Read the following passage.
A. In the fall of 1883, three Canadian Pacific Railway workers, Frank McCabe and the brothers Tom and William McCardell, came upon a mist-filled cave on the slopes of Sulphur Mountain in Banff. They descended into it through a vent hole at the top, using a felled tree. William McCardell compared the cave to a fantastic dream from the Arabian Nights. The three men saw a chance to make money from the warm mineral water. They put up a fence around their find and built a log cabin near the entrance to the cave.
B. The railway workers were not the first people to find these springs. Archaeological evidence shows that people lived in the Bow Valley about 10,000 years ago, and First Nations have long told stories about the cave and its warm waters. Many Indigenous nations still see the site as a sacred place, and cultural ceremonies are held there today. The water begins as rain and snow on Sulphur Mountain. Some of it filters down through cracks in the rock to a depth of about 3 kilometres, where it becomes hotter before it comes back up. Its smell of rotten eggs comes from bacteria that break down sulphur minerals in the water.
C. The three men wrote to the government in 1883 to claim the hot springs. The government needed money to finish the railway west, and it saw that the waters could attract tourists, so it denied their claim. In 1885, after a legal battle over ownership, it set aside a reserve of 26 square kilometres around the springs, and in 1887 the reserve became the first national park in Canada. In 1886 a tunnel was blasted into the cave so that visitors could walk in. A stone bathing pavilion and a large outdoor pool followed in 1914, and from 1915 to 1917 a First World War internment camp stood at the site.
D. The pool closed in 1992 because of maintenance problems, and bathing is no longer allowed. The springs are home to the Banff Springs snail, an endangered species found in only a few hot springs in the area. The hot water also wears away at the buildings and their foundations, so they need constant attention. After major renovations, the site reopened in 2013, and in 2017 it had 267,951 visitors. Today they find exhibits, short films and a boardwalk through the marsh. In 1981 Cave and Basin was designated a national historic site as the birthplace of Canada's national parks.
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: E
Why this is correct: In paragraph A, the three men came upon the cave on Sulphur Mountain. We are not told why they were on the mountain that day. So we cannot know if they were hunting.
Passage Reference: In the fall of 1883, three Canadian Pacific Railway workers, Frank McCabe and the brothers Tom and William McCardell, came upon a mist-filled cave on the slopes of Sulphur Mountain in Banff.
Tips: A paragraph can describe a discovery without saying what people were doing at the time. Check for that missing activity.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A describes the day the men found the cave and how they got inside. But their reason for being on the slopes is missing.
- B: The second paragraph is about the earlier people in the valley and where the warm water comes from. Nobody goes hunting in it.
- C: The men's letter to the government and the building of the park are what paragraph C deals with. It does not say what they were doing in 1883.
- D: The closed pool, the rare snail and visitors today fill paragraph D. Hunting is never mentioned.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: Archaeological evidence shows that people lived in the Bow Valley about 10,000 years ago, and First Nations have long told stories about the cave and its warm waters.
Why this is correct: Look at paragraph B: the railway workers were not the first to find the springs. People lived in the Bow Valley about 10,000 years ago. That is long before the workers came in 1883.
Tips: Find when humans first made the Bow Valley their home. Then compare that time with when the three workers came.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph introduces the three workers and their find. It says nothing about anyone who lived nearby before them.
- C: The third paragraph starts with the workers' claim in 1883 and moves forward in time. So it does not look back to earlier people.
- D: In paragraph D, the site is described after 1992, with its snail, repairs and visitors. Early residents are not part of it.
- E: Paragraph B gives this directly: people lived in the Bow Valley about 10,000 years ago.
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: The government needed money to finish the railway west, and it saw that the waters could attract tourists, so it denied their claim.
Why this is correct: Notice that paragraph C explains how the men wrote to claim the hot springs, but the government denied their claim. Turning down their request means they could not own the springs.
Tips: Find where the three men ask for the springs. Then check what the government decided.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The men fence their find and hope to profit in paragraph A. No claim and no reply from the government appear there.
- B: The second paragraph explains how the water is heated and why it smells. It does not mention who should own it.
- D: The fourth paragraph is about the pool closing and the site today. The early fight over ownership is not there.
- E: Paragraph C reports the result of the men's letter: the government said no to their claim.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: In 1885, after a legal battle over ownership, it set aside a reserve of 26 square kilometres around the springs, and in 1887 the reserve became the first national park in Canada.
Why this is correct: In paragraph C, the reserve became the first national park in Canada in 1887. The text does not explain why this happened. Wild animals are never given as a reason.
Tips: When a statement adds a reason, check that the passage gives that same reason, not just the event.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph is about the day the men found the cave and built a cabin, years before any park existed.
- B: Paragraph B turns to the people who used the springs long ago and to how the water is heated. The size of the park is not there.
- C: Paragraph C gives the dates of the reserve and the park, and it names money and tourists as the government's interests. Animals are not the reason it gives.
- D: An endangered snail appears in paragraph D today, but it is not connected to the park's early growth.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: The pool closed in 1992 because of maintenance problems, and bathing is no longer allowed.
Why this is correct: Look at paragraph D: the pool closed in 1992 and bathing is no longer allowed. The year 1992 is in the early 1990s, so nobody has been able to swim there since then.
Tips: The pool appears at more than one point. Decide which part says when swimming stopped for good.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A describes the cave in 1883, before there was any pool at the site.
- B: The second paragraph deals with ceremonies and with how the spring water is heated. It does not talk about a pool.
- C: A large outdoor pool does appear in paragraph C, but only when it opened in 1914, not that it later closed.
- E: Paragraph D gives the closing year of the pool, 1992, and says bathing is no longer allowed.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: Some of it filters down through cracks in the rock to a depth of about 3 kilometres, where it becomes hotter before it comes back up.
Why this is correct: In paragraph B, some rain and snow filters down through cracks in the rock to a depth of about 3 kilometres. There it becomes hotter. That is far below the surface of the mountain.
Tips: Follow the water's path into the mountain. Check how deep it goes, and where it gets warm.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A calls the water warm and mineral, but it does not explain where the heat comes from.
- C: The third paragraph is about claims, the new park, a tunnel and a pool. How the water heats up is not covered.
- D: In paragraph D, the hot water damages buildings today. That is an effect of the heat, not its cause.
- E: Paragraph B describes the whole journey of the water, down about 3 kilometres where it grows hotter, and then up again.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: They descended into it through a vent hole at the top, using a felled tree.
Why this is correct: Look at paragraph A: the men descended into the cave through a vent hole at the top, using a felled tree. A felled tree has been cut down, so they went down its trunk to get in.
Tips: Paragraph C also explains a way into the cave, so check which one matches climbing down a tree.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: The cave appears in stories told by First Nations in paragraph B. But nobody is described climbing into it.
- C: A tunnel was blasted in 1886 so visitors could walk in, as paragraph C explains. That was a later and different way inside.
- D: The fourth paragraph covers the site today, with exhibits and a boardwalk. The first entry into the cave is not described.
- E: Paragraph A explains exactly how the men got in: down through a hole at the top, using a felled tree.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: The three men saw a chance to make money from the warm mineral water.
Why this is correct: In paragraph A, the three men saw a chance to make money from the warm mineral water. That means they hoped it would earn them something.
Tips: Money appears twice in the passage. Ask who wanted it each time.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: The second paragraph describes the warm water and its smell, but it says nothing about earning money from it.
- C: Money comes up in paragraph C too. But it is the government that needed money to finish the railway, not the three men.
- D: Paragraph D reports visitor numbers today. It does not describe what the first three men wanted.
- E: The men's hope is clear in paragraph A: they saw a chance to make money from the water.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: In 1981 Cave and Basin was designated a national historic site as the birthplace of Canada's national parks.
Why this is correct: The final sentence of paragraph D says that in 1981 Cave and Basin was designated a national historic site. It was named the birthplace of Canada's national parks. That is official status, and a birthplace is where something starts.
Tips: Find when the site was given official status. Check that the year is in the early 1980s and that the reason is how the parks began.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph tells the story of the 1883 discovery. No official decision about the site is made there.
- B: In paragraph B, the place is sacred to Indigenous nations, which is a different kind of importance.
- C: Paragraph C tells how the first national park began in 1887. But it gives no official status that the site received decades later.
- E: The final sentence of paragraph D carries this idea: the site was designated as the birthplace of the national parks.
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