Read the following passage.
A. For thousands of years before the fur trade, sea otters lived along the coast from northern Japan to central Baja California, Mexico. On Haida Gwaii, the Haida and the otters were neighbours, eating some of the same seafoods, including urchins, clams, crabs and abalone. Unlike seals and sea lions, sea otters have little body fat. Instead they rely on one of the thickest furs in the animal kingdom, which has at least 150,000 hairs in each square centimetre and holds bubbles of air against the skin for warmth. The maritime fur trade that began in the 1700s drove them to the brink of extinction.
B. The hunting went on through the 1800s. Otters disappeared from Haida Gwaii waters early in that century, and by 1929 none were left in British Columbia; small colonies survived only in parts of Alaska and California. Their loss changed the sea floor. Sea otters are among the very few predators of large red sea urchins, which feed on kelp. Without otters, urchin numbers exploded and the underwater forests were grazed down to a tiny fraction of their former size. They turned into urchin barrens, areas thick with sea urchins but with little else.
C. Sea otters were protected by law in 1911, but it took until 1969 for any to be brought back. Between 1969 and 1972, 89 sea otters from Alaska were released into Checleset Bay on the west coast of Vancouver Island, and only about 28 of them survived. From that small start the population grew. Otters dive for their food, usually within one to two kilometres of shore, in water no more than 40 metres deep. A familiar sight is an otter floating on its back and cracking a shell against a rock on its chest, one of the few animals known to use a tool.
D. Surveys show how far the recovery has come. In 2017 the British Columbia population was estimated at 8,110 sea otters, growing by an average of 5.26 per cent a year from 2013 to 2017, with the fastest growth in newly occupied areas. In 2009 the species was moved from threatened to special concern because numbers were rising. Where otters have returned, kelp forests are in much better shape. Otters are now coming back to Haida Gwaii on their own, and since 2020 Gwaii Haanas and the Council of the Haida Nation have been planning for their return, which is expected to take decades.
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: Look at Paragraph D. In 2017, the British Columbia population was estimated at 8,110 sea otters. That year is late in the 2010s, and 8,110 is more than eight thousand.
Passage Reference: In 2017 the British Columbia population was estimated at 8,110 sea otters, growing by an average of 5.26 per cent a year from 2013 to 2017, with the fastest growth in newly occupied areas.
Tips: Many paragraphs have otter numbers. Find the one from a recent survey.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A gives the old range of sea otters, from northern Japan to Mexico. It has no modern count.
- B: Paragraph B tells you none were left in British Columbia by 1929. That is the opposite of a large population.
- C: Paragraph C gives the small numbers from the release, 89 animals and about 28 that lived. It is not the recent total.
- E: The 2017 estimate of 8,110 otters is reported in Paragraph D.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: Between 1969 and 1972, 89 sea otters from Alaska were released into Checleset Bay on the west coast of Vancouver Island, and only about 28 of them survived.
Why this is correct: Paragraph C tells you that 89 sea otters from Alaska were released into Checleset Bay between 1969 and 1972. You get the years, the number and the place. But no government or group is named as the one that moved them.
Tips: Ask who did the moving. The text describes the release but never names the people behind it.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A describes the old range and the thick fur of sea otters. No release comes up.
- B: Paragraph B tells how otters vanished and urchins took over. Nobody brings otters back in it.
- C: The release is in Paragraph C, but look closely. The sentence never names who carried it out.
- D: Paragraph D names Gwaii Haanas and the Council of the Haida Nation. They are planning for Haida Gwaii, not moving otters to Checleset Bay.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: Otters disappeared from Haida Gwaii waters early in that century, and by 1929 none were left in British Columbia; small colonies survived only in parts of Alaska and California.
Why this is correct: The clue is in Paragraph B. By 1929, none were left in British Columbia. The year 1929 is in the late 1920s.
Tips: Find when otters vanished from the whole province. Check whether that year matches the time in the statement.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: In Paragraph A, the fur trade pushed otters close to extinction. It gives no year when they were gone from British Columbia.
- C: Paragraph C gives 1911 for legal protection and 1969 for the return. It does not say when the last otters vanished.
- D: Paragraph D is about numbers rising again today. It does not give the year they disappeared.
- E: Paragraph B reports that otters were gone from British Columbia by 1929.
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: Between 1969 and 1972, 89 sea otters from Alaska were released into Checleset Bay on the west coast of Vancouver Island, and only about 28 of them survived.
Why this is correct: Paragraph C gives two numbers. Of the 89 sea otters from Alaska that were released, only about 28 survived. Twenty-eight out of 89 is roughly one in three.
Tips: Alaska shows up twice. Use the two numbers in one sentence to work out the fraction.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A talks about the fur trade in general. It does not count how many animals lived or died.
- B: Paragraph B mentions Alaska only as a place where small colonies held on. It says nothing about otters being moved from there.
- D: Paragraph D gives yearly growth for the whole population. It does not tell you how many of the first group lived.
- E: Both numbers, 89 released and about 28 alive, are in Paragraph C.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: On Haida Gwaii, the Haida and the otters were neighbours, eating some of the same seafoods, including urchins, clams, crabs and abalone.
Why this is correct: Look at Paragraph A. The Haida and the otters were neighbours. They ate some of the same seafoods, such as urchins, clams, crabs and abalone.
Tips: Haida Gwaii comes up in three paragraphs. Find the one about food shared by people and otters.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: Paragraph B says otters hunt large red sea urchins. People and their food are not part of it.
- C: Paragraph C describes where otters dive and how they crack shells. It does not say people shared that food.
- D: Paragraph D names Haida Gwaii and the Haida Nation planning today. It is not about food shared long ago.
- E: The seafoods eaten by both the Haida and the otters are listed in Paragraph A.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: On Haida Gwaii, the Haida and the otters were neighbours, eating some of the same seafoods, including urchins, clams, crabs and abalone.
Why this is correct: Paragraph A says the Haida and the otters ate some of the same seafoods, including urchins. It does not say how much either of them ate. So there is no comparison in the text.
Tips: Two groups are compared here, the Haida and the otters. Read about what each one ate, and set it beside the statement.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: You might think of Paragraph A because both ate urchins. But it never says which one ate more.
- B: Paragraph B tells how urchins spread and ate the kelp after the otters were gone. The Haida do not appear there.
- C: Paragraph C covers the release at Checleset Bay and how otters dive and use a tool. The Haida are not mentioned.
- D: Paragraph D gives the 2017 count and plans for the otters' return to Haida Gwaii. It compares no amounts of food.
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: A familiar sight is an otter floating on its back and cracking a shell against a rock on its chest, one of the few animals known to use a tool.
Why this is correct: How does an otter open its food? Paragraph C shows it floating on its back and cracking a shell against a rock on its chest. Floating on its back means lying face up, and a rock is a stone.
Tips: This is about how the animals open their prey. Check how they lie in the water and what part a stone plays.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A lists shellfish that otters ate. It does not say how they open them.
- B: Paragraph B mentions otters eating large red sea urchins. Rocks and tools are not mentioned.
- D: Paragraph D is about counts, kelp and plans. It does not describe how otters feed.
- E: The otter cracking shells on a rock while on its back appears in Paragraph C.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: Unlike seals and sea lions, sea otters have little body fat.
Why this is correct: Paragraph A has the clue. Unlike seals and sea lions, sea otters have little body fat. They stay warm with very thick fur that holds air bubbles against the skin.
Tips: Find how these animals keep warm. Check whether it is their coat or a layer of blubber that does the work.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: Paragraph B explains what happened to kelp when otters were lost. It says nothing about keeping warm.
- C: Paragraph C explains where otters dive for food. Warmth and fur are not mentioned.
- D: Paragraph D talks about kelp forests getting better. Body heat does not come up.
- E: Both the low body fat and the warm fur are described in Paragraph A.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: Without otters, urchin numbers exploded and the underwater forests were grazed down to a tiny fraction of their former size.
Why this is correct: Look at Paragraph B. Without otters, urchin numbers exploded. The underwater forests were eaten down to a tiny part of their old size. These kelp forests are the seaweed beds in the statement.
Tips: Kelp also comes up in Paragraph D. Decide if the statement is about loss or recovery.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A lists urchins only as a food. It does not show them causing damage.
- C: Paragraph C describes how otters dive and crack shells. It does not describe kelp being lost.
- D: Paragraph D reports that kelp is in much better shape where otters have come back. That is recovery, not the damage.
- E: The boom in urchins and the loss of kelp after otters vanished are in Paragraph B.
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