Read the following passage.
A. In 1960, the Norwegian explorer and writer Helge Ingstad came to L'Anse aux Meadows, at the tip of Newfoundland's Great Northern Peninsula. He was searching the coast from New England northward for places where Norse ships had landed. A local resident, George Decker, led him to some overgrown bumps and ridges that seemed to mark old buildings. From 1961 to 1968, Helge's wife, the archaeologist Anne Stine Ingstad, led the excavations with a team from Norway, Iceland, Sweden and the United States. Their work proved that the site was Norse and dated from the 11th century.
B. The idea of Norse voyages to this coast is far older than the digs. The sagas, Norse stories told by word of mouth for many years before they were written down, trace sea voyages westward from Greenland. The Greenlanders' Saga, from the 13th century, tells how Leif Eiriksson reached North America and called the new land Vinland, Land of Wine, after one of his crew found grapes growing wild. In 1914, William Munn, a newspaper publisher from Newfoundland, became the first to suggest, in a series of articles, that the site had been a Norse settlement.
C. The digs uncovered eight buildings with walls and roofs of sod laid over a frame, the same kind used in Iceland and Greenland around the year 1000. A small hut by a brook held a furnace where iron was smelted from ore found in bogs, and many iron boat nails turned up. A spindle whorl and a whetstone for sharpening needles showed that not all of the settlers had been men. Three butternuts were found in the bog, although these trees do not grow north of eastern New Brunswick. Tools and camps of five or six Indigenous groups were also identified, since people had used the site for about 6,000 years.
D. Experts see the site as a base for exploration, not a place where the Norse settled to farm. Barns and other livestock buildings are missing, and there is no sign of grazing. Both the archaeology and the sagas point to a very brief stay. Given the camp's size and the number of people, there is a strong argument that it was Straumfjord, the main base in Erik the Red's Saga. Radiocarbon dates could not fix its age precisely. In 2021, a study of wood from three trees, cut with metal tools, found they were felled in 1021, the only secure calendar date for Europeans across the Atlantic before Columbus.
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: C
Why this is correct: Look at Paragraph C. A spindle whorl and a whetstone for sharpening needles were found. These showed that not all of the settlers had been men. So some women were in the group.
Passage Reference: A spindle whorl and a whetstone for sharpening needles showed that not all of the settlers had been men.
Tips: Look at what the objects tell us about the people at the camp. Check whether they point to women being there.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A is about the team that dug the site in the 1960s. It tells you nothing about the Norse people who lived there.
- B: Paragraph B mentions Leif Eiriksson and his crew. Still, it never says whether any women sailed with him.
- D: Paragraph D talks about the size of the camp and the number of people. It does not say whether those people were men or women.
- E: Do not say the text is silent here. Paragraph C lists the objects that point to women in the camp.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: Experts see the site as a base for exploration, not a place where the Norse settled to farm.
Why this is correct: Paragraph D says experts see the site as a base for exploration. It does not say why the Norse chose this spot, and it never mentions hunting grounds.
Tips: What a place was used for is not the same as why it was chosen.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A tells how the site was found in 1960. It gives no reason why the Norse picked it.
- B: Paragraph B is about the sagas and the name Vinland. This spot and its hunting are not discussed.
- C: Paragraph C lists what the digs found, such as iron and butternuts. It does not explain the choice of site.
- D: Paragraph D says what the site was used for. It does not give a reason for choosing it.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: In 1914, William Munn, a newspaper publisher from Newfoundland, became the first to suggest, in a series of articles, that the site had been a Norse settlement.
Why this is correct: Paragraph B holds the clue. In 1914, William Munn, who published a newspaper, wrote a series of articles. He was the first to suggest that the Norse had lived at the site.
Tips: Look for a job. Which paragraph names a person who published a newspaper?
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A is about Helge Ingstad, an explorer and writer. He searched for the site, but nothing says he was first with the idea.
- C: Paragraph C lists the buildings and objects from the digs. It does not name the person who first had the idea.
- D: Paragraph D gives the opinion of experts and the tree study from 2021. No newspaper or first suggestion appears there.
- E: The text does answer this one. Look for William Munn and his articles in Paragraph B.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: A local resident, George Decker, led him to some overgrown bumps and ridges that seemed to mark old buildings.
Why this is correct: Look at Paragraph A. George Decker, a local resident, led Helge Ingstad to some bumps and ridges that seemed to mark old buildings. A local resident lives in the area.
Tips: Find the person who guided the Norwegian visitor. Then check that this person lived in the area.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: Paragraph B is about the sagas and William Munn's articles. Nobody is led to the site in this paragraph.
- C: Paragraph C describes what the digs uncovered. It does not tell how the site was first shown to anyone.
- D: Paragraph D gives the experts' view of the site. George Decker is not named there.
- E: You can find the helper right at the start of the text. George Decker appears in Paragraph A.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: Experts see the site as a base for exploration, not a place where the Norse settled to farm.
Why this is correct: Paragraph D starts with the experts' view. They see the site as a base for exploration, not a farm. There are no barns and no sign of grazing either.
Tips: Ask what the specialists think the Norse came here to do. Were raising animals or growing crops part of it?
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A shows the site was Norse and from the 11th century. It says nothing about why the Norse came.
- B: Paragraph B mentions grapes found growing wild. Finding wild grapes is not the same as growing crops, and farming never comes up.
- C: Paragraph C describes sod buildings, iron work and butternuts. It never says whether the Norse farmed or kept animals.
- E: The experts' opinion on farming sits in the opening line of Paragraph D.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: The digs uncovered eight buildings with walls and roofs of sod laid over a frame, the same kind used in Iceland and Greenland around the year 1000.
Why this is correct: Paragraph C tells you the eight buildings were the same kind used in Iceland and Greenland. That is about their style. It never says whether they were bigger or smaller.
Tips: A comparison needs two sizes. Check whether any paragraph says which buildings were larger.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A names Iceland as one home country of the dig team. It gives no building sizes.
- B: Paragraph B follows the saga voyages west from Greenland. It does not describe any buildings.
- C: Paragraph C is the closest match because it links the buildings to Iceland. But 'same kind' is about type, not size.
- D: Paragraph D mentions the size of the whole camp. It does not compare anything with houses in Iceland.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: From 1961 to 1968, Helge's wife, the archaeologist Anne Stine Ingstad, led the excavations with a team from Norway, Iceland, Sweden and the United States.
Why this is correct: Paragraph A lists the dig team. From 1961 to 1968, the dig team came from Norway, Iceland, Sweden and the United States. Count them and you get four.
Tips: Count the countries listed next to the word 'team'.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: Paragraph B names William Munn, who wrote articles in 1914. It does not mention any team that dug at the site.
- C: Paragraph C lists what the digs found. It does not say where the diggers came from.
- D: Paragraph D mentions a tree study from 2021. It says nothing about which countries the researchers came from.
- E: The four countries are listed in Paragraph A, so the text does back this up.
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: A small hut by a brook held a furnace where iron was smelted from ore found in bogs, and many iron boat nails turned up.
Why this is correct: The clue is in Paragraph C. A small hut held a furnace where iron was smelted from ore found in bogs. So metal was made at the camp from ore taken out of wet, boggy ground.
Tips: Paragraph D also has the word 'metal'. Ask yourself where the metal itself was made.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A mentions bumps and ridges in the ground. It says nothing about making metal.
- B: Paragraph B is about old stories and the name Vinland. Iron work does not come up.
- D: Be careful with Paragraph D. The trees were cut with metal tools, but it does not say where that metal was made.
- E: The furnace and the bog ore both show up in Paragraph C, so this one is in the text.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: The Greenlanders' Saga, from the 13th century, tells how Leif Eiriksson reached North America and called the new land Vinland, Land of Wine, after one of his crew found grapes growing wild.
Why this is correct: Look at Paragraph B. In the Greenlanders' Saga, Leif Eiriksson called the new land Vinland, Land of Wine. He did this after one of his crew found wild grapes. So the name came from wild grapes, a plant that a sailor found.
Tips: Two paragraphs mention sagas. Pick the one that links a name to something a sailor found.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A names real places such as the Great Northern Peninsula. It tells no story about how a land got its name.
- C: Paragraph C mentions butternuts from the bog. They are not linked to the name of any land.
- D: Paragraph D refers to Erik the Red's Saga and the base called Straumfjord. It does not say where any name came from.
- E: Leif Eiriksson's naming of Vinland is told in Paragraph B, so the answer is in the reading.
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