Read the following passage.
A. In April 1899, a fire destroyed 117 buildings in Dawson, a town that was less than three years old. By then it had become the main trading and distribution centre of the Yukon, and the damaged area was rebuilt by that summer. The recovery did not last. News arrived of a gold strike at Nome, Alaska, and many residents packed up and left. By the end of that summer, Dawson was nearly empty.
B. Long before the rush, the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in spent each summer fishing for salmon on the mud flat where a salmon-rich tributary flowed into the Yukon River. The name Klondike is believed to come from a local word meaning hammer water, because the Han hammered stakes into the river bottom to trap salmon. In August 1896 the trader Joseph Ladue staked a townsite there, expecting a rush, and gold was discovered that same month. The town took its name from George M. Dawson, who directed the Geological Survey of Canada.
C. Thousands of stampeders reached the mouth of the Klondike River in the spring of 1897. They spread into Tr'ochëk, the traditional fishing settlement of the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in, staked the land and vandalized the fishing equipment. Chief Isaac moved his people five kilometres downriver to Moosehide Village. During the peak years of the rush, Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in labourers worked on the Yukon paddlewheelers and on building sites. Dawson became the Yukon capital in 1898, and it grew quickly as the port where men and materials were unloaded for the goldfields.
D. The town kept shrinking in the following decade, as new mining technology slowly drove people away. After the Alaska Highway was built, Whitehorse replaced Dawson as the territory's commercial and administrative centre, and the capital moved there in 1953. In 1966 the last dredge in the Klondike valley shut down, and since then tourism has been the major industry. Parks Canada began restoring buildings in the early 1960s, and the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in government is now the largest employer in town. The 2021 census counted 1,577 residents, far fewer than during the rush. Gold mining still matters, but the placer deposits are slowly being used up.
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: Paragraph C says Chief Isaac moved his people five kilometres downriver to Moosehide Village. Five kilometres is a short way, downriver means downstream, and the village became their new home.
Passage Reference: Chief Isaac moved his people five kilometres downriver to Moosehide Village.
Tips: The Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in are mentioned more than once, so look for the paragraph about leaving one home for another.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A describes people leaving Dawson for Nome in 1899. That was a rush to a new strike, not Chief Isaac's move.
- B: Paragraph B shows the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in fishing each summer on the mud flat, before anyone had to move away.
- D: The fourth paragraph mentions the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in government as an employer today. The move to Moosehide is not in it.
- E: One short sentence in paragraph C gives the leader, the distance and the new village.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: By then it had become the main trading and distribution centre of the Yukon, and the damaged area was rebuilt by that summer.
Why this is correct: Paragraph A says a fire destroyed 117 buildings in April 1899 and that the damaged area was rebuilt by that summer. From April to summer is only a few months, so the ruined section stood again within months.
Tips: Two paragraphs talk about work on buildings. Check which one follows a fire.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: In paragraph B, the writer explains the river's name and how the townsite was staked in 1896. There is no fire there.
- C: The third paragraph tells how the town grew as a port in 1898. Nothing is destroyed or rebuilt in it.
- D: The fourth paragraph says Parks Canada began restoring buildings in the 1960s. That is repair of old buildings long after the fire.
- E: Look at paragraph A: it gives both the fire in April 1899 and the rebuilding by that summer.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: In April 1899, a fire destroyed 117 buildings in Dawson, a town that was less than three years old.
Why this is correct: Paragraph A tells us how many buildings the fire destroyed: 117. It does not say how many people lost their homes. So the number of people in the statement is not in the passage.
Tips: A number of buildings is given. Ask yourself whether a number of people is given too.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph counts buildings, not people. How many residents were left without homes is never stated.
- B: Look at paragraph B: it is set before the town existed, in the days of summer fishing camps and the townsite claim.
- C: The third paragraph describes the crowds of 1897 and 1898 but mentions no fire and no homeless families.
- D: The fourth paragraph gives a population figure for 2021. It says nothing about the fire of 1899.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: The name Klondike is believed to come from a local word meaning hammer water, because the Han hammered stakes into the river bottom to trap salmon.
Why this is correct: Paragraph B says the name Klondike is believed to come from a word meaning hammer water. This is because the Han hammered stakes into the river bottom to trap salmon. Trapping salmon with stakes is a method used to catch fish.
Tips: Find where the word Klondike is explained. Check that it links to an old way of catching fish.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: In paragraph A, the writer mentions the Yukon and a gold strike at Nome. Where the name Klondike comes from is not explained.
- C: Notice that paragraph C mentions the Klondike River and damaged fishing equipment, but it does not explain what the name means.
- D: The fourth paragraph talks about the Klondike valley and its last dredge. The meaning of the name is not part of it.
- E: Look at paragraph B: it explains the name and links it to hammering stakes to catch salmon.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: After the Alaska Highway was built, Whitehorse replaced Dawson as the territory's commercial and administrative centre, and the capital moved there in 1953.
Why this is correct: Paragraph D says Whitehorse replaced Dawson as the administrative centre of the territory and the capital moved there in 1953. Moving the capital in 1953 means government offices moved to Whitehorse in the 1950s.
Tips: One paragraph says when Dawson became the capital, another says when it stopped being the capital.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Notice that paragraph A calls Dawson the main trading centre of the Yukon in 1899. Whitehorse does not appear.
- B: Notice that paragraph B covers the fishing camps and the townsite claim of 1896. Government is not mentioned.
- C: Look at paragraph C: it says Dawson became the Yukon capital in 1898. So Dawson gains the capital there. It does not lose it.
- E: Look at paragraph D: it names Whitehorse and gives the year 1953 for the move of the capital.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: Chief Isaac moved his people five kilometres downriver to Moosehide Village.
Why this is correct: Paragraph C tells us that Chief Isaac moved his people five kilometres downriver to Moosehide Village. It does not explain why he picked that place, and hunting is never mentioned.
Tips: The passage says where the people went. Check whether it ever says why that place was chosen.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph is about the fire and the rush to Nome. Chief Isaac and the new village do not appear.
- B: Look at paragraph B: it describes summer fishing on the mud flat, not hunting, and it comes before the move.
- C: The third paragraph gives the move and the distance, but the reason for choosing Moosehide Village is missing.
- D: The fourth paragraph shows the town in modern times. Why the village site was picked is not discussed.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: In 1966 the last dredge in the Klondike valley shut down, and since then tourism has been the major industry.
Why this is correct: In paragraph D, the writer says the last dredge in the Klondike valley shut down in 1966. Since then, tourism has been the major industry. Tourism is business from visitors, so the statement matches.
Tips: Find the dredge first. The sentence that closes it also names what took its place.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Notice that paragraph A describes Dawson in 1899 as a centre for trade and distribution. Visitors are not its business there.
- B: The second paragraph tells of a trader staking a townsite, long before any tourism.
- C: Paragraph C presents the town as a port for the goldfields in 1898. Tourism has not started yet.
- E: Notice that paragraph D links the closing of the last dredge with tourism becoming the main industry.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: The 2021 census counted 1,577 residents, far fewer than during the rush.
Why this is correct: Paragraph D gives one census figure, 1,577 people in 2021, and compares it only with the days of the gold rush. No earlier census count is given, so we cannot tell whether the town grew.
Tips: A comparison needs two numbers. See whether the passage gives the second one.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph says Dawson was nearly empty by the end of 1899, but it gives no census numbers.
- B: The fishing camps and the townsite are what paragraph B covers. There is no count of people at all.
- C: Look at paragraph C: it says thousands of stampeders arrived in 1897. That is not a census and not a recent figure.
- D: The fourth paragraph gives only the 2021 figure and compares it with the rush. An earlier census is not mentioned.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: Gold mining still matters, but the placer deposits are slowly being used up.
Why this is correct: Paragraph D ends by saying gold mining still matters but the placer deposits are slowly being used up. Placer deposits are the gold in the ground, and slowly being used up means gradually running out.
Tips: Scan for a sentence about gold written in the present tense. Ask whether it describes a change happening now, bit by bit.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: A new gold strike at Nome, in paragraph A, drew people away. The paragraph says nothing about the local gold running out.
- B: Notice that paragraph B says gold was discovered in August 1896. That is the start of mining, not its slow end.
- C: Look at paragraph C: it describes men and materials heading to the goldfields during the rush, when mining was growing.
- E: The last sentence of Paragraph D says the deposits are slowly being used up.
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