Read the following passage.
A. Canada's first documented lighthouse was built at Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island in 1734, and it was rebuilt several times after fire and war. The oldest lighthouse still standing was built in 1758 on Sambro Island, at the mouth of Halifax Harbour. In the early 1800s, sea trade with Europe grew quickly, and so did the number of wrecks. By 1840, major lights stood on Seal Island, along the coast of Newfoundland and at the entry to the St. Lawrence River. On the West Coast, the first two lights opened in 1860 at Race Rocks and Fisgard Island.
B. Candles were used in early lighthouses, but it took many of them to make even a dim glow, and oil lamps with wicks were in wide use by 1800. From the 1860s, kerosene lamps spread across Canada because they were cheap, reliable and efficient. Polished metal reflectors, and later lenses and prisms, made each beam far stronger. Each lighthouse was given its own pattern of flashes so that sailors could tell one light from another. By 1890, the revolving parts floated in mercury and were driven by clockwork with heavy weights, which the keeper wound up every two to four hours.
C. Keepers did much more than tend the lamp. Their duties included running radio communications, looking after fog alarms and giving rescue and shelter to people in trouble. The station at Langara in Haida Gwaii is part of the tidal wave warning system for the Pacific Ocean. At several British Columbia lightstations, a sample of seawater is collected in a bucket each day near the daytime high tide, in a program that began in 1914. In Newfoundland and Labrador, keepers inspect the main light and the foghorn, log the weather, report on ice floes and scan the water for flares or boats in trouble.
D. By the early 1970s, automated equipment allowed lights and fog signals to run with only occasional human attention. Between 1970 and 1996, 264 Canadian lighthouses were automated. The keeper who lived with a family at a remote station was largely replaced by a travelling technician who arrives by helicopter. High maintenance costs and satellite positioning also reduced the number of lighthouses in use. On a page updated in 2024, Fisheries and Oceans Canada listed 51 staffed lighthouses: 27 in British Columbia, 23 in Newfoundland and Labrador and one in New Brunswick. One of them, on Machias Seal Island in the Gulf of Maine, is staffed for sovereignty reasons.
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: B
Why this is correct: Look at Paragraph B. It says every lighthouse had its own pattern of flashes. That way, sailors could tell one light from another. Recognizing a light means telling it apart from the others.
Passage Reference: Each lighthouse was given its own pattern of flashes so that sailors could tell one light from another.
Tips: Ask how ship crews could recognize each lighthouse. Check what made each one different.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A lists where the early lights were built, such as Sambro Island and Seal Island. It says nothing about how the lights flashed.
- C: Paragraph C is about the jobs keepers did, like radio work and rescue. It does not describe any flash pattern.
- D: Paragraph D explains how machines and technicians replaced keepers. It does not talk about how sailors tell lights apart.
- E: The idea of a separate flash pattern for each lighthouse is in Paragraph B, together with its reason.
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: At several British Columbia lightstations, a sample of seawater is collected in a bucket each day near the daytime high tide, in a program that began in 1914.
Why this is correct: The clue is in Paragraph C. At several British Columbia lightstations, workers collect seawater in a bucket each day. A pail is a bucket, and seawater is ocean water.
Tips: Find the stations in British Columbia. Check what is gathered there and how often.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A is about the first lights, from Louisbourg to the West Coast. It gives no daily work with seawater.
- B: Paragraph B explains lamps, lenses and clockwork. It does not mention taking water from the sea.
- D: Paragraph D also names British Columbia, but only to count its staffed lighthouses. It says nothing about water samples.
- E: The daily bucket of seawater at British Columbia lightstations is described in Paragraph C.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: The keeper who lived with a family at a remote station was largely replaced by a travelling technician who arrives by helicopter.
Why this is correct: Paragraph D says a travelling technician now arrives by helicopter. It never says how often these visits happen. No other paragraph gives a schedule either.
Tips: Look for how often something happens. A person being mentioned is not the same as a schedule.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A covers the years from 1734 to 1860. Technicians and automated lights are not part of it.
- B: Paragraph B shows a keeper winding clockwork every two to four hours. That is about keepers in the past, not technician visits.
- C: Paragraph C lists keepers' daily tasks, such as logging the weather. It gives no timing for any technician.
- D: Paragraph D does mention the technician and the helicopter. Still, it gives no number of visits in a year.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: From the 1860s, kerosene lamps spread across Canada because they were cheap, reliable and efficient.
Why this is correct: Paragraph B talks about kerosene lamps. From the 1860s they spread across Canada. They were cheap, reliable and efficient. Low in cost means cheap, and dependable means reliable.
Tips: Look for a kind of lighting that was low in cost and dependable. Then check when it became common.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A mentions years like 1840 and 1860, but only for where lights were built. It does not describe any lamp.
- C: Paragraph C is about keepers looking after fog alarms and helping people. It does not compare kinds of lamps.
- D: Paragraph D talks about costs, but these are the high costs of keeping lighthouses going. It says nothing about a cheap lamp.
- E: Kerosene lamps and the reasons they spread are given in Paragraph B.
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: In Newfoundland and Labrador, keepers inspect the main light and the foghorn, log the weather, report on ice floes and scan the water for flares or boats in trouble.
Why this is correct: Paragraph C closes with the keepers in Newfoundland and Labrador. They scan the water for flares or boats in trouble. A flare is a signal that a boat needs help.
Tips: Newfoundland and Labrador appears in more than one place. Choose the paragraph that lists what the keepers do there.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A names the coast of Newfoundland only as a place where early lights stood. It does not describe keepers watching the water.
- B: Paragraph B describes the light and its moving parts. Watching for boats is not in it.
- D: Paragraph D counts 23 staffed lighthouses in Newfoundland and Labrador. It does not say what those keepers do.
- E: Watching for flares and boats in trouble is part of Paragraph C.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: The oldest lighthouse still standing was built in 1758 on Sambro Island, at the mouth of Halifax Harbour.
Why this is correct: The answer sits in Paragraph A. The oldest lighthouse still standing was built in 1758 on Sambro Island. The year 1758 falls in the 1750s.
Tips: Which lighthouse is the earliest that still survives? Check that the decade it went up matches the statement.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: Paragraph B starts with candles and oil lamps. It is about how the light worked, not which tower is oldest.
- C: Paragraph C gives 1914 as the start of a seawater program. It does not talk about the oldest tower.
- D: Paragraph D covers changes from the 1970s onward. No tower from the 1700s is named there.
- E: The Sambro Island lighthouse and its building date are in Paragraph A.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: Between 1970 and 1996, 264 Canadian lighthouses were automated.
Why this is correct: Look at Paragraph D. Between 1970 and 1996, 264 lighthouses were automated. That is about twenty-five years, and 264 is more than two hundred and sixty.
Tips: Change the years into a length of time. Then look for a number near 260.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A tells how many early lights were placed in different spots. It gives no count of automated towers.
- B: Paragraph B describes clockwork that turned the light. Clockwork still needed a keeper, so this is not automation.
- C: Paragraph C describes jobs done by people, like radio work. It gives no number of lighthouses changed to machines.
- E: The 264 lighthouses automated between 1970 and 1996 appear in Paragraph D.
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: Their duties included running radio communications, looking after fog alarms and giving rescue and shelter to people in trouble.
Why this is correct: Paragraph C lists the keepers' duties. One of them was looking after fog alarms. Fog alarms are sound signals for misty weather.
Tips: Keepers had jobs besides the lamp. Check whether caring for sound signals in misty weather is one of them.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A is about where and when the first lights were built. Fog is not mentioned there.
- B: Paragraph B shows the keeper winding clockwork for the light. It does not mention anything about fog.
- D: Be careful here. Paragraph D says fog signals could run with little human attention. It does not say keepers used to care for them.
- E: Looking after fog alarms is named as a keeper's duty in Paragraph C.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: The oldest lighthouse still standing was built in 1758 on Sambro Island, at the mouth of Halifax Harbour.
Why this is correct: Paragraph A gives the year and place of the Sambro Island lighthouse. The builder and the money behind it are missing. Merchants are not mentioned anywhere in the text.
Tips: The text says when and where. It does not say who paid, so check for a name.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A tells when and where the Sambro Island tower was built. It says nothing about money or who gave it.
- B: Paragraph B explains how lamps and lenses improved. Payment for building is not part of it.
- C: Paragraph C lists what keepers do each day. It does not talk about who built any station.
- D: Paragraph D talks about high maintenance costs in later years. It does not name anyone who paid for Sambro Island.
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