Read the following passage.
A. The yearly cycle of the eastern monarch starts in the mountains of central Mexico. Once the winter colonies scatter in March and early April, the butterflies head north to the Gulf Coast of the United States, and there the females lay eggs on milkweed. Two or three generations are produced there in spring, and it is the offspring of the wintering butterflies that carry the migration further north. This step-by-step journey is necessary because milkweed on the Gulf Coast dies out by June. The earliest of the returning butterflies arrive in southern Canada in late May or the first week of June.
B. Adult monarchs drink nectar from many kinds of flowers, but they breed only where milkweed grows, since its leaves are the sole food of the caterpillars. In eastern Canada the main host plant is common milkweed, while in western Canada it is showy milkweed. A single female may lay as many as 400 eggs, placing them one at a time on the undersides of leaves. Growing from egg to adult butterfly takes between 20 and 45 days, with an average of about 30. In southern Canada, eastern monarchs produce two to three generations each year from June to September.
C. The monarchs that emerge in late summer do not mature sexually; instead of breeding, they migrate. The southward flight from Canada begins in early August and continues until mid-October, and on the way the butterflies seek out nectar to build up fat for the winter. They seem reluctant to fly over large bodies of water, so they collect on peninsulas such as Point Pelee on Lake Erie, where they cluster on trees in overnight roosts before crossing. From November to late December the eastern population arrives at about 12 wintering sites in the oyamel fir forests of central Mexico.
D. In 1995, Point Pelee, Long Point and Prince Edward Point in southern Ontario were named monarch reserves under an agreement with Mexico. Since 1992 the Monarch Watch program has handed out small adhesive tags to volunteers each fall, and they have tagged more than 3 million monarchs, with tags recovered every year at the wintering sites in Mexico. The size of the eastern population is measured by the area of forest its colonies cover. In the winter of 2025 to 2026, nine colonies covered 2.93 hectares, a 64 per cent increase from 1.79 hectares the season before, after several years of some of the lowest counts on record.
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.
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Correct Answer: C
Why this is correct: Look at Paragraph C. The monarchs that come out in late summer do not become ready to breed. Instead of breeding, they fly south.
Passage Reference: The monarchs that emerge in late summer do not mature sexually; instead of breeding, they migrate.
Tips: Follow the butterflies that appear as summer ends. Check whether they have young or travel south.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A is about spring, when females lay eggs on the Gulf Coast. That is breeding, not the late summer trip south.
- B: Paragraph B explains breeding in Canada from June to September. It does not say that some butterflies stop breeding to travel.
- D: Paragraph D is about reserves, tags and colony sizes. Which butterflies skip breeding is not there.
- E: The late summer butterflies that migrate instead of breeding appear in Paragraph C.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: The size of the eastern population is measured by the area of forest its colonies cover.
Why this is correct: The clue is in Paragraph D. The size of the eastern population is measured by the area of forest its colonies cover. Woodland means forest, and colonies are the groups.
Tips: Woodland comes up in more than one paragraph. Ask which one uses it to judge how many insects spend the winter.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A mentions winter colonies breaking up in spring. It gives no way to measure them.
- B: Paragraph B counts eggs and days of growth. It does not measure the winter population.
- C: Paragraph C names the oyamel fir forests as the winter home. It does not use forest area to count the butterflies.
- E: You can find this measuring method in Paragraph D, which uses the forest area the colonies cover.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: In the winter of 2025 to 2026, nine colonies covered 2.93 hectares, a 64 per cent increase from 1.79 hectares the season before, after several years of some of the lowest counts on record.
Why this is correct: Paragraph D reports that the colonies covered 2.93 hectares in the winter of 2025 to 2026. That was a 64 per cent increase. The paragraph stops there and never says Mexico did anything next.
Tips: The statement adds a next step. Check whether anything happens after the new count.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A has the colonies breaking up in spring. No government takes any action there.
- B: Paragraph B deals with milkweed and breeding in Canada. Protection in Mexico is not part of it.
- C: Paragraph C names the wintering sites in the fir forests. It describes no protected zone.
- D: Be careful here. Paragraph D gives the bigger count, but it ends with that number. It does not say Mexico then protected more forest.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: Since 1992 the Monarch Watch program has handed out small adhesive tags to volunteers each fall, and they have tagged more than 3 million monarchs, with tags recovered every year at the wintering sites in Mexico.
Why this is correct: Look at Paragraph D. Since 1992, the Monarch Watch program has given small sticky tags to volunteers. They have tagged more than 3 million monarchs. Volunteers are members of the public, and tags are labels.
Tips: Look for the members of the public and what they fixed to the insects. Then check the year it started against the early 1990s.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A follows the spring flight north. No people take part in it at all.
- B: Paragraph B counts the eggs one female can lay. It does not talk about people marking butterflies.
- C: Paragraph C describes butterflies resting at Point Pelee. Nobody puts tags on them there.
- E: Paragraph D reports the tagging of more than 3 million monarchs since 1992.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: This step-by-step journey is necessary because milkweed on the Gulf Coast dies out by June.
Why this is correct: The reason is in Paragraph A. The trip goes on step by step because milkweed on the Gulf Coast dies out by June. Females lay their eggs on milkweed, so the plant they need is gone there.
Tips: Look for the word 'because' near the Gulf Coast.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: Paragraph B says monarchs breed only where milkweed grows. It does not mention the Gulf Coast or plants dying there.
- C: Paragraph C describes the flight south in the fall. It does not explain why spring butterflies keep going north.
- D: Paragraph D is about protecting and counting monarchs. The Gulf Coast does not come up.
- E: Paragraph A gives this reason: milkweed on the Gulf Coast dies out by June.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: Growing from egg to adult butterfly takes between 20 and 45 days, with an average of about 30.
Why this is correct: Paragraph B tells you what caterpillars eat. It also says growing from egg to adult takes about 30 days on average. But it never gives the length of a caterpillar.
Tips: A number of days is not a length. Check if any paragraph measures a caterpillar.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A mentions eggs laid on milkweed. Caterpillars and their size do not come up.
- B: Paragraph B is a tempting choice, since it talks about caterpillars. It gives their food and growing time, but no length.
- C: Paragraph C is about adult butterflies building up fat for the winter. It says nothing about caterpillars.
- D: Paragraph D measures forest in hectares. That is not the size of a caterpillar.
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: They seem reluctant to fly over large bodies of water, so they collect on peninsulas such as Point Pelee on Lake Erie, where they cluster on trees in overnight roosts before crossing.
Why this is correct: Paragraph C talks about this. Monarchs seem not to like flying over large bodies of water. So they gather on peninsulas such as Point Pelee before crossing. A peninsula is land that sticks out into the water.
Tips: Point Pelee is named in two paragraphs. Choose the one about crossing the water.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A has the butterflies flying to the Gulf Coast. It mentions no lakes and no crossings.
- B: Paragraph B covers milkweed and breeding. Lakes are not part of it.
- D: Paragraph D names Point Pelee as a reserve. It does not say why butterflies gather there or cross a lake.
- E: The stop on peninsulas like Point Pelee before crossing is described in Paragraph C.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: In 1995, Point Pelee, Long Point and Prince Edward Point in southern Ontario were named monarch reserves under an agreement with Mexico.
Why this is correct: Look at Paragraph D. In 1995, Point Pelee, Long Point and Prince Edward Point were named monarch reserves. This happened under an agreement with Mexico. All three places are in southern Ontario.
Tips: Find the Ontario spots set aside for the butterflies. Check that there are three and that the deal was with Mexico.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A names Mexico as the start of the spring trip. It has no deal to protect land.
- B: Paragraph B mentions eastern and western Canada. It names no protected places.
- C: Paragraph C names Point Pelee only as a place where butterflies rest overnight. No reserve or agreement is mentioned.
- E: The three Ontario reserves set up with Mexico in 1995 are listed in Paragraph D.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: Growing from egg to adult butterfly takes between 20 and 45 days, with an average of about 30.
Why this is correct: Check Paragraph B. Growing from egg to adult takes 20 to 45 days, with an average of about 30. Thirty days is roughly a month.
Tips: Find how long an egg takes to become a winged adult. Then decide whether the average is close to a month.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A says two or three generations are produced in spring. It gives no number of days for growing.
- C: Paragraph C gives the months of the flight south. It does not say how long an egg takes to become a butterfly.
- D: Paragraph D gives years and hectares. The time a monarch needs to grow is not there.
- E: The average of about 30 days from egg to adult appears in Paragraph B.
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