Read the following passage.
A. The Hopewell Rocks are tall stone pillars on the shore of the Bay of Fundy at Hopewell Cape, on the southern coast of New Brunswick. Trees grow on the tops of many of them, and for this reason they are also called the Flowerpot Rocks. The pillars stand inside a provincial park that was set up in 1958 and covers about 120 hectares. Visitors can look down on them from the top of the cliffs. When the tide is low, they can also go down to the shore and walk among them on the floor of the bay.
B. The Mi'kmaq tell a story about how the rocks began. In this legend, great whales in the Bay of Fundy kept people as slaves, and when the people ran for the shore to escape, the angry whales turned them to stone. Geologists give another explanation. Nearly 300 million years ago, fast streams carried sand and pebbles from the nearby Caledonia Mountains, and these layers slowly became conglomerate and sandstone. Later the rock was tilted and broken by vertical cracks, which explains the rough rectangular shape of the pillars. About ten thousand years ago, meltwater from the last glaciers cut the pillars away from the cliffs.
C. The rocks are still changing. Tides, rain and wind keep wearing away the cliffs, which slowly creates new pillars, while older ones are eventually knocked over. On March 14, 2016, soon after the tide went out, a large piece of Elephant Rock broke away. Park officials estimated that 100 to 200 tonnes of rock fell, and the fallen stone closed a passage where visitors used to walk. Elephant Rock is one of the three formations shown on New Brunswick's medicare card. Each year before the park opens, specialists check the cliffs and knock down loose rock.
D. A visit depends on the tides. An admission ticket is valid for two consecutive days, so people can see both high and low tide. Visitors are asked to check the tide times before they explore the ocean floor. From the main deck, 99 stairs lead down to the shore, and a ramp is also available, although many people find the floor too hard to cross in a wheelchair. Swimming is not permitted, and the rocks on the beach are often slippery. When the park is closed for the season, entry is not allowed, because the tides rise quickly and rockfalls are more likely in winter and spring.
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: The first paragraph tells us the park was set up in 1958 and covers about 120 hectares. It never says who wanted the park or who pushed for it. So the part about local residents is not in the passage.
Passage Reference: The pillars stand inside a provincial park that was set up in 1958 and covers about 120 hectares.
Tips: A year for the park is easy to find. Ask whether the text also says who wanted it.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph gives the year and the size of the park, which is the tempting part. Nobody is named as the people who asked for it.
- B: Look at paragraph B: it explains a Mi'kmaq legend and the geology of the pillars. The creation of the park is not part of it.
- C: Notice that paragraph C mentions park officials after a rockfall in 2016, but it says nothing about how the park began.
- D: Notice that paragraph D is about tickets, stairs, swimming and the closed season. It does not look back at the founding of the park.
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: Each year before the park opens, specialists check the cliffs and knock down loose rock.
Why this is correct: The third paragraph says that each year, before the park opens, specialists check the cliffs and knock down loose rock. Trained experts are specialists, and knocking down loose rock clears away unstable stone.
Tips: Rockfalls come up in Paragraph D too, so look for the paragraph that describes yearly safety work on the cliffs.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Look at paragraph A: it says visitors can look down from the top of the cliffs. No workers or safety checks appear there.
- B: The second paragraph explains how meltwater cut the pillars away from the cliffs long ago, not how they are made safe today.
- D: Paragraph D talks about the park being closed for the season and about rockfalls. But it never mentions anyone clearing rock from the cliffs.
- E: Notice that paragraph C ends with this point: every year specialists check the cliffs and knock down loose rock.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: In this legend, great whales in the Bay of Fundy kept people as slaves, and when the people ran for the shore to escape, the angry whales turned them to stone.
Why this is correct: The second paragraph tells the Mi'kmaq legend. Whales kept people as slaves, and when the people tried to escape, the angry whales turned them to stone. People turned to stone means the rocks were once human beings.
Tips: Find the 'Mi'kmaq tale'. Ask whether it says the rocks were 'human beings' before, and what changed them.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A describes the pillars and their other name, the Flowerpot Rocks. There is no traditional story in it.
- C: The third paragraph explains how tides, rain and wind still change the rocks. It does not tell a legend about them.
- D: The fourth paragraph gives practical advice for a visit, such as tickets and tide times. It has no story about where the rocks came from.
- E: The legend is told near the start of Paragraph B, where the whales turn the people into stone.
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: On March 14, 2016, soon after the tide went out, a large piece of Elephant Rock broke away.
Why this is correct: The third paragraph gives the date March 14, 2016. Soon after the tide went out, a large piece of Elephant Rock broke away. The water drawing back is the tide going out, and a huge chunk is a large piece.
Tips: Paragraph D only warns about rockfalls. Find the paragraph where one really happened.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Look at paragraph A: it explains what visitors can do when the tide is low, but no rock falls in it.
- B: Notice that paragraph B covers how the pillars were formed over millions of years. A sudden fall on one day is not described.
- D: Notice that paragraph D warns that rockfalls are more likely in winter and spring. It does not report any actual fall of a named rock.
- E: The third paragraph gives the date and the name of the rock, Elephant Rock, and says a large piece broke away.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: Swimming is not permitted, and the rocks on the beach are often slippery.
Why this is correct: Look at paragraph D: it says plainly that swimming is not permitted. Forbidden means the same as not permitted, so the statement matches this sentence.
Tips: Look for a rule for visitors. The rules are grouped together in one paragraph.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Notice that paragraph A says people can walk on the floor of the bay at low tide. It gives no rule about the water.
- B: The second paragraph mentions people running for the shore in a legend. That is a story, not a rule for visitors.
- C: The third paragraph says a fallen rock closed a passage where visitors walked. Swimming is not mentioned.
- E: Look at paragraph D: it includes the rule in one short sentence about swimming and slippery rocks.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: An admission ticket is valid for two consecutive days, so people can see both high and low tide.
Why this is correct: Notice that paragraph D says an admission ticket is valid for two consecutive days. Consecutive means one after the other, so one ticket covers two days in a row.
Tips: Read what a single ticket allows. Check how many days it covers and whether those days must follow each other.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Notice that paragraph A mentions low tide and walking on the bay floor, but it says nothing about tickets.
- B: The second paragraph is about the legend and the geology of the rocks. Prices and tickets are not discussed.
- C: The park opening each year comes up in paragraph C. How long a ticket lasts does not.
- E: The length of a ticket is given in the second sentence of Paragraph D: two consecutive days.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: Trees grow on the tops of many of them, and for this reason they are also called the Flowerpot Rocks.
Why this is correct: The first paragraph says trees grow on the tops of many of the pillars. For this reason they are also called the Flowerpot Rocks. That other name is the second name in the statement.
Tips: The name Elephant Rock belongs to one formation only. The statement needs a name for all the pillars.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: Look at paragraph B: it explains why the pillars have a rough rectangular shape. It does not give them another name.
- C: Notice that paragraph C names one formation, Elephant Rock, but it does not explain a name for the whole group.
- D: The fourth paragraph talks about stairs, a ramp and the beach. Trees and names are not part of it.
- E: The first paragraph gives both the trees and the other name, the Flowerpot Rocks, in one sentence.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: Elephant Rock is one of the three formations shown on New Brunswick's medicare card.
Why this is correct: The third paragraph tells us a large piece of Elephant Rock broke away and that it is shown on a medicare card. It never compares its height with the other pillars, so we cannot say it was the tallest.
Tips: A comparison word like 'tallest' needs support. Check whether any height is given.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Notice that paragraph A calls the pillars tall, but it names no single pillar and does not rank them by height.
- B: Notice that paragraph B explains how all the pillars were shaped. No one pillar is singled out in it.
- C: The third paragraph is the one about Elephant Rock, which makes it tempting. It gives the weight of the fallen rock, not its height.
- D: Look at paragraph D: it covers the stairs, the beach and the closed season. Elephant Rock does not appear in it.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: Later the rock was tilted and broken by vertical cracks, which explains the rough rectangular shape of the pillars.
Why this is correct: The second paragraph says the rock was broken by vertical cracks, and this explains the rough rectangular shape of the pillars. Vertical means straight up and down, and rectangular is box-shaped.
Tips: The statement explains the pillars' box-like shape. Check which cause the passage gives for that shape, and that it is splits running up and down.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Notice that paragraph A says the pillars are tall and have trees on top. Their shape is not explained there.
- C: The third paragraph says tides, rain and wind still wear away the cliffs. It does not mention cracks or the shape of the pillars.
- D: Paragraph D warns that the rocks on the beach are slippery. That is about safety, not the shape of the pillars.
- E: The cause of the shape is in Paragraph B: vertical cracks in the tilted rock.
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