Agnes Macphail: from a rural classroom to two parliaments

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CELPIP Practice Reading: Reading for Information ID: #63119 Easy Agnes Macphail: from a rural classroom to two parliaments

Read the following passage.

A. Agnes Macphail was born on March 24, 1890, in a three-room log house in Proton Township, Grey County, Ontario. She was the eldest of three daughters in a family of Scottish descent. At fourteen, it seemed that her schooling was over, but she later trained as a teacher at the normal school in Stratford. She taught in several rural one-room schools in Ontario and, for a short time, in Alberta. In her classroom she used the books of Nellie McClung, a writer who also came from Grey County.

B. Macphail won the United Farmers nomination in Grey Southeast, Ontario, against ten men. Her campaign had a budget of $600, raised mostly through one-dollar donations, and she gave 55 speeches on farm and labour issues. In the federal election of 1921, she became the first woman elected to Canada's House of Commons. When she took her seat on March 8, 1922, the other 234 members were all men. Newspapers watched her closely, and she later said that even her simplest remarks ended up in the papers.

C. In the House of Commons, Macphail sat as a Progressive and spoke for disarmament and social welfare. From her first years there, she pushed for changes to Canada's prisons, including an independent parole board and the chance of parole for all offenders. After a change of government in 1935, a royal commission led by Justice Joseph Archambault studied the penitentiaries. Its 1938 report confirmed much of what she had been saying. In 1929 she became the first Canadian woman delegate to the League of Nations, and in 1932 she helped to found the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF).

D. Macphail lost her federal seat in 1940 and turned to Ontario politics. In 1943 she won the riding of York East for the CCF and became one of the first two women in the Ontario legislature. She was defeated in 1945 but returned to the legislature in 1948. During that second term she played a key part in passing the Employees Fair Remuneration Act of 1951. This measure became Ontario's first equal pay law.

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.

ABCDE

- 1. To be chosen as a candidate, she first had to beat many male rivals.

ABCDE

- 2. After her time as a federal member ended, she won a seat in the legislature of Ontario.

ABCDE

- 3. Before entering politics, she worked as a teacher in small country schools.

ABCDE

- 4. She won her first federal election by a very wide margin of votes.

ABCDE

- 5. She was younger than the other Canadians who went to the League with her.

ABCDE

- 6. Most of the money for her first campaign came from very small gifts.

ABCDE

- 7. She had an important role in getting Ontario's earliest equal pay law approved.

ABCDE

- 8. She wanted every prisoner to have the possibility of being let out early.

ABCDE

- 9. She moved into politics in Ontario because she wanted to work on laws for women.

A.I. Explanation:

Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: Macphail won the United Farmers nomination in Grey Southeast, Ontario, against ten men.
Why this is correct: Look at paragraph B: it says she won the United Farmers nomination in Grey Southeast against ten men. Winning a nomination means being chosen as the party's candidate, and the ten men were her rivals.
Tips: She wins more than once. Ask which win made her a 'candidate', and check how many people she had to 'beat'.
Why the other options are wrong:
A: Notice that paragraph A is about her childhood and her teaching years. She was not yet running for anything.
C: Paragraph C covers her work in the Commons on prisons and the League. No contest for a nomination is there.
D: The fourth paragraph tells of her Ontario elections in 1943 and 1948, but not of beating male rivals to become a candidate.
E: The contest against ten men for the United Farmers nomination opens Paragraph B.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: In 1943 she won the riding of York East for the CCF and became one of the first two women in the Ontario legislature.
Why this is correct: Notice that paragraph D says she lost her federal seat in 1940. Then, in 1943, she won York East and became one of the first two women in the Ontario legislature.
Tips: Notice 'legislature of Ontario': a seat there, not in the House of Commons.
Why the other options are wrong:
A: In paragraph A, the writer mentions Ontario only as the place where she was born and taught school.
B: Paragraph B is about winning a federal seat in 1921, in the House of Commons, not a seat in the Ontario legislature.
C: Look at paragraph C: it describes her federal work and the founding of the CCF, but no election in Ontario.
E: Her move from the federal House to the Ontario legislature is explained in the first two sentences of Paragraph D.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: She taught in several rural one-room schools in Ontario and, for a short time, in Alberta.
Why this is correct: The first paragraph says she trained as a teacher and taught in several rural one-room schools in Ontario and Alberta. 'Small country schools' means the same as 'rural one-room schools'.
Tips: Look at her life 'before entering politics'. Check what work she did, and what kind of schools they were.
Why the other options are wrong:
B: Notice that paragraph B begins with her first nomination and election. Her old job is not described there.
C: Look at paragraph C: it deals with her ideas on prisons and her work at the League of Nations, not with teaching.
D: In paragraph D, the writer follows her career in Ontario politics and an equal pay law. No schools are mentioned.
E: Her training at Stratford and her years in one-room schools are described in Paragraph A.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: In the federal election of 1921, she became the first woman elected to Canada's House of Commons.
Why this is correct: Paragraph B gives the year of her win, her $600 budget and her 55 speeches. It does not say how many votes she received or how big her lead was.
Tips: Numbers in a paragraph are not always the number you need. Check what each one counts.
Why the other options are wrong:
A: The first paragraph ends before her political life begins, so no election result can be found there.
B: Notice that paragraph B has other numbers, the budget and the speeches, but no vote count or margin.
C: Notice that paragraph C is about her ideas in the Commons, not about how she won her seat.
D: Paragraph D reports wins in 1943 and 1948 without numbers, and it does not discuss 1921.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: In 1929 she became the first Canadian woman delegate to the League of Nations, and in 1932 she helped to found the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF).
Why this is correct: Look at paragraph C: it says that in 1929 she became the first Canadian woman delegate to the League of Nations. It says nothing about her age or about the other people who went, so no comparison is possible.
Tips: The statement is about her age compared with others. Check whether the writer compares ages at all.
Why the other options are wrong:
A: The first paragraph gives her birth date, but it never connects her age to the League of Nations.
B: Notice that paragraph B compares her with the 234 men in the Commons, not with anyone sent to the League.
C: Look at paragraph C: it calls her the first Canadian woman delegate. Being first is not the same as being youngest.
D: Notice that paragraph D is about Ontario politics in the 1940s and says nothing about the League.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: Her campaign had a budget of $600, raised mostly through one-dollar donations, and she gave 55 speeches on farm and labour issues.
Why this is correct: Paragraph B says her campaign budget of $600 was raised mostly through one-dollar donations. One dollar is a very small gift, so most of the money came from small gifts.
Tips: Find where the money for her campaign is described. Then check how big each gift was.
Why the other options are wrong:
A: The first paragraph describes her family's log house. It says nothing about money for a campaign.
C: Notice that paragraph C covers her causes in the Commons. Campaign funds are not discussed.
D: In paragraph D, the writer names her wins in Ontario and a pay law, but not how any campaign was paid for.
E: Paragraph B reports the $600 budget and says it came mostly from one-dollar donations.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: During that second term she played a key part in passing the Employees Fair Remuneration Act of 1951. This measure became Ontario's first equal pay law.
Why this is correct: Look at paragraph D: she played a key part in passing the Employees Fair Remuneration Act of 1951. This measure became Ontario's first equal pay law. 'An important role' matches 'a key part', 'getting it approved' matches 'passing', and 'earliest' matches 'first'.
Tips: Look for the purpose of the law: 'equal pay' is the key idea.
Why the other options are wrong:
A: The first paragraph is about her early years, long before she worked on any law.
B: Notice that paragraph B tells of her first election and life in the Commons. No pay law appears.
C: Look at paragraph C: it discusses prison reform and a royal commission report, a different area of law.
E: The Employees Fair Remuneration Act and its place as Ontario's first equal pay law close Paragraph D.
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: From her first years there, she pushed for changes to Canada's prisons, including an independent parole board and the chance of parole for all offenders.
Why this is correct: In paragraph C, the writer says she pushed for changes to Canada's prisons, including the chance of parole for all offenders. Parole means being let out early, and 'all offenders' in the prisons means every prisoner.
Tips: The statement is about her hopes for every prisoner. Check what she wanted for all of them, and that it was about being let out early.
Why the other options are wrong:
A: Paragraph A is about her schooling and teaching. Prisons are not mentioned.
B: The second paragraph describes her arrival in the Commons and the press watching her, not her ideas on prisons.
D: Notice that paragraph D speaks of a law about pay, not about releasing prisoners.
E: Her call for parole to be open to all offenders is part of the second sentence of Paragraph C.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: Macphail lost her federal seat in 1940 and turned to Ontario politics.
Why this is correct: In paragraph D, the writer says she lost her federal seat in 1940 and turned to Ontario politics. It does not say why she made this move, so the reason in the statement is not given.
Tips: The statement gives a reason for her move. Check whether the writer says why she moved.
Why the other options are wrong:
A: Paragraph A covers her birth and school days, decades before her move into Ontario politics.
B: Look at paragraph B: it deals with her first federal campaign in 1921 and has nothing on a later move.
C: The third paragraph describes her federal causes, such as prisons and disarmament, not a reason for leaving the Commons.
D: Notice that paragraph D reports the move and later the equal pay law, but it never links the two as her reason.

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