Read the following passage.
A. Sandford Fleming is best remembered for helping the world agree on standard time. In his day most towns kept their own local time, and as railways spread, train schedules became hard to manage. In 1879 Fleming wrote a report that treated the problem on a global scale. That same year Cleveland Abbe, chief of the United States Weather Service, independently came up with a similar scheme, and the two men joined forces. On November 18, 1883, the railways of North America adopted one-hour time zones. An international conference in 1884 accepted Fleming's main points, but each country was left to decide for itself.
B. Fleming was born in 1827 in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, and in 1845 he moved to Upper Canada with his brother David and a cousin. To make money at first, he prepared maps of towns such as Peterborough, Hamilton and Toronto. In June 1849 he was one of the founders of the Canadian Institute in Toronto, an early professional society for architects, surveyors and engineers. Two years later he designed Canada's first postage stamp. It showed a beaver, and it did much to make the animal known as a Canadian emblem.
C. His largest projects were railways. After Confederation, the new federal government made him engineer-in-chief of the Intercolonial Railway, a post he held until 1876. When the railway commissioners wanted timber bridges, he insisted on stone and iron, and his view prevailed. In 1871 he also became chief engineer of the planned Pacific railway, and the following summer he crossed the country to see the possible routes for himself. His friend George Monro Grant wrote a best-selling book about the trip. In May 1880, however, the minister Charles Tupper dismissed him, because his independent and outspoken views had made him a political liability.
D. Fleming remained busy in later life. From December 1879 until his death he was chancellor of Queen's College in Kingston, where he argued for putting science at the centre of university education. For years he pressed governments to lay a telegraph cable across the Pacific, and in 1902 a cable linking Vancouver with New Zealand and Australia was completed. In the famous photograph of the last spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway, taken in November 1885, the tall man in the top hat is Fleming. He was knighted in 1897 and died in Halifax in 1915.
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: The fourth paragraph says he spent years pushing governments to lay a telegraph cable across the Pacific. The cable was completed in 1902. A telegraph cable is a communication link, and 1902 is just after 1900.
Passage Reference: For years he pressed governments to lay a telegraph cable across the Pacific, and in 1902 a cable linking Vancouver with New Zealand and Australia was completed.
Tips: Several projects linked distant places. Ask which one he campaigned for, and check that it was finished soon after 1900.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph is about time zones, an idea that connects clocks, not a physical line that carries messages across an ocean.
- B: The second paragraph mentions a postage stamp from 1851, which has to do with mail, but no project finished after 1900.
- C: Paragraph C covers railway work in the 1860s and 1870s. A railway is a transport link, not a telegraph line.
- E: The Pacific cable and its 1902 completion are reported in Paragraph D, so the passage does contain this.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: An international conference in 1884 accepted Fleming's main points, but each country was left to decide for itself.
Why this is correct: Notice that paragraph A tells us that a conference in 1884 accepted Fleming's main points. It does not say who called the meeting or that Fleming lobbied American politicians to hold it. That part is missing.
Tips: The statement says who got the conference started. Ask whether the text says who called it, and how.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A reports what the 1884 conference decided about his ideas. But it never says who organized the meeting or who asked for it.
- B: The second paragraph covers his move to Upper Canada, his maps and the beaver stamp. There is no conference in it.
- C: Notice that paragraph C describes his railway posts and his dismissal by a Canadian minister, not any dealings with American lawmakers.
- D: The fourth paragraph talks about governments and the Pacific cable, but not about a meeting on time or who arranged it.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: Fleming was born in 1827 in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, and in 1845 he moved to Upper Canada with his brother David and a cousin.
Why this is correct: Notice that paragraph B gives his birthplace in Scotland, his move in 1845 and his work drawing maps in Canada. It says nothing about any training he had before he left Scotland.
Tips: Being born in Scotland is not the same as being trained there. Look for any teacher or schooling.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Look at paragraph A: it deals with his time-zone report of 1879 and later decisions, long after he left Scotland.
- B: The second paragraph starts with his Scottish birth and his move to Canada. But it skips any teacher or schooling he had there.
- C: The third paragraph calls him an engineer on Canadian railways, yet it does not say where or how he learned the trade.
- D: His later life at Queen's and the Pacific cable fill paragraph D. His early education is not part of it.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: In June 1849 he was one of the founders of the Canadian Institute in Toronto, an early professional society for architects, surveyors and engineers.
Why this is correct: In paragraph B, you read that in June 1849 he was one of the founders of the Canadian Institute. This was a society for architects, surveyors and engineers. He was born in 1827, so he was about twenty-two.
Tips: Use his birth year to work out his early twenties. Then look for a group he helped to start.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Look at paragraph A: it mentions the United States Weather Service, but he did not found it. Abbe was its chief.
- C: Notice that paragraph C mentions railway commissioners, a group he argued with in his forties, not one he helped to create.
- D: The fourth paragraph has him leading Queen's College from 1879, when he was in his fifties, and he did not start it.
- E: The founding of the Canadian Institute in 1849 is reported in Paragraph B, with its members listed.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: He was knighted in 1897 and died in Halifax in 1915.
Why this is correct: The fourth paragraph mentions both the Pacific cable and the fact that he was knighted in 1897, but it never connects them. The reason for the honour is not given anywhere.
Tips: The statement is about a cause: the long campaign led to the knighthood. Read what the text says about each one, and ask whether the writer connects them as cause and result.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Standard time is the topic of paragraph A. It gives no honours at all.
- B: The second paragraph follows his early years in Canada and the stamp. No title or award appears there.
- C: Notice that paragraph C describes his railway posts and dismissal, with no mention of a knighthood.
- D: The fourth paragraph names the cable and the knighthood in separate sentences, but it never says one caused the other.
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: In May 1880, however, the minister Charles Tupper dismissed him, because his independent and outspoken views had made him a political liability.
Why this is correct: Look at paragraph C: the minister Charles Tupper dismissed him in 1880. His independent and outspoken views had made him a political liability. Frank opinions are outspoken views, and being a liability means causing problems.
Tips: He held several posts. Find the one he lost, and check whether the reason was his own opinions.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph says a conference left each country to decide for itself. Nobody loses a job there.
- B: In paragraph B he starts out drawing maps. The paragraph contains no firing or quarrel.
- D: Paragraph D mentions governments he pressed about the cable, but he was not removed from any post. He stayed chancellor until his death.
- E: Tupper's decision to dismiss him in 1880, and the reason for it, appear in Paragraph C.
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: When the railway commissioners wanted timber bridges, he insisted on stone and iron, and his view prevailed.
Why this is correct: Notice that paragraph C explains that the railway commissioners wanted timber bridges, while he insisted on stone and iron. It adds that his view prevailed, which means he won the argument.
Tips: Find the structures and the materials people argued about. Then check which side won.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph describes a disagreement over time that each country settled for itself, not a building question.
- B: Look at paragraph B: it lists the professions in the Canadian Institute, but no argument about bridges.
- D: A railway's last spike turns up in paragraph D, as a moment in a photograph. That is not a quarrel over materials.
- E: Stone, iron and timber bridges are all discussed in Paragraph C, where he gets his way.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: From December 1879 until his death he was chancellor of Queen's College in Kingston, where he argued for putting science at the centre of university education.
Why this is correct: The fourth paragraph says he was chancellor of Queen's College from December 1879 until his death. The last sentence gives his death as 1915. That is about thirty-five years.
Tips: Find the 'senior post at a university'. Work out when it started and when it ended, then check that the gap is 'more than three decades'.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A covers his 1879 time report. A report is a piece of work, not a post held for years.
- B: The second paragraph mentions the Canadian Institute, a professional society, not a university.
- C: The third paragraph gives two railway posts. The Intercolonial one lasted until 1876, well short of thirty years.
- E: His time as chancellor of Queen's is given in Paragraph D, with dates that add up to more than thirty years.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: That same year Cleveland Abbe, chief of the United States Weather Service, independently came up with a similar scheme, and the two men joined forces.
Why this is correct: The first paragraph says that in 1879, the year of Fleming's report, Cleveland Abbe independently came up with a similar scheme. 'Independently' means working on his own, and a scheme is a plan.
Tips: Other people are named in several paragraphs. Ask which one produced a plan like Fleming's.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: The second paragraph names his brother David and a cousin, who came to Canada with him, not anyone who wrote a plan.
- C: Notice that paragraph C names George Monro Grant, who wrote a book about a railway trip, not about time.
- D: The fourth paragraph describes a photograph with other railway figures, but no second plan for time.
- E: Cleveland Abbe's separate scheme from 1879 is described in Paragraph A.
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