Read the following passage.
A. For part of the nineteenth century, Saint John in New Brunswick ranked as the third-largest city in British North America, and many of its residents expected it to rival Boston and New York one day. After some seventy years of growth, the city was packed with wooden houses and wooden warehouses. Little thought had been given to fire prevention, even though 13 major fires had struck before 1877. June of that year was warm and fine, with little or no rain, so the wooden buildings were extremely dry.
B. The fire began at about 2:30 on the afternoon of 20 June 1877, when a spark landed in a bundle of hay inside Henry Fairweather's storehouse, in the York Point Slip area. Nobody knows where the spark came from; it may have flown from a boiler shop next door or from a nearby sawmill. Within two minutes of the alarm, one fire engine was already pouring water on the blaze, but heat and sparks had carried the fire to other wooden buildings nearby. Some buildings seemed to burst into flame without being touched, which led to fearful rumours that the fire had been set on purpose.
C. In just over nine hours, the fire destroyed more than 80 hectares and 1,612 structures, among them eight churches, six banks and fourteen hotels. Nearly all the public buildings burned, and nineteen people died. Losses reached $28 million, and less than one fourth of that sum was insured. With the business and warehouse districts gone, most of the food and medical supplies had been destroyed. Several thousand people moved to nearby Portland or left the area, while others sheltered in the Victoria Skating Rink, in tents on the Barrack Green, or in shanties on King Square and Queen Square.
D. Cities from San Francisco to Glasgow donated funds, and more than $225,000 was received in total. Chicago, which had suffered a similar fire a few years earlier and remembered Saint John's generosity then, sent $10,000. At first the supplies were handed out in a disorderly way, until a Relief and Aid Society was formed to help those in greatest need. Nearly $7,000,000 in insurance payments and about $1,500,000 in mortgage loans paid for rebuilding, and within four weeks workers had cleared most of the rubble. New public buildings were made of brick and stone under stricter fire regulations, although many homes were still built of wood.
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: C
Why this is correct: The third paragraph puts the losses at $28 million and adds that less than one fourth of that sum was insured. 'Under a quarter' matches 'less than one fourth', so most owners had to carry the loss themselves.
Passage Reference: Losses reached $28 million, and less than one fourth of that sum was insured.
Tips: Insurance comes up in two places. Ask which one compares what was covered with the total damage, and check how big that share is.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Look at paragraph A. It sets the scene before 1877: a crowded wooden city and a dry June. Money and insurance are not discussed.
- B: Paragraph B follows the spark, the fire engine and the rumours. The cost of the damage never comes up.
- D: Insurance appears in paragraph D too. But there it is the $7,000,000 paid out for rebuilding, not the share of losses that was covered.
- E: The $28 million in losses and the small insured share, under one fourth, are set out in Paragraph C.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: Chicago, which had suffered a similar fire a few years earlier and remembered Saint John's generosity then, sent $10,000.
Why this is correct: The fourth paragraph says Chicago had suffered a similar fire a few years earlier. It remembered Saint John's generosity then, so it sent $10,000. Being kind in the past is that earlier generosity.
Tips: Check each city that gave money. Ask which one gave because 'Saint John had been kind to it in the past'.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Boston and New York are named in paragraph A. But they are only cities Saint John hoped to rival, not givers of aid.
- B: Notice that paragraph B tells how the fire started and spread. No other city sends anything.
- C: The third paragraph lists what was destroyed and where homeless people went. Gifts from outside are not part of it.
- E: Chicago's gift of $10,000, sent because it recalled Saint John's generosity, is reported in Paragraph D.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: After some seventy years of growth, the city was packed with wooden houses and wooden warehouses.
Why this is correct: Paragraph A tells us the city was packed with wooden houses and wooden warehouses. It does not compare Saint John with any other city, so we cannot say it had more wooden buildings than they did.
Tips: The statement compares Saint John with other large cities. Check whether the writer makes that comparison.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph is the closest match: it describes wooden houses and warehouses, yet it measures Saint John against no other city.
- B: Notice that paragraph B mentions wooden buildings near the storehouse catching fire, with no comparison to other places.
- C: The third paragraph counts churches, banks and hotels that burned, not how Saint John was built compared with elsewhere.
- D: The fourth paragraph notes that many homes were still built of wood after the fire. It compares nothing with other cities.
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: Several thousand people moved to nearby Portland or left the area, while others sheltered in the Victoria Skating Rink, in tents on the Barrack Green, or in shanties on King Square and Queen Square.
Why this is correct: Look at paragraph C: it says several thousand people moved to nearby Portland or left the area. Others stayed and sheltered in a skating rink, in tents or in shanties.
Tips: Follow the place name Portland and the idea of people leaving.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A describes the city and its dry wooden buildings before the fire. Nobody has lost a home yet.
- B: The second paragraph stays with the first minutes of the fire, its spread to nearby wooden buildings and the rumours. It does not say where people went.
- D: Notice that paragraph D is about aid money and rebuilding, and Portland is not mentioned there.
- E: Portland and the several thousand people who moved there or left are named in Paragraph C.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: Within two minutes of the alarm, one fire engine was already pouring water on the blaze, but heat and sparks had carried the fire to other wooden buildings nearby.
Why this is correct: The second paragraph says a fire engine was at work within two minutes of the alarm. It never says who raised that alarm, so the passage does not tell us that a worker reported it.
Tips: The passage has an alarm. Check whether it tells you who raised it.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A covers the years before the fire and the dry weather. No one reports anything there.
- B: Look at paragraph B: it comes closest because it mentions the alarm, but it names nobody who sounded it.
- C: Notice that paragraph C lists damage, deaths and shelters, not how the fire was first noticed.
- D: Look at paragraph D: it names Chicago and a Relief and Aid Society, but no person who reported the fire.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: Nobody knows where the spark came from; it may have flown from a boiler shop next door or from a nearby sawmill.
Why this is correct: The second paragraph says nobody knows where the spark came from. It might have flown from a boiler shop next door or from a sawmill, but neither is certain.
Tips: Find how the fire started. Then check whether the writer says anyone is sure of its source.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph explains why the city could burn so easily, with dry wood and no prevention. But it names no starting point.
- C: What the fire destroyed and who died are the subjects of paragraph C. The first spark is not discussed.
- D: Paragraph D deals with aid and rebuilding, so the question of the spark does not appear.
- E: Two possible sources, a boiler shop and a sawmill, are offered in Paragraph B, which admits nobody knows which one.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: Little thought had been given to fire prevention, even though 13 major fires had struck before 1877.
Why this is correct: Notice that paragraph A says little thought had been given to fire prevention, even though 13 major fires had struck before 1877. That is a history of big fires with little effort to stop the next one.
Tips: The main idea is earlier fires plus neglect. The new rules in paragraph D come after, not before.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: The second paragraph describes the 1877 fire itself and its fast spread, not the earlier fires the city had seen.
- C: Paragraph C counts the losses of 1877. The city's history of fires is not part of it.
- D: Look at paragraph D: it mentions stricter fire regulations after 1877, which is change afterwards, not neglect beforehand.
- E: Notice that paragraph A reports 13 major fires before 1877 and says prevention got little thought.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: In just over nine hours, the fire destroyed more than 80 hectares and 1,612 structures, among them eight churches, six banks and fourteen hotels.
Why this is correct: Paragraph C gives the damage as more than 80 hectares and 1,612 structures. It does not say what part of the whole city that was, so 'close to half' is not in the passage.
Tips: Numbers of hectares and buildings are given. A fraction of the city is not.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph gives the city's rank in British North America and its earlier fires. It does not say how much of it burned in 1877.
- B: The second paragraph tells how the fire spread to nearby buildings, but it gives no measure of the total damage.
- C: Paragraph C is the nearest. It lists hectares, structures and buildings lost, yet it never turns them into a share of the city.
- D: Look at paragraph D: it covers aid and the clearing of rubble, with no figure for the part of the city destroyed.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: New public buildings were made of brick and stone under stricter fire regulations, although many homes were still built of wood.
Why this is correct: The fourth paragraph says new public buildings were made of brick and stone under stricter fire regulations. 'Tougher safety rules' means those stricter regulations.
Tips: Public buildings come up twice. Ask which place is about the ones put up after the fire, and what rules they had to follow.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Notice that paragraph A says fire prevention got little thought before 1877. No new rules are made there.
- B: The second paragraph describes the fire spreading on its first afternoon, long before any rebuilding.
- C: Public buildings do appear in Paragraph C, but only as buildings that burned, not ones built later under new rules.
- E: Brick, stone and stricter fire regulations for new public buildings are all in Paragraph D.
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