, money and networks, but no appeal to Catholic or Protestant voters.
- E: The Roman Catholic Church and the effort to swing Protestant votes appear in paragraph D.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: Attempts to bring Newfoundland into Confederation in the 1860s and 1890s had met with lukewarm interest.
Why this is correct: Notice that paragraph A says attempts to bring Newfoundland into Confederation in the 1860s and 1890s had met with lukewarm interest. 'Weak support' is another way to say lukewarm interest.
Tips: 'Decades earlier' sends you to the 1860s and 1890s.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: The second paragraph starts in the Second World War. It says nothing about the nineteenth century.
- C: In paragraph C, confederation gets 41.1 percent in 1948, which is a result, not the earlier attempts.
- D: Paragraph D gives the 1948 win for confederation, not the weak interest many years before.
- E: The earlier attempts of the 1860s and 1890s, and the lukewarm interest they met, are in paragraph A.
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: Responsible government came first with 69,400 votes, or 44.6 percent, and Commission Government, which finished last, was dropped from the second ballot.
Why this is correct: Look at paragraph C: responsible government came first with 44.6 percent. That is less than half, so the winning option still fell short of a majority.
Tips: Two vote results appear. This statement is about the first one.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A explains what the ballot offered, but it gives no percentages.
- B: The second paragraph ends before any vote is held, with the anti-confederates taken by surprise.
- D: In paragraph D, the second vote gives confederation 52.3 percent, which is more than half.
- E: The first-round winner, responsible government at 44.6 percent, is reported in paragraph C.
The rest of this explanation is for members. Sign in free to read why the other options are wrong, key words and tips.
Sign in to read the full explanation