All English 4U · Reading Skill Drill
Matching Information
Find where a specific piece of information sits in the passage. For each item, scan the paragraphs and choose the letter of the one that contains it – then see exactly why.
How to find information fast
- Scan, don’t read. You are hunting for one specific detail, not the main idea – let your eyes run down the text for names, numbers and keywords.
- Match the meaning. The information is reworded in the question, so look for the idea, not the exact words.
- Letters can repeat. A paragraph may be the answer more than once, and some paragraphs may not be used at all.
Reading Passage
AFor thousands of years, the European eel was one of nature’s great puzzles. These snake-like fish were common in the continent’s rivers, yet no one had ever found a young eel or a pregnant one, and their origins were a mystery. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, unable to explain where they came from, concluded that eels simply arose from mud. The truth would remain hidden for more than two thousand years.
BThe breakthrough came in the early twentieth century, thanks to the patient work of a Danish scientist named Johannes Schmidt. For nearly two decades he sailed the Atlantic, netting the tiny, transparent larvae of eels and recording where the smallest ones were found. Slowly, the trail led him to a single, astonishing conclusion: every European eel begins life in the Sargasso Sea, a still, weed-filled region of the western Atlantic thousands of kilometres from Europe.
CFrom there, the leaf-shaped larvae drift eastward on ocean currents, a voyage that may take up to three years. As they approach the coasts of Europe, they change into slender, see-through “glass eels” and push their way up rivers and streams, often travelling far inland.
DIn fresh water the eels enter their longest phase. Now known as “yellow eels”, they settle in rivers, lakes and ditches, where they may live and grow for as long as twenty years, or in some cases far longer. During this time they feed and put on the reserves of fat they will later need.
EEventually the urge to breed transforms them once more. Their bodies turn silver, their eyes enlarge for life in the deep ocean, and – remarkably – their digestive systems shut down, for they will never eat again. These “silver eels” then swim all the way back to the Sargasso Sea, a journey of thousands of kilometres, to spawn and die.
FToday this ancient cycle is under threat. Eel numbers have collapsed across Europe, falling by more than ninety per cent in a few decades. Dams and weirs block the eels’ path upstream, overfishing has taken a heavy toll, and shifting ocean currents may be scattering the larvae. The European eel is now classified as critically endangered.
Questions 1–5
The passage has six paragraphs, A–F. In which paragraph does the writer mention each of the following? Choose the correct letter, A–F.
Answer key & explanations
| Q | Para | Why |
|---|