Read the following passage.
A. Shanawdithit, whose name is also written Shawnadithit, was a Beothuk woman born in about 1801. The Beothuk were the First Nations people of the island of Newfoundland. As the settler population along the coast grew, they lost easy access to the sea, and European diseases added to their losses; by 1819 there were perhaps fewer than 20 left alive. She has long been called the last of the Beothuk, but Mi'kmaq oral histories have challenged that description and point to links between the two peoples.
B. As a child and young woman she witnessed several of the last recorded meetings between her people and the settlers. In March 1819 she watched as a party led by John Peyton Jr. seized her aunt Demasduit and killed Demasduit's husband, Nonosbawsut. In the spring of 1823 Shanawdithit, her mother and her sister, weak from hunger, were taken by a furrier named William Cull. Officials decided to return the three women to their people with supplies, but they could not find any surviving members of their group. Her mother and sister soon died, and Shanawdithit was taken into Peyton's household in the Bay of Exploits, where she stayed for five years.
C. In September 1828 she was brought to St. John's by the Beothuk Institution, a group formed to find Beothuk people and document their way of life. She lived in the home of its president, William Cormack, who wrote down much of what she told him. Through him she passed on words from the Beothuk language and described her people's customs and their final years. She also made a series of sketches of Beothuk homes, tools and food, and of places where events took place, including the lake where her aunt was captured. Her drawings have been reproduced many times and are considered especially valuable.
D. When Cormack left Newfoundland early in 1829, she was placed in the care of the attorney general, James Simms. Her health had been poor for years, and she died of tuberculosis in St. John's on June 6, 1829. She was named a National Historic Person in 2000, and a bronze statue of her stands at the Beothuk Interpretation Centre in Boyd's Cove. Her own remains have fared less well. She was buried in a cemetery on the south side of St. John's, but the exact site was later lost. In 1830 her skull was shipped to the Royal College of Physicians in London, and it is believed to have been lost during the Second World War.
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: B
Why this is correct: Look at paragraph B: in March 1819 she watched as Peyton's party seized her aunt Demasduit. They also killed her aunt's husband, Nonosbawsut. The two relatives in the statement are her aunt and her uncle by marriage.
Passage Reference: In March 1819 she watched as a party led by John Peyton Jr. seized her aunt Demasduit and killed Demasduit's husband, Nonosbawsut.
Tips: Paragraph C also mentions the aunt's capture. Ask which paragraph says she saw it happen.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A mentions 1819, but only to give an estimate of how many Beothuk were alive. It does not describe what she saw.
- C: The third paragraph refers to her aunt's capture only as a scene in one of her sketches. It does not say she was there, and her uncle's death is missing.
- D: Notice that paragraph D is about her final months, her death and how she is remembered, not about the events of 1819.
- E: Both relatives are named in Paragraph B, which says she watched the attack in March 1819.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: She was buried in a cemetery on the south side of St. John's, but the exact site was later lost.
Why this is correct: In paragraph D, the writer says she was buried in a cemetery on the south side of St. John's. But the exact site was later lost. If the site is lost, no one can show exactly where her grave is.
Tips: 'Laid to rest' is a gentle way to say someone was put in the ground. Find where that is described, then check what became of the spot.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A deals with her people, their falling numbers and the debate over calling her the last Beothuk. Her burial is not mentioned.
- B: Look at paragraph B: it mentions the deaths of her mother and sister, but it says nothing about where anyone was buried.
- C: The third paragraph talks about places she drew in her sketches, not about the place where she was buried.
- E: Her grave does appear in the passage: Paragraph D explains that the exact site of the burial was later lost.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: Officials decided to return the three women to their people with supplies, but they could not find any surviving members of their group.
Why this is correct: Notice that paragraph B says officials decided to return the three women to their people with supplies. But the women could not find any surviving members of their group. The plan to reunite them failed.
Tips: Several paragraphs mention officials. Find the one where the women are sent back and nobody is found.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A gives the background of the Beothuk and the debate over the 'last' label. No plan to send anyone home appears there.
- C: In paragraph C, the writer describes the Beothuk Institution, whose aim was to find Beothuk people. It does not say that the 1823 plan failed.
- D: Paragraph D names an official, the attorney general, who cared for her in 1829. It does not mention any attempt to return her to her people.
- E: The failed attempt is described in Paragraph B, which says the women could not find any survivors of their group.
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: Through him she passed on words from the Beothuk language and described her people's customs and their final years.
Why this is correct: The third paragraph says she lived in the home of William Cormack in St. John's. He wrote down much of what she told him. Through him she passed on words from the Beothuk language. That matches the statement.
Tips: Several places say whose home she stayed in. Find the man in St. John's and what she shared with him about her language.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Notice that paragraph A introduces her and her people. It does not mention anyone she lived with or anything about her language.
- B: She did live in Peyton's household for five years, as paragraph B tells us. But that was in the Bay of Exploits, and nothing about language is recorded there.
- D: Paragraph D says she was cared for by James Simms in St. John's. But it does not say he wrote down any of her words.
- E: Cormack's note-taking is in Paragraph C, which says he wrote down what she told him, including Beothuk words.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: She also made a series of sketches of Beothuk homes, tools and food, and of places where events took place, including the lake where her aunt was captured.
Why this is correct: Look at paragraph C: while she lived with Cormack, she made a series of sketches of Beothuk homes, tools and food. It never says why she began drawing or whether he asked her to, so this is not given.
Tips: The third paragraph describes the drawings. Check whether it says who asked for them or why she began.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph covers the Beothuk people and the debate over calling her the last. Her pictures do not appear in it.
- B: Look at paragraph B: it describes her capture and her years with the Peyton family. Drawing is not mentioned.
- C: Paragraph C mentions her sketches and her time with Cormack. But it gives no reason for the drawings and no request from him.
- D: Paragraph D covers her illness, death and memorials. It does not discuss her drawings or why she made them.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: In 1830 her skull was shipped to the Royal College of Physicians in London, and it is believed to have been lost during the Second World War.
Why this is correct: The fourth paragraph says that in 1830 her skull was shipped to a college in London. It is believed to have been lost during the Second World War. 'Believed' matches 'probably' in the statement.
Tips: Look for a paragraph about what happened after her death, and find where part of her body was sent.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Notice that paragraph A talks about deaths among her people through disease. But nothing is said about her remains or about a war.
- B: In paragraph B, the writer tells how her mother and sister died in 1823. Nothing is shipped to London in this paragraph.
- C: Paragraph C describes her move to St. John's and her work with Cormack, all during her lifetime.
- E: Paragraph D names London, where her skull was sent in 1830. It also names the Second World War, when it was probably lost.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: In the spring of 1823 Shanawdithit, her mother and her sister, weak from hunger, were taken by a furrier named William Cull.
Why this is correct: Paragraph B tells how Shanawdithit, her mother and her sister were taken by William Cull in 1823. Her father is not mentioned anywhere in the passage, so what happened to him is not given.
Tips: List the family members Paragraph B actually names, and see whether a father is among them.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph gives the falling numbers of the Beothuk in general. It does not name any member of her family.
- B: Notice that paragraph B names her mother, her sister, her aunt and her aunt's husband. Her father is not one of them.
- C: Her aunt comes up in paragraph C only in connection with a sketch. Her father is absent.
- D: Notice that paragraph D is about her own illness and death in 1829, not about the death of anyone in her family.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: She has long been called the last of the Beothuk, but Mi'kmaq oral histories have challenged that description and point to links between the two peoples.
Why this is correct: Paragraph A says she has long been called the last of the Beothuk, but Mi'kmaq oral histories have challenged that description. Calling her the last means no one outlived her, and to challenge a claim is to dispute it.
Tips: Find where she is described as the final Beothuk. Then check whether the same sentence says someone questioned it.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: The second paragraph says the women could find no survivors of their own group in 1823. But it reports no disagreement about her being the last.
- C: Notice that paragraph C tells us she described her people's final years. It does not raise any doubt about calling her the last.
- D: In paragraph D, the writer covers her 2000 designation as a National Historic Person and her statue. It says nothing about a debate over her place in history.
- E: The debate appears at the end of Paragraph A, where Mi'kmaq oral histories question calling her the last of the Beothuk.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: Shanawdithit, whose name is also written Shawnadithit, was a Beothuk woman born in about 1801.
Why this is correct: Look at paragraph A: it says she was born in about 1801. The year 1801 is at the very start of the nineteenth century, and 'about' matches 'around' in the statement.
Tips: Find where her birth is given. Then check whether that time fits the start of the nineteenth century.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: Look at paragraph B: it starts with her childhood. But the first year it gives is 1819, not the year she was born.
- C: The third paragraph begins in September 1828, when she was an adult living in St. John's.
- D: Notice that paragraph D records when she died, in June 1829, and her national honour in 2000. But her birth year is not there.
- E: Her approximate birth year is stated at the beginning of Paragraph A.
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