Based on your text and this reading, why was land near water so important for French settlers?

• Settlers relied on water routes for transportation.
• Settlers used water routes to hunt for food.
• Settlers depended on water from rivers and lakes for their crops.
• Settlers continued to look for a Northwest Passage across the continent.

The correct answer is: Settlers relied on water routes for transportation.

To get the answer, you can find clues in the reading. In this case, the reading talks about the importance of land near water for French settlers. From the answer choices, you can narrow down the possibilities.

Option 2, "Settlers used water routes to hunt for food," is not directly mentioned in the reading, so we can eliminate it.

Option 3, "Settlers depended on water from rivers and lakes for their crops," is not mentioned either.

Option 4, "Settlers continued to look for a Northwest Passage across the continent," is unrelated to the importance of land near water.

Option 1, "Settlers relied on water routes for transportation," is the most logical choice because water routes would have been crucial for settlers to travel, trade, and connect with other communities.

Therefore, based on the given information and the process of elimination, we can conclude that land near water was important for French settlers because they relied on water routes for transportation.