Read the following passage carefully. The passage is followed by four…
2022
Read the following passage carefully. The passage is followed by four questions based on it. Alternative answers have been given for each question. Select the most suitable answer from the alternatives.
In the 16th century, an age of great marine and terrestrial exploration, Ferdinand Magellan led the first expedition to sail around the world. As a young Portuguese noble, he served the king of Portugal, but became involved in the quagmire of political intrigue at court and lost the king's favor. After he was dismissed from service by the king of Portugal, he offered to serve the future Emperor Charles V of Spain.
A papal decree of 1493 had assigned all land in the New World west of 50 degrees W longitude to Spain and all the land east of that line to Portugal. Magellan offered to prove that the East Indies fell under Spanish authority. On September 20, 1519, Magellan set sail from Spain with five ships. More than a year later, one of these ships was exploring the topography of South America in search of a water route across the continent. This ship sank, but the remaining four ships searched along the southern peninsula of South America. Finally they found the passage they sought near 50 degrees S latitude. Magellan named this passage the Strait of All Saints, but today it is known as the Strait of Magellan.
One ship deserted while in this passage and returned to Spain, so fewer sailors were privileged to gaze at that first panorama of the Pacific Ocean. Those who remained crossed the meridian now known as the International Date Line in the early spring of 1521 after 98 days on the Pacific Ocean. During those long days at sea, many of Magellan's men died of starvation and disease.
Later, Magellan became involved in an insular conflict in the Philippines and was killed in a tribal battle. Only one ship and 17 sailors under the command of the Basque navigator Elcano survived to complete the westward journey to Spain and thus prove once and for all that the world is round, with no precipice at the edge.
Ques: Who led the first expedition to sail around the world?
- A.
Columbus
- B.
Magellan
- C.
Giordano Bruno
- D.
Fra Lippo Lippi
Attempted by 3 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Concept
A reading-comprehension factual question is answered by locating the exact statement in the passage that matches the question, not by outside knowledge or by what merely sounds famous. Scan the passage for the keyword or its synonym from the question stem, then read that sentence to lift the answer directly.
Application
The stem asks who led the first expedition to sail around the world. Scanning the passage for that phrase points to the opening sentence:
“Ferdinand Magellan led the first expedition to sail around the world.”
The passage states this explicitly, so the leader of that first round-the-world expedition is Magellan.
Cross-check / Contrast
Confirm against the rest of the passage and weigh the other names:
Magellan: named in the very first sentence as the leader of the expedition; the passage later traces his route and his death in the Philippines — a perfect match for the question.
Columbus: a famous explorer associated with reaching the New World, but he is never mentioned in this passage and did not circumnavigate the globe — a 'sounds-familiar' trap.
Giordano Bruno: a philosopher-astronomer of the era, not a navigator, and absent from the passage.
Fra Lippo Lippi: a Renaissance painter, unrelated to exploration and absent from the passage.
Note: Magellan himself died mid-voyage in the Philippines; Elcano brought the single surviving ship home. The question asks who LED the expedition, which the passage attributes to Magellan, so the answer remains Magellan.