Read the following passage.
A. The beaver is the largest rodent in North America, and an adult usually weighs from 16 to 32 kilograms. On land it is slow and clumsy, but in water it is a strong and graceful swimmer, pushed along by its large webbed hind feet and steered by its flat tail, which works as a rudder. Its front teeth never stop growing, and their hard orange enamel keeps them sharp enough to cut down large trees. Few animals change their surroundings as much as the beaver, which builds dams, canals and lodges.
B. A beaver starts a dam by laying sticks and rocks across a stream where the current is fastest, then packs mud, stones and roots into the gaps. The pond behind the dam is deep enough not to freeze to the bottom, so the family can reach its lodge and its stored winter food under the ice. Beaver ponds help other wildlife too: they create wetlands that give animals food and shelter, slow the flow of water, keep soil from washing away and reduce both flooding and drought. The largest known beaver dam, in Wood Buffalo National Park, is almost 800 metres long.
C. No other animal has influenced Canada's history as much as the beaver. In the fur trade, beaver pelts were the most valuable of all, because felt hats made from the soft underfur were a sign of prestige, and the search for pelts led Europeans to explore vast areas of North America. At the peak of the trade, some two hundred thousand pelts a year were sold to European buyers. By the mid-1800s the beaver was almost extinct. It has been an emblem of Canada since at least the 17th century, and a beaver sitting on a log has been on the five-cent coin since 1937.
D. Today, thanks to many protections, beavers thrive across Canada again, and in some areas the question is how to prevent damage to farmland, roads and tree plantations. Dams can block streams and cause flooding, and beavers may cut down trees that people value. Alberta encourages landowners to keep beavers while limiting the damage. One tool is a pond leveller, a flexible pipe installed through a dam that lets water flow downstream; a cage at the end stops beavers from plugging it. In Alberta, it is against the law to disturb a dam near a lodge without a Damage Control Licence.
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 describes a pond leveller: a flexible pipe installed through a dam that lets water flow downstream. A pipe is a tube, and letting water flow downstream means water passes through the dam.
Passage Reference: One tool is a pond leveller, a flexible pipe installed through a dam that lets water flow downstream; a cage at the end stops beavers from plugging it.
Tips: Several places talk about dams. Ask which one describes something people add to a dam so that water can get through.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph says beavers build dams, canals and lodges, but it never mentions a pipe or any tool made by people.
- B: Paragraph B explains how beavers build a dam from sticks, mud and stones, and nothing is put inside it by people.
- C: The fur trade and the beaver as an emblem fill paragraph C. Water and dams are not its subject.
- E: The pond leveller, a pipe through a dam, is described in Paragraph D.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: On land it is slow and clumsy, but in water it is a strong and graceful swimmer, pushed along by its large webbed hind feet and steered by its flat tail, which works as a rudder.
Why this is correct: The first paragraph says the beaver is a strong and graceful swimmer. Its webbed hind feet push it, and its tail steers it. It does not say how long a beaver can stay under water, so this time is not given.
Tips: The passage praises the beaver's swimming. Check whether it gives any number of minutes.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Swimming is described in Paragraph A, but only how the beaver moves, with no time spent under the surface.
- B: The second paragraph says the family reaches its lodge under the ice, but it gives no length of time for a dive.
- C: Look at paragraph C: it covers pelts, hats and coins, and says nothing about breathing.
- D: Damage, the pond leveller and the law in Alberta make up paragraph D. It has no swimming facts.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: Few animals change their surroundings as much as the beaver, which builds dams, canals and lodges.
Why this is correct: The first paragraph ends with this idea. Few animals change their surroundings as much as the beaver, which builds dams, canals and lodges. Reshaping the land around it means changing its surroundings.
Tips: The third paragraph also compares the beaver with other animals. Check whether it is about land or about history.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: The second paragraph shows one result of this: a pond and wetland behind a dam. But it does not compare the beaver with other animals.
- C: Notice that paragraph C says no other animal has shaped Canada's history as much, which is about history, not the land.
- D: The fourth paragraph describes flooding and damage that people must manage, without comparing the beaver with other animals.
- E: The comparison between the beaver and other animals in changing their surroundings closes Paragraph A.
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: It has been an emblem of Canada since at least the 17th century, and a beaver sitting on a log has been on the five-cent coin since 1937.
Why this is correct: Look at paragraph C: it says a beaver sitting on a log has been on the five-cent coin since 1937. The year 1937 falls in the late 1930s.
Tips: Look for a coin and a year, then match the year with the decade.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Notice that paragraph A describes the beaver's body, size and teeth, with nothing about money.
- B: Notice that paragraph B explains dams and ponds and the largest known dam, not coins.
- D: The fourth paragraph names a Damage Control Licence in Alberta, which is a permit, not money.
- E: The five-cent coin with a beaver on a log, used since 1937, appears in Paragraph C.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: On land it is slow and clumsy, but in water it is a strong and graceful swimmer, pushed along by its large webbed hind feet and steered by its flat tail, which works as a rudder.
Why this is correct: The first paragraph says that on land the beaver is slow and clumsy, but in water it is a strong swimmer. Out of the water means on land, and awkward means clumsy.
Tips: The passage compares how the beaver moves in two different places. Check which half of that comparison matches 'out of the water'.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: In paragraph B, the beaver is busy with building work in a stream. How it walks on land is not described.
- C: Paragraph C turns to the fur trade and the beaver as an emblem. There is no description of movement.
- D: The fourth paragraph talks about beavers causing damage on farmland and roads, not about how they move there.
- E: How the beaver moves on land, slowly and clumsily, is stated in Paragraph A.
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: In the fur trade, beaver pelts were the most valuable of all, because felt hats made from the soft underfur were a sign of prestige, and the search for pelts led Europeans to explore vast areas of North America.
Why this is correct: Look at paragraph C: beaver pelts were the most valuable of all. Felt hats made from the soft underfur were a sign of prestige. Pelts are skins, hats are caps, and prestige means high rank.
Tips: Find where people wanted the animal's skins for money. Then check the reason: what was made from them, and what did owning one show?
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph describes the beaver's body and teeth but not its fur or why people wanted it.
- B: Dams, ponds and wetlands are the subject of paragraph B, and no hats or skins appear there.
- D: Notice that paragraph D describes today's problems with flooding and trees, not the value of beaver skins.
- E: Felt hats as a sign of prestige are named in Paragraph C, where the fur trade is described.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: Alberta encourages landowners to keep beavers while limiting the damage.
Why this is correct: Notice that paragraph D says Alberta encourages landowners to keep beavers while limiting the damage. Landowners own property, living with beavers means keeping them, and reducing harm means limiting the damage.
Tips: Start with the name Alberta. Then check that the same sentence both welcomes beavers and tries to cut the harm.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph describes beavers themselves and gives no advice to anyone.
- B: The second paragraph names Wood Buffalo National Park for the largest dam, but it gives no advice to people who own land.
- C: The third paragraph looks back at the fur trade and the beaver as an emblem, with nothing about owners of land today.
- E: The advice to landowners in Alberta to keep beavers and limit damage is given in Paragraph D.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: On land it is slow and clumsy, but in water it is a strong and graceful swimmer, pushed along by its large webbed hind feet and steered by its flat tail, which works as a rudder.
Why this is correct: Notice that paragraph A says the beaver is pushed along in the water by its large webbed hind feet. Webbed feet have skin between the toes, and hind feet are the back feet.
Tips: 'Skin between the toes' describes a special kind of foot. Find where the passage explains how the beaver's body helps it swim.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: The second paragraph shows beavers working in water to build a dam, but it does not describe their feet.
- C: The third paragraph describes the soft underfur used for hats, not the beaver's feet.
- D: The fourth paragraph deals with tools and laws for managing beavers. The animal's body is not described.
- E: The large webbed hind feet are described in Paragraph A.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: The largest known beaver dam, in Wood Buffalo National Park, is almost 800 metres long.
Why this is correct: Notice that paragraph B says the largest known beaver dam, in Wood Buffalo National Park, is almost 800 metres long. Almost 800 metres is about four-fifths of a kilometre.
Tips: Several places mention a dam. Find the one that gives a size, and check that it matches four-fifths of a kilometre.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Notice that paragraph A says beavers build dams, but it gives no size for any dam.
- C: The third paragraph gives numbers for pelts and dates, not the length of a dam.
- D: Look at paragraph D: it discusses dams that cause flooding, but it does not name a park or measure a dam.
- E: The dam of almost 800 metres in Wood Buffalo National Park is the last fact in Paragraph B.
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