Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: As a teenager he lived in Harlem, New York, where he first found role models working in professions rather than manual labour.
Why this is correct: The first paragraph says that as a teenager he lived in Harlem, New York, and it tells us about his parents' jobs. It never gives a reason for the move, so the separation of his parents is not in the passage.
Tips: The passage says where he lived. Check whether it also says why he went.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph talks about both his parents and his time in Harlem, but it gives no reason why he went there.
- B: Paragraph B starts with his wartime factory work and his studies. His family life is not discussed.
- C: Notice that paragraph C is about his elections and his cabinet post, many years after his teenage years.
- D: The fourth paragraph covers his time as Lieutenant Governor and his later life. New York does not appear.
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: In 1979 he was appointed minister of labour, which made him the first Black Canadian to hold a federal cabinet post.
Why this is correct: In paragraph C, he was appointed minister of labour in 1979. This made him the first Black Canadian to hold a federal cabinet post. A minister of labour holds a federal minister's job, and he was the first Black Canadian to hold one.
Tips: Several 'firsts' appear in the text. Match 'labour' and 'federal' to the right one.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph describes the jobs his parents did, such as porter and maid, but none of them is a government post.
- B: The second paragraph gives a first of a different kind, that he was only the fifth lawyer of African descent in Ontario.
- D: Look at paragraph D: no Black Canadian had held a vice-regal role before him. But that was the Lieutenant Governor's post in Ontario in 1985, not a federal minister's job.
- E: Look at paragraph C: it names the 1979 appointment as labour minister and calls it a first.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: During the Second World War, Alexander worked as a machinist in a Hamilton factory that made anti-aircraft guns, and in 1942 he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force, a service that often kept out non-white recruits.
Why this is correct: The second paragraph says he worked as a machinist in a Hamilton factory that made anti-aircraft guns. Then, in 1942, he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force. Guns are weapons, and the factory work came first.
Tips: Look for a sentence that joins a factory job with the air force.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Notice that paragraph A lists his father's and mother's jobs, not work that he did himself in wartime.
- C: Notice that paragraph C starts in 1965 with his first election campaign, long after the war.
- D: The fourth paragraph covers his public roles from 1985 and his death in 2012.
- E: The gun factory and his move into the air force both appear in the first sentence of Paragraph B.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: In 1965 Alexander ran for a federal seat as a Conservative in Hamilton West, but he was defeated.
Why this is correct: Look at paragraph C: it says he ran in Hamilton West in 1965 and was defeated. It gives no vote count or margin, so we cannot tell whether the result was close.
Tips: The loss is stated. Ask whether any number or margin is given with it.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A is about his parents and his teenage years. He does not run for office there.
- B: Notice that paragraph B follows his war service, studies and law career, with no election at all.
- C: The 1965 defeat is in Paragraph C, but the paragraph says nothing about how close the vote was.
- D: The fourth paragraph describes an appointment he received in 1985, which did not involve any vote.
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: He was re-elected four times and served a total of 12 years.
Why this is correct: The third paragraph says he was re-elected four times and served a total of 12 years. Being re-elected means winning the seat again, and 12 years is more than ten.
Tips: Look at paragraph D: it also covers years of service. The statement needs elections and the Commons.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Look at paragraph A: it ends when he returns to Toronto in 1939, long before any election.
- B: Notice that paragraph B describes his years as a student and a lawyer, not as a member of the House of Commons.
- D: Notice that paragraph D gives other long periods of service, at the University of Guelph and as Lieutenant Governor, but no elections.
- E: The third paragraph says he was re-elected four times and served 12 years.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: As a teenager he lived in Harlem, New York, where he first found role models working in professions rather than manual labour.
Why this is correct: The first paragraph says that as a teenager he lived in Harlem, New York. There he first found role models working in professions rather than manual labour. Role models are people to look up to, professions are careers, and manual labour is physical work.
Tips: Match 'physical work' with 'manual labour' and find where he lived in his teens.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: The second paragraph shows him becoming a professional himself, as a lawyer, but it is set in Ontario, not in New York.
- C: Notice that paragraph C is about his political career in Canada from 1965.
- D: The fourth paragraph shows him as a role model for young people later in life, but he is not a teenager there.
- E: His time in Harlem and the role models he met there are in Paragraph A.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: After his term he was chancellor of the University of Guelph until 2007, and he was chair of the new Canadian Race Relations Foundation.
Why this is correct: Look at paragraph D: it says he served as chancellor of the University of Guelph until 2007. It does not compare his time in the post with anyone else's, so this is not given.
Tips: An end date is not a record. Look for words such as 'longest' or 'more than anyone'.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Look at paragraph A: it is about his early life in Toronto and Harlem. No university appears.
- B: Notice that paragraph B names McMaster University and Osgoode Hall, where he studied, not Guelph.
- C: The third paragraph gives the length of his time in the Commons, but nothing about a university post.
- D: His post at Guelph appears in Paragraph D, with an end date, but no comparison with earlier chancellors is made.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: He worked at other Hamilton law firms before helping to found the firm of Millar, Alexander, Tokiwa and Isaacs in 1962.
Why this is correct: The second paragraph says he worked at other Hamilton law firms first. Then he helped to found the firm of Millar, Alexander, Tokiwa and Isaacs in 1962. Helping to found it means he was one of its founders, and 1962 is in the early 1960s.
Tips: Notice that paragraph D also has him lead a new body. Check the date and the kind of organization.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph is about his childhood and teenage years, well before he studied law.
- C: Look at paragraph C: it begins in 1965 with politics. It does not describe his legal work.
- D: The fourth paragraph says he chaired a foundation later in life. But a foundation is not a law firm he started in the 1960s.
- E: Notice that paragraph B names the firm he helped to found in 1962.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: Since 2015, his birthday has been observed across Canada as Lincoln Alexander Day.
Why this is correct: The fourth paragraph ends by saying that since 2015 his birthday has been observed across Canada as Lincoln Alexander Day. Observed across Canada means the whole country marks it every year.
Tips: Paragraph A has his birth date. Look for the paragraph that turns that date into a yearly day in his name.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Look at paragraph A: it gives the date he was born, but not that the day is now marked in his name.
- B: Look at paragraph B: it names a law firm that carries his name, which is not a yearly day.
- C: Notice that paragraph C is about his elections and cabinet post, not honours after his death.
- E: Lincoln Alexander Day is named in the final sentence of Paragraph D.
