Read the following passage.
A. Outside cities, roads were rare in Canada until the 20th century, and travellers mostly used waterways, trails and railways. As automobiles spread, drivers wanted paved highways linking cities and provinces. In 1912 the Canadian Highway Association began urging the government to build a road system between the provinces and offered a medal to anyone who could cross the country entirely by car. That same year, the British journalist Thomas Wilby finished a cross-country car journey, but he had to use steamship ferries and rail cars in Northern Ontario, which had no connecting roads, so he could not claim the medal.
B. The Canadian Highway Act of 1919 left road building to the provinces, and the federal government only set road standards and paid a share of the cost. During the Great Depression it gave the provinces over $19 million for highway work to stimulate the economy. The real start came on 10 December 1949, when the government of Louis St-Laurent passed the law later known as the Trans-Canada Highway Act. It set standards and paid half the cost, and for some sections the federal share eventually grew to 90 per cent. The chosen route began in Victoria and ran east to St. John's, with ferries linking the islands.
C. The act set 1956 as the deadline, but talks with the provinces delayed work for years, and Quebec did not officially sign on until 1960. Saskatchewan was the first province to finish its section, in 1957. Between Sault Ste. Marie and Wawa, along Lake Superior, there were no roads at all, and crossing deep muskeg swamps took 25 bridges and tonnes of gravel. In Rogers Pass, avalanches were the problem, and builders answered with snowsheds and controlled slides. Prime Minister John Diefenbaker opened the highway at Rogers Pass on 3 September 1962, although one section in Newfoundland took until 1965.
D. Today the main route runs 7,821 kilometres, and with added routes such as the Yellowhead Highway, which runs from Winnipeg to Haida Gwaii, the network totals about 12,800 kilometres of paved road across 10 provinces. Rogers Pass shows how hard some parts are to keep open. In winter, traffic there can reach 4,000 motor vehicles a day, and more than 130 avalanche paths cross the road. Parks Canada watches the snow, and Canadian Armed Forces gun crews fire from 17 positions along the highway to bring down small, controlled avalanches. The road is closed before each shoot, and it reopens once the fallen snow has been cleared.
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: Paragraph C says talks with the provinces delayed work for years. Quebec did not officially sign on until 1960. That was well after the 1956 deadline named in the same paragraph.
Passage Reference: The act set 1956 as the deadline, but talks with the provinces delayed work for years, and Quebec did not officially sign on until 1960.
Tips: Find why the work fell behind. Then check which province joined late and how many years late it was.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A has a group urging the government to act in 1912, but no province joins late or holds up the work.
- B: Paragraph B explains how costs were shared between Ottawa and the provinces. It does not say any province joined late.
- D: Paragraph D describes the finished network and winter work at Rogers Pass, long after the building delays.
- E: Quebec signing on in 1960 and the delayed work are both reported in Paragraph C.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: Parks Canada watches the snow, and Canadian Armed Forces gun crews fire from 17 positions along the highway to bring down small, controlled avalanches.
Why this is correct: Paragraph D says Canadian Armed Forces gun crews fire from 17 positions at Rogers Pass to bring down small, controlled avalanches. The armed forces are the military, and this work makes the pass safer in winter.
Tips: Avalanches come up twice. Ask which mention names who does the work today, not who built the road.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A tells of early car trips and a medal, with no one keeping any road safe.
- B: Paragraph B is about laws and money for the highway. The military does not appear there.
- C: The third paragraph also mentions controlled slides at Rogers Pass. But it credits the builders of the 1950s and 1960s, not the military.
- E: The armed forces' gun crews at Rogers Pass are described in Paragraph D.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: In Rogers Pass, avalanches were the problem, and builders answered with snowsheds and controlled slides.
Why this is correct: Paragraph C describes the problems at Lake Superior and at Rogers Pass. It gives no building time for either place, so it cannot say which one took longer.
Tips: The statement compares how long two stretches of road took. Check whether the writer gives a building time for either one.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph is set in 1912, long before either Rogers Pass or Lake Superior was built through.
- B: In paragraph B, the writer names the route's two ends but not these two hard sections.
- C: The third paragraph comes closest, because it covers both hard sections. How long each one took is never given.
- D: Look at paragraph D: it talks about Rogers Pass in winter today, not how long it took to build.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: The Canadian Highway Act of 1919 left road building to the provinces, and the federal government only set road standards and paid a share of the cost.
Why this is correct: Paragraph B says the 1919 act left road building to the provinces. The federal government only set standards and paid a share of the cost. Paying a share of the cost means paying part of the bill.
Tips: Find the 'federal government' and the roads. Check who did the building at first, and who only paid 'part of the bill'.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: In 1912, in paragraph A, a group urges the government to build roads. What the government then agreed to do is left out.
- C: The third paragraph covers the building work and its delays. Who paid is not discussed there.
- D: The network today is the subject of paragraph D, and it never mentions costs.
- E: The 1919 act, with the provinces building and Ottawa paying a share, opens Paragraph B.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: The chosen route began in Victoria and ran east to St. John's, with ferries linking the islands.
Why this is correct: Paragraph B says the chosen route began in Victoria and ran east to St. John's. It does not say who chose the route, and no engineers or committee are mentioned.
Tips: The statement names who made the decision, 'a committee of provincial engineers'. Check whether the text ever says who decided.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Notice that paragraph A has an association asking for roads in 1912, but it plans no route.
- B: Paragraph B mentions the chosen route, so it comes nearest. It never names the people who chose it.
- C: Look at paragraph C: it tells who opened the highway, Prime Minister Diefenbaker, not who planned its path.
- D: Notice that paragraph D describes the network and who keeps Rogers Pass open today. Route planning is not in it.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: Today the main route runs 7,821 kilometres, and with added routes such as the Yellowhead Highway, which runs from Winnipeg to Haida Gwaii, the network totals about 12,800 kilometres of paved road across 10 provinces.
Why this is correct: The fourth paragraph says the main route runs 7,821 kilometres, while the network with added routes totals about 12,800 kilometres. That is several thousand kilometres more.
Tips: Two lengths are given in the same sentence. Compare them.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A goes back to the time before the highway, when roads outside cities were rare.
- B: Notice that paragraph B names where the route begins and ends, but it gives no length.
- C: Notice that paragraph C gives dates, bridges and delays, but no length for the road or the network.
- E: The two lengths, 7,821 and about 12,800 kilometres, are compared in Paragraph D.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: During the Great Depression it gave the provinces over $19 million for highway work to stimulate the economy.
Why this is correct: Look at paragraph B. During the Great Depression, the federal government gave the provinces over $19 million for highway work to help the economy. Over 19 million dollars is money worth millions, and it came from the federal government.
Tips: Find the dollar amount and the period it belongs to.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Notice that paragraph A has a medal offered by the Canadian Highway Association, not money given to provinces.
- C: The third paragraph describes bridges and gravel in Ontario, but it gives no sums of money.
- D: The road's length and winter safety today make up paragraph D. No payment to provinces appears.
- E: The $19 million given during the Great Depression is in Paragraph B.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: That same year, the British journalist Thomas Wilby finished a cross-country car journey, but he had to use steamship ferries and rail cars in Northern Ontario, which had no connecting roads, so he could not claim the medal.
Why this is correct: The first paragraph says Thomas Wilby finished a cross-country car journey in 1912. But he had to use steamship ferries and rail cars in Northern Ontario. Ferries are boats and rail cars are trains.
Tips: Ferries appear twice. One belongs to the route, the other to a single traveller.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: Look at paragraph B: it mentions ferries that link the islands to the route, but no early driver's trip.
- C: In paragraph C, the writer describes Ontario's lack of roads near Lake Superior. But this is only a building problem, and no driver makes a journey there.
- D: Notice that paragraph D is about driving the network today and Rogers Pass in winter.
- E: Wilby's 1912 trip, with ferries and rail cars in Northern Ontario, is told in Paragraph A.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: In winter, traffic there can reach 4,000 motor vehicles a day, and more than 130 avalanche paths cross the road.
Why this is correct: The fourth paragraph says that in winter, traffic at Rogers Pass can reach 4,000 motor vehicles a day. Cars and trucks are motor vehicles, and 4,000 is several thousand.
Tips: Two places mention 'Rogers Pass'. Ask which one gives a count of 'cars and trucks' in a day.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Few roads existed in the time paragraph A covers, before Rogers Pass carried any cars.
- B: In paragraph B, the writer names the route's ends and funding, not traffic at Rogers Pass.
- C: Rogers Pass also appears in Paragraph C. But there it is a building problem and the place of the 1962 opening, with no traffic numbers.
- E: The figure of 4,000 motor vehicles a day at Rogers Pass is in Paragraph D.
The rest of this explanation is for members. Sign in free to read why the other options are wrong, key words and tips.
Sign in to read the full explanation