Read the following passage.
A. The Red River often overflows its banks in spring, especially in rural areas south of Winnipeg. By 1950, however, the city had not had a major flood for almost a century, and new neighbourhoods had been built along the river with little protection. The winter of 1949 to 1950 was one of the worst in years, with an abnormal amount of snow. As that snow melted, the river reached flood levels in Winnipeg by April 22. City engineers and the Manitoba government began to strengthen the dikes that had been put up in a hurry during a smaller flood in 1948.
B. Early in May, heavy rain made the situation much worse. After rain fell all day on May 5, the dikes in the Riverview and Point Douglas districts failed overnight as sirens sounded across the city. Provincial and federal leaders had been slow to declare an emergency, but one was finally declared, and the Canadian army was placed in charge of the flood fight. Thousands of volunteers worked long hours beside soldiers to build and hold the dikes. The river rose to a record 9.2 metres at James Avenue and stayed above flood stage for 51 days.
C. More than 100,000 people were forced to leave their homes, although one account gives a lower figure of 80,000. On May 10, Brigadier R. E. A. Morton, the army officer in charge, called for all women and children to leave Winnipeg, and some 70,000 people did so. Over 10,500 homes in the city were flooded. The army also drew up Operation Blackboy, a plan for a mass evacuation of the whole city if the water rose much higher. Manitobans, most of them people of modest means, gave more than half of the $10 million raised for the Manitoba Flood Relief Fund.
D. The flood changed how governments viewed the danger. A new system of dikes and pumping stations was built in Winnipeg in 1951, and in 1958 a Royal Commission recommended a channel to carry floodwater around the city. Premier Duff Roblin pushed the plan, while opponents denounced it as a ruinous waste of money and mocked it as "Duff's Ditch". The Red River Floodway was built from 1962 to 1968 for $62.7 million, with the federal government paying 60 per cent. It has protected Winnipeg in later floods such as that of 1997, and it is now recognized as a National Historic Civil Engineering Site.
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: The fourth paragraph says Premier Duff Roblin pushed the plan for a channel around the city. Opponents called it a ruinous waste of money. Throwing away public funds means the same as wasting money.
Passage Reference: Premier Duff Roblin pushed the plan, while opponents denounced it as a ruinous waste of money and mocked it as "Duff's Ditch".
Tips: Find the plan for a bypass around the city. Check what some people said it would do to public funds.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph explains why Winnipeg was exposed in 1950. No plan to send water around the city exists yet.
- B: Leaders who were slow to act appear in Paragraph B, but nobody there argues that a project costs too much.
- C: The money in paragraph C was raised for victims. Nobody there criticizes a costly building project.
- E: The critics who called the floodway plan a ruinous waste of money are quoted in Paragraph D.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: Provincial and federal leaders had been slow to declare an emergency, but one was finally declared, and the Canadian army was placed in charge of the flood fight.
Why this is correct: Notice that paragraph B says the Canadian army was placed in charge of the flood fight after an emergency was declared. It never says who made that request, and no mayor is mentioned anywhere.
Tips: The army appears in Paragraph B and Paragraph C. Check whether either one names who asked for it.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: City engineers and the Manitoba government strengthen dikes in Paragraph A, and the army has not yet arrived.
- B: Notice that paragraph B comes closest, since the army takes charge there, yet the person who asked for it stays unnamed.
- C: The army officer Brigadier Morton appears in Paragraph C, but not the reason he was called in or by whom.
- D: The fourth paragraph is about the floodway years later. The army and the mayor play no part in it.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: By 1950, however, the city had not had a major flood for almost a century, and new neighbourhoods had been built along the river with little protection.
Why this is correct: By 1950, paragraph A tells us, the city had not had a major flood for almost a century. A century is a hundred years, so the statement matches.
Tips: Find the background before the big flood. Check how long Winnipeg had been safe, and compare it with 'close to a hundred years'.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: Look at paragraph B: it gives a record river level in 1950. The hundred quiet years before it get no mention there.
- C: How many people left and how many homes were flooded is the subject of Paragraph C, not earlier history.
- D: Notice that paragraph D mentions a later flood in 1997, not how long the city had waited before 1950.
- E: The long gap of almost a century without a major flood is stated in Paragraph A.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: The Red River Floodway was built from 1962 to 1968 for $62.7 million, with the federal government paying 60 per cent.
Why this is correct: The fourth paragraph says the Red River Floodway cost $62.7 million, with the federal government paying 60 per cent. Sixty per cent is more than half.
Tips: 'Federal' appears in two paragraphs. Find the one that says who paid what share.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph has the Manitoba government strengthening old dikes, and no share of any cost is given.
- B: Federal leaders appear in Paragraph B only because they were slow to declare an emergency. They pay for nothing there.
- C: The money in Paragraph C came from Manitobans for a relief fund, not from the federal government for a project.
- E: Who paid for the floodway? Paragraph D gives the split: the federal government paid 60 per cent of its cost.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: After rain fell all day on May 5, the dikes in the Riverview and Point Douglas districts failed overnight as sirens sounded across the city.
Why this is correct: The second paragraph says rain fell all day on May 5. Then the dikes in the Riverview and Point Douglas districts failed overnight. Two districts are two areas of the city.
Tips: Dikes come up many times. Find when they give way, and check that it happens at night after all-day rain.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Dikes are being strengthened in Paragraph A, before any of them gives way.
- C: The third paragraph counts flooded homes and people who left, but it does not say where the defences broke.
- D: New dikes built in 1951 are in Paragraph D, which is about protection after the flood, not the collapse.
- E: Riverview and Point Douglas, where the dikes failed overnight, are named in Paragraph B.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: The winter of 1949 to 1950 was one of the worst in years, with an abnormal amount of snow.
Why this is correct: Look at paragraph A: the winter of 1949 to 1950 was one of the worst in years. It had an abnormal amount of snow. A winter like that is harsh and snowy.
Tips: The statement is about the winter just before the flood. Find where that winter is described, and check that the time fits. The writer may use other words, so look for ones that mean very bad and very snowy.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: The weather in Paragraph B is spring rain in May, not the winter before.
- C: Notice that paragraph C deals with people leaving the city and a relief fund. The season before is not described.
- D: The fourth paragraph moves forward to the 1950s and 1960s and never describes the weather.
- E: The bad winter with an abnormal amount of snow is described in Paragraph A.
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: On May 10, Brigadier R. E. A. Morton, the army officer in charge, called for all women and children to leave Winnipeg, and some 70,000 people did so.
Why this is correct: Look at paragraph C: on May 10, Brigadier Morton, the army officer in charge, spoke. He called for all women and children to leave Winnipeg. Some 70,000 people did so, which is tens of thousands.
Tips: The army appears more than once. Find where a military leader makes a request, and check how many left the city after it.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: In paragraph A, the river rises in April. This is before anyone has been told to leave.
- B: Soldiers work on the dikes in Paragraph B, but no request for women and children to leave is made.
- D: Paragraph D follows the floodway and its cost. The evacuation of the city is not part of it.
- E: Brigadier Morton's call for women and children to leave, and the 70,000 who went, are in Paragraph C.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: The river rose to a record 9.2 metres at James Avenue and stayed above flood stage for 51 days.
Why this is correct: Notice that paragraph B says the river stayed above flood stage for 51 days. Seven weeks is 49 days, so 51 days is a little more than seven weeks.
Tips: Find the high water. Check how long it lasted, and work out whether that is more than seven weeks.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph says when the river first reached flood levels, on April 22, but not how long it stayed there.
- C: Paragraph C deals with the plan for a mass evacuation. It gives no length of time for the high water.
- D: Later floods such as 1997 are mentioned in Paragraph D, with no count of days for 1950.
- E: The number of days above flood stage, 51, is given in Paragraph B.
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: Manitobans, most of them people of modest means, gave more than half of the $10 million raised for the Manitoba Flood Relief Fund.
Why this is correct: The third paragraph says Manitobans, most of them people of modest means, gave generously. They gave more than half of the $10 million raised for the Manitoba Flood Relief Fund. More than half is most of the money.
Tips: Two sums of money appear. Ask which one comes from gifts by ordinary people, not from governments.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Notice that paragraph A sets the scene before the flood and mentions no fund or gifts of money.
- B: Volunteers give their time in Paragraph B, not their money.
- D: The money in Paragraph D is the cost of the floodway, paid by governments, not gifts from the public.
- E: The third paragraph says ordinary Manitobans gave more than half of the $10 million relief fund.
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