Question

Difficulty: MediumLiteral Comprehension and Fact Retrieval

Read the passage below carefully and evaluate the statement that follows:

In December 1964, construction of the Onitsha River Niger Bridge commenced under the supervision of the French firm Dumez. Spanning a length of 1,406 metres, the project was completed in December 1965 at an estimated cost of five million pounds. The bridge was officially commissioned for public use in January 1966 by the Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, establishing the first direct vehicular connection between Western and Eastern Nigeria and rendering the existing river ferry services redundant.

Statement: The Onitsha River Niger Bridge was officially commissioned for public use by Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa in December 1965.

Answer: Answer

Answer

The statement is False.
The statement is false because the passage explicitly records that while the construction of the bridge was completed in December 1965, its official commissioning by Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa occurred in January 1966.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the key claim in the statement to be verified.
The statement claims that official commissioning occurred in December 1965.
Literal comprehension requires isolating the specific date and action mentioned.
2
Locate the corresponding facts in the reading passage.
The passage states that the bridge was completed in December 1965, but officially commissioned in January 1966.
Direct fact retrieval requires matching the text details against the statement claim.
3
Evaluate the accuracy of the statement based on passage evidence.
The statement incorrectly attributes the commissioning event to the completion date (December 1965) rather than the actual commissioning date (January 1966).
Distinguishing between project completion and official commissioning resolves the truth value.

Key Concept

Literal Comprehension and Fact Retrieval
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