Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: A pair usually has two eggs, which hatch after 29 to 30 days, but usually only one chick survives.
Why this is correct: Look at paragraph B: it says a pair usually has two eggs, but usually only one chick survives. A chick is a young bird, so most pairs end up raising one.
Tips: In paragraph C, the writer also talks about one egg in each nest. Ask which paragraph describes chicks that survive.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A traces the fall in numbers up to 1950. The young raised by each pair are never counted there.
- C: The third paragraph mentions one egg taken from each two-egg nest, which is about scientists collecting eggs, not how many chicks live.
- D: Notice that paragraph D gives counts for the whole flock, not the number of young per pair.
- E: The two eggs and the single chick that usually survives are described in Paragraph B.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: That flock nests in and near Wood Buffalo National Park, close to the border between Alberta and the Northwest Territories, and spends the winter on the coast of Texas, nearly 4,000 kilometres away.
Why this is correct: Paragraph B says the flock spends the winter on the coast of Texas. That is nearly 4,000 kilometres from its nesting area. It gives the distance of the trip, but it never says how large the winter area is.
Tips: A distance is not an area. Check whether any paragraph measures the winter grounds.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A is about the fall in numbers and names Louisiana, not the size of the Texas range.
- B: The Texas coast is named in Paragraph B as the winter home. But only the distance to it is measured, not its area.
- C: Look at paragraph C: it lists places where eggs were taken or sent, and Texas is not one of them.
- D: The fourth paragraph warns about ship traffic in the Texas winter range, but it does not say how big that range is.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: Power lines remain a danger, and several whooping cranes have died after flying into overhead wires.
Why this is correct: Notice that paragraph D says power lines remain a danger and that several whooping cranes have died after flying into overhead wires. Power lines are electrical cables, and dying after flying into them means being killed.
Tips: Match 'electrical cables' with 'power lines' and 'overhead wires'.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Look at paragraph A: it gives hunting and a storm as past causes of loss, not collisions with wires.
- B: In paragraph B, the writer describes long nonstop flights, and nothing the birds might crash into is mentioned.
- C: Paragraph C is about eggs and captive breeding, with nothing about deaths in flight.
- E: Deaths after flying into overhead wires are reported in Paragraph D.
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: From 1975 to 1989 another 200 eggs were placed in the nests of sandhill cranes in Idaho, but the whooping cranes raised by these foster parents never paired and raised young of their own.
Why this is correct: The third paragraph says another 200 eggs were placed in the nests of sandhill cranes in Idaho from 1975 to 1989. The young whooping cranes were raised by these foster parents. Sandhill cranes are a different kind of crane.
Tips: Look for the words 'foster parents' and the other kind of crane.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Notice that paragraph A describes the wild population falling, and no other bird raises the young there.
- B: In paragraph B, the writer shows young cranes travelling south with their own families, not with other birds.
- D: Paragraph D is about the flock's growth and today's dangers, not about foster parents.
- E: The sandhill cranes that raised young whooping cranes appear in Paragraph C.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: In the fall the families fly south, stopping for one to five weeks in Saskatchewan to feed on waste barley and wheat in stubble fields.
Why this is correct: Look at paragraph B: in the fall the families fly south. They stop for one to five weeks in Saskatchewan to feed on waste barley and wheat. Five weeks is more than a month, and feeding means eating.
Tips: The fourth paragraph also mentions places to feed on the route. Look for the one with a place name and a number of weeks.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Notice that paragraph A tells how numbers fell in the past, and Saskatchewan is not mentioned.
- C: Look at paragraph C: it names Maryland and Idaho, where eggs were taken, not a stop on the way south.
- D: Paragraph D says wetlands along the route give the birds places to feed. But it names no stopping place and no length of stay.
- E: The stop of one to five weeks in Saskatchewan is described in Paragraph B.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: They were protected by law in 1916, yet the population kept shrinking.
Why this is correct: Paragraph A says whooping cranes were protected by law in 1916, yet the population kept shrinking. So the law alone did not stop the fall in numbers.
Tips: Look for the word 'yet', which shows the law did not work.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: The second paragraph describes nesting and migration, with no law mentioned.
- C: Notice that paragraph C describes breeding programs run by wildlife services, which are not laws.
- D: Here, paragraph D says the species is still classified as endangered. But it does not say a law failed to stop a decline.
- E: The 1916 law and the continued fall in numbers are both in Paragraph A.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: In Texas, ship traffic through the winter range could lead to a spillage of oil or chemicals, and boat traffic causes erosion of shorelines.
Why this is correct: Paragraph D says that in Texas, ship traffic through the winter range could lead to a spillage of oil or chemicals. Ships are vessels, and spilled oil or chemicals would pollute the water.
Tips: Two paragraphs mention Texas. Only one of them warns about ships.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Look at paragraph A: it names a storm as the danger that ended the Louisiana group, not ships.
- B: The second paragraph names the Texas coast as the winter home, but it mentions no ships or pollution.
- C: Notice that paragraph C is about breeding programs and says nothing about the winter range.
- E: The danger of oil or chemicals spilling from ships in the Texas winter range is in Paragraph D.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: From 1975 to 1989 another 200 eggs were placed in the nests of sandhill cranes in Idaho, but the whooping cranes raised by these foster parents never paired and raised young of their own.
Why this is correct: Look at paragraph C. The whooping cranes raised by sandhill cranes in Idaho never paired or raised young of their own. The story ends there: the passage never says those birds travelled to Wood Buffalo or joined the flock.
Tips: The statement adds a later step. Check whether the passage follows the Idaho birds any further.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Notice that paragraph A ends with a single migrating flock left in 1950, long before the foster program.
- B: Paragraph B describes the flock at Wood Buffalo, but no birds from Idaho are said to arrive there.
- C: The Idaho experiment is in Paragraph C, but the story stops at the failure to pair, with no later move.
- D: The fourth paragraph gives the growth of the wild flock. But it does not say any of the new birds came from Idaho.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: A pair usually has two eggs, which hatch after 29 to 30 days, but usually only one chick survives.
Why this is correct: Notice that paragraph B says a pair usually has two eggs, which hatch after 29 to 30 days. Hatching is breaking out of the shell, and 29 to 30 days is about a month.
Tips: In paragraph C, the writer also mentions hatching. Look for a number of days.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A gives years such as 1860, 1916 and 1941, but no time for eggs to hatch.
- C: Look at paragraph C: it says adults still hatched the egg left in the nest, but it gives no number of days.
- D: The fourth paragraph counts birds from 1967 to 2021, not days in the egg.
- E: The hatching time of 29 to 30 days is given in Paragraph B.
