Loading question...
You are in free guest mode. Timed Practice Revision List Attempt History Progress Tracking Create a free account to unlock these tools
Prev Next
CELPIP Practice Reading: Reading for Information ID: #63077 Easy Beavers: dams, wetlands, and a Canadian symbol

Read the following passage.

A. The beaver is the largest rodent in North America, and an adult usually weighs from 16 to 32 kilograms. On land it is slow and clumsy, but in water it is a strong and graceful swimmer, pushed along by its large webbed hind feet and steered by its flat tail, which works as a rudder. Its front teeth never stop growing, and their hard orange enamel keeps them sharp enough to cut down large trees. Few animals change their surroundings as much as the beaver, which builds dams, canals and lodges.

B. A beaver starts a dam by laying sticks and rocks across a stream where the current is fastest, then packs mud, stones and roots into the gaps. The pond behind the dam is deep enough not to freeze to the bottom, so the family can reach its lodge and its stored winter food under the ice. Beaver ponds help other wildlife too: they create wetlands that give animals food and shelter, slow the flow of water, keep soil from washing away and reduce both flooding and drought. The largest known beaver dam, in Wood Buffalo National Park, is almost 800 metres long.

C. No other animal has influenced Canada's history as much as the beaver. In the fur trade, beaver pelts were the most valuable of all, because felt hats made from the soft underfur were a sign of prestige, and the search for pelts led Europeans to explore vast areas of North America. At the peak of the trade, some two hundred thousand pelts a year were sold to European buyers. By the mid-1800s the beaver was almost extinct. It has been an emblem of Canada since at least the 17th century, and a beaver sitting on a log has been on the five-cent coin since 1937.

D. Today, thanks to many protections, beavers thrive across Canada again, and in some areas the question is how to prevent damage to farmland, roads and tree plantations. Dams can block streams and cause flooding, and beavers may cut down trees that people value. Alberta encourages landowners to keep beavers while limiting the damage. One tool is a pond leveller, a flexible pipe installed through a dam that lets water flow downstream; a cage at the end stops beavers from plugging it. In Alberta, it is against the law to disturb a dam near a lodge without a Damage Control Licence.

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.
A tube set into a dam can let water pass through it.

- 2.
Beavers can hold their breath under water for about a quarter of an hour.

- 3.
The beaver reshapes the land around it more than most animals do.

- 4.
A coin worth five cents has shown a beaver since the late 1930s.

- 5.
Out of the water, beavers move in a heavy, awkward way.

- 6.
Beaver skins were prized partly because fine caps made from them showed a person's high rank.

- 7.
Property owners in Alberta are urged to live with beavers but to reduce the harm they cause.

- 8.
Skin between the toes of its back feet helps the beaver swim.

- 9.
One beaver dam in a national park stretches for about four-fifths of a kilometre.

With a free account: Retry and compare every attempt.
Be the first! No community answers here yet — submit yours and help others learn.
Saving...