Modern Canada

The first 10 questions, with answers

Open a question to see the answer and the explanation.

1. 1. In what year was oil discovered in Alberta, launching Canada's modern energy industry?

   • 1947
   • 1961
   • 1952
   • 1937

   Answer: 1947. The Alberta oil strike of 1947 opened up large-scale petroleum production and reshaped the western economy.

2. 2. True or False: By 1951, for the first time, a majority of Canadians could afford adequate food, shelter and clothing.

   • True
   • False

   Answer: True. The post-war boom raised living standards so quickly that by the early 1950s most Canadian families could meet their basic needs.

3. 3. What name is given to the period of rapid social and political change in Quebec during the 1960s?

   • The October Crisis
   • The Quiet Revolution
   • The Great Coalition
   • The Patriote Rebellion

   Answer: The Quiet Revolution. During the 1960s Quebec society and government were transformed quickly and largely without violence, and a movement for independence took shape at the same time.

4. 4. What did the Official Languages Act of 1969 accomplish?

   • It required every province to run bilingual school systems
   • It recognized Inuktitut as an official language of the North
   • It gave English and French equal status in the federal government
   • It made French the only official language of Quebec

   Answer: It gave English and French equal status in the federal government. Since 1969 Canadians have had the right to deal with the federal government in either English or French.

5. 5. In which conflict of 1950–53 did tens of thousands of Canadians serve as part of a United Nations force?

   • The Gulf War
   • The Vietnam War
   • The Suez Crisis
   • The Korean War

   Answer: The Korean War. Canadian forces fought under UN command after communist North Korea invaded the south, and more than 500 Canadians were killed.

6. 6. According to the official study guide, approximately how many Canadians died in the Korean War?

   • 500
   • 2,500
   • 100
   • 1,000

   Answer: 500. The guide records 500 Canadian dead and 1,000 wounded in the Korean War of 1950-53.

   Since the guide was written: Veterans Affairs Canada and most histories give 516 Canadian deaths; the study guide rounds to 500, and the test follows the guide.

7. 7. Which two Canadians are credited with the discovery of insulin, the life-saving treatment for diabetes?

   • Wilder Penfield and John Hopps
   • Frederick Banting and Charles Best
   • Sandford Fleming and Abraham Gesner
   • Norman Bethune and Balfour Mount

   Answer: Frederick Banting and Charles Best. Banting and Best's discovery of insulin in the 1920s has since saved millions of lives around the world.

8. 8. Which Canadian invented the worldwide system of standard time zones?

   • Reginald Fessenden
   • Alexander Graham Bell
   • Sir Sandford Fleming
   • Sir Frederick Banting

   Answer: Sir Sandford Fleming. Fleming, an engineer who also helped plan Canada's railways, proposed dividing the globe into standard time zones.

9. 9. Joseph-Armand Bombardier is remembered as the Canadian inventor of which machine?

   • The electron microscope
   • The electric wheelchair
   • The cardiac pacemaker
   • The snowmobile

   Answer: The snowmobile. Bombardier's snowmobile transformed winter travel and grew into one of Quebec's best-known manufacturing companies.

10. 10. Which Canadian doctor was a pioneer of brain surgery and founder of the Montreal Neurological Institute?

    • Dr. Wilder Penfield
    • Dr. Norman Bethune
    • Dr. Frederick Banting
    • Dr. Balfour Mount

    Answer: Dr. Wilder Penfield. Penfield's work on the brain in Montreal earned him a reputation in his lifetime as one of the greatest of all Canadians.

23 more questions in this chapter open with a free account.