Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to the following question. The Alaska pipeline starts at the frozen edge of the Arctic Ocean. It stretches southward across the largest and northernmost state in the United States, ending at a remote ice-free seaport village nearly 800 miles from where it begins. It is massive in size and extremely complicated to operate. The steel pipe crosses windswept plains and endless miles of delicate tundra that tops the frozen ground. It weaves through crooked canyons, climbs sheer mountains, plunges over rocky crags, makes its way through thick forests, and passes over or under hundreds of rivers and streams. The pipe is 4 feet in diameter, and up to 2 million barrels (or 84 million gallons) of crude oil can be pumped through it daily. Resting on H-shaped steel racks called ""bents"", long sections of the pipeline follow a zigzag course high above the frozen earth. Other long sections drop out of sight beneath spongy or rocky ground and return to the surface later on. The pattern of the pipeline's up-and-down route is determined by the often harsh demands of the arctic and subarctic climate, the tortuous lay of the land, and the varied compositions of soil, rock, or permafrost (permanently frozen ground). A little more than half of the pipeline is elevated above the ground. The remainder is buried anywhere from 3 to 12 feet, depending largely upon the type of terrain and the properties of the soil. One of the largest in the world, the pipeline cost approximately $8 billion and is by far the biggest and most expensive construction project ever undertaken by private industry. In fact, no single business could raise that much money, so 8 major oil companies formed a consortium in order to share the costs. Each company controlled oil rights to particular shares of land in the oil fields and paid into the pipeline-construction fund according to the size of its holdings. Today, despite enormous problems of climate, supply shortage, equipment breakdowns, labour disagreements, treacherous terrain, a certain amount of mismanagement, and even theft, the Alaska pipeline has been completed and is operating. Question: According to the passage, how was the fund for Alaska pipeline construction generated?

Introduction / Context:
The passage about the Alaska pipeline is a classic reading comprehension piece used in many competitive exams to test careful reading, detail recognition, and the ability to distinguish between similar sounding options. This specific question focuses on how such a huge and expensive engineering project was financed. Understanding the funding mechanism is important because it shows how large private projects often require cooperation between multiple organisations rather than relying on just one company or on public money alone.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The Alaska pipeline is described as one of the largest pipelines in the world.
• The total cost of the pipeline was approximately $8 billion.
• The passage clearly mentions that no single business could raise such a large amount of money.
• It states that 8 major oil companies formed a consortium to share the costs.
• Each company held oil rights to particular shares of land in the oil fields and contributed according to its holdings.

Concept / Approach:
To answer this question correctly, a student needs to identify the sentence or group of sentences in the passage that explicitly deal with the funding arrangement. The key is to focus on the parts where the author talks about the project cost and explains how the money was gathered. Then, the student should compare that information with the answer options and choose the one that mirrors the exact idea, without adding or removing anything important.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Locate the part of the passage dealing with money and cost. The relevant lines say the pipeline cost about $8 billion and is the biggest construction project ever undertaken by private industry. Step 2: Read the next lines carefully. The passage states that no single business could raise that much money. Step 3: The passage then explains the solution: 8 major oil companies formed a consortium in order to share the costs. Step 4: It adds that each company controlled oil rights to specific shares of land in the oil fields and paid into the construction fund according to the size of its holdings. Step 5: Now match this idea with the options. Option A states that 8 major oil companies joined hands to share the cost, which is exactly what the passage describes. Step 6: Check that none of the other options give a more accurate description. Once confirmed, select Option A.

Verification / Alternative check:
A quick verification method is to ask: does the passage mention any loan, government help, or selling oil rights to raise the money? The text clearly rejects the possibility that a single company could fund it and does not talk about borrowing the amount or selling rights entirely. Instead, the passage highlights cooperation between 8 major oil companies. Therefore, any option mentioning loans, a single company, or selling away ownership can be rejected. This confirms that the consortium approach described in the passage is correctly summarised only by Option A.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option B: Says the companies borrowed $8 billion, but the passage never mentions borrowing or loans. It only mentions sharing costs. Option C: Claims that a single private company raised the full amount, which directly contradicts the line that no single business could raise that much money. Option D: Suggests oil rights were sold to 8 companies, but the passage says the companies already controlled rights and paid according to their holdings. It does not say rights were sold to create the fund.

Common Pitfalls:
Students often read quickly and remember only fragments such as “8 major oil companies” and “$8 billion”. Because of this, they may assume that the companies borrowed the money or that the project was financed like a government scheme. Another frequent mistake is to ignore the phrase “formed a consortium in order to share the costs” and instead focus on less important details. Some examinees also confuse owning oil rights with buying oil rights, which leads them to choose incorrect options involving selling rights. To avoid these mistakes, it is important to read the entire relevant sentence and not rely on memory of isolated words or numbers.

Final Answer:
The fund for Alaska pipeline construction was generated when 8 major oil companies joined hands to share the cost by forming a consortium and contributing according to the size of their oil holdings.