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CELPIP Practice Reading: Reading for Information ID: #60164 Easy Hopewell Rocks and the Bay of Fundy tides

Read the following passage.

A. The Hopewell Rocks are tall stone pillars on the shore of the Bay of Fundy at Hopewell Cape, on the southern coast of New Brunswick. Trees grow on the tops of many of them, and for this reason they are also called the Flowerpot Rocks. The pillars stand inside a provincial park that was set up in 1958 and covers about 120 hectares. Visitors can look down on them from the top of the cliffs. When the tide is low, they can also go down to the shore and walk among them on the floor of the bay.

B. The Mi'kmaq tell a story about how the rocks began. In this legend, great whales in the Bay of Fundy kept people as slaves, and when the people ran for the shore to escape, the angry whales turned them to stone. Geologists give another explanation. Nearly 300 million years ago, fast streams carried sand and pebbles from the nearby Caledonia Mountains, and these layers slowly became conglomerate and sandstone. Later the rock was tilted and broken by vertical cracks, which explains the rough rectangular shape of the pillars. About ten thousand years ago, meltwater from the last glaciers cut the pillars away from the cliffs.

C. The rocks are still changing. Tides, rain and wind keep wearing away the cliffs, which slowly creates new pillars, while older ones are eventually knocked over. On March 14, 2016, soon after the tide went out, a large piece of Elephant Rock broke away. Park officials estimated that 100 to 200 tonnes of rock fell, and the fallen stone closed a passage where visitors used to walk. Elephant Rock is one of the three formations shown on New Brunswick's medicare card. Each year before the park opens, specialists check the cliffs and knock down loose rock.

D. A visit depends on the tides. An admission ticket is valid for two consecutive days, so people can see both high and low tide. Visitors are asked to check the tide times before they explore the ocean floor. From the main deck, 99 stairs lead down to the shore, and a ramp is also available, although many people find the floor too hard to cross in a wheelchair. Swimming is not permitted, and the rocks on the beach are often slippery. When the park is closed for the season, entry is not allowed, because the tides rise quickly and rockfalls are more likely in winter and spring.

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.

- 1.
Local residents campaigned for the park to be created in the late 1950s.

- 2.
Every year, trained experts go over the cliff faces to clear away unstable stone.

- 3.
According to a Mi'kmaq tale, the rocks were once human beings.

- 4.
A huge chunk of one well-known rock came down shortly after the water had drawn back.

- 5.
Going for a swim is forbidden at this site.

- 6.
A single ticket lets visitors come on two days, one after the other.

- 7.
Because they are topped with trees, the pillars are known by a second name.

- 8.
Before its collapse, Elephant Rock was the tallest pillar in the park.

- 9.
Splits running straight up and down explain why the pillars look roughly box-shaped.

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