Correct Answer: whether the province should pay for counselling without a referral
Passage Reference: it may pay for up to eight free counselling sessions, with no doctor’s referral needed
Why this is correct: The province may pay for free counselling sessions with no doctor’s referral. The blogger explains this, and everyone quoted gives a view on that plan.
Tips: For a “mainly about” question, read the last sentence of the first paragraph. Every speaker after that reacts to the same announcement.
Why the other options are wrong:
- how to write a novel while living with depression: The writer is a novelist, but the post is about the counselling plan, not about how to write a novel.
- why family doctors now charge for phone calls: Nobody says doctors charge for phone calls. The phone call in the post is the first call to get help.
- how schools should teach students about stress: Schools and stress lessons are never discussed in the blog post.
Correct Answer: Wanda Neufeld
Passage Reference: “The referral is where we lose people,” she warned provincial lawmakers.
Why this is correct: Wanda Neufeld says, “The referral is where we lose people.” People hear how long it will take and decide to manage alone, so the referral step itself keeps them from help.
Tips: Several speakers talk about how people reach help. Ask whose point is about the step before the first session, not about cost or crowding.
Why the other options are wrong:
- Joan Muir: Joan Muir supports free counselling, but her point is that a doctor may need to check for a physical cause. She does not blame the referral step.
- Selim Coffey: Selim Coffey worries about long waits for counsellors and wants a small trial. He does not say referrals turn people away.
- Keir Davies: Keir Davies says talking should not wait for approval. But his point is about peer groups, not about people giving up at the referral.
Correct Answer: patients whose low mood had a physical cause
Passage Reference: a low mood can have a physical cause, such as a thyroid problem, that a counsellor would not spot
Why this is correct: Muir wants a doctor involved because a low mood can have a physical cause that a counsellor would not spot. Patients whose low mood had a physical cause would prove her point.
Tips: Find Muir’s reason and the example she gives. Pick the evidence that shows that reason in real cases.
Why the other options are wrong:
- callers who hung up after hearing the wait: Callers giving up after hearing the wait would support Neufeld’s case against the referral, not Muir’s medical worry.
- clinics where demand doubled once sessions were free: Demand doubling would support Coffey’s fear about crowds of new clients, which is a budget point, not Muir’s medical one.
- young men who spoke first in a peer circle: Young men opening up in a circle would support Davies and his peer groups, not Muir’s concern about physical causes.
Correct Answer: the trial would begin in just two regions
Passage Reference: He would back a trial only if it starts in two regions, with wait times reported every month.
Why this is correct: Coffey would back a trial only if it starts in two regions, with wait times reported every month.
Tips: Look for “only if” in Coffey’s last sentence. His condition has two parts, so check which one a choice restates.
Why the other options are wrong:
- every clinic would need a doctor on staff: Coffey never asks for a doctor at every clinic. It is Muir who wants a quick doctor booking.
- people would pay half the cost of each session: Coffey never suggests that people pay half. His condition is a trial in two regions.
- counsellors would work only on weekdays: Working days are never mentioned. Coffey’s condition is about two regions and monthly wait reports.
Correct Answer: show how many people carry depression quietly
Passage Reference: That response showed me how many of us carry this quietly.
Why this is correct: In the first paragraph, the writer says the response to the earlier post showed how many people carry depression quietly.
Tips: Ask why the writer tells you about the replies. Read the sentences just before and after the number.
Why the other options are wrong:
- boast about how popular the novel became: The messages answered a post about depression. The novel is never said to be popular.
- complain that readers ignored the earlier post: Readers did not ignore it. More than three hundred people wrote in.
- explain why the novel was never finished: The novel was set aside for a week, not for good, and it is never called unfinished.
Correct Answer: book a patient with a doctor within a week
Passage Reference: She wants counsellors to be able to book a patient with a doctor within a week whenever something looks medical.
Why this is correct: Joan Muir wants counsellors to be able to book a patient with a doctor within a week whenever something looks medical.
Tips: The comment names Muir, so go back to her lines in the third paragraph. Find the sentence that starts “She wants counsellors to be able to”.
Why the other options are wrong:
- run their own peer support circles: Peer circles belong to Davies’s argument. Muir wants counsellors to book doctor visits.
- prescribe medicine for a thyroid problem: Muir says a counsellor would not spot a thyroid problem. She does not want counsellors to treat it.
- skip the first call and meet in person: Muir never talks about first calls. Her plan is a quick doctor booking when something looks medical.
Correct Answer: counselling waits could grow as long as doctor waits
Passage Reference: He says free sessions could draw so many people that waits for counsellors grow as long as waits for doctors.
Why this is correct: The budget manager, Coffey, says free sessions could draw a very large number of people. Then waits for counsellors could grow as long as waits for doctors.
Tips: The comment calls him “the budget manager”, so find the person who oversees the health budget. Read what he says free sessions could lead to.
Why the other options are wrong:
- counsellors would ask for higher pay: Coffey never mentions counsellors’ pay. His fear is about how many people would come.
- people would stop visiting their doctors: Coffey does not say people would abandon doctors. He says counselling waits could match doctor waits.
- the sessions would be too short to help: Coffey never says the sessions are too short. His worry is the length of the wait.
Correct Answer: funding for peer groups beside the counsellors
Passage Reference: he wants the province to fund groups like his alongside the counsellors
Why this is correct: Keir Davies, who runs the Thursday circle, wants the province to fund groups like his alongside the counsellors.
Tips: The comment says “the man who runs the Thursday circle”, so find Davies’s lines. Read the last part of his last sentence.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a doctor in every peer circle: Davies says men open up because nobody in the room is a professional, so he would not want a doctor there.
- fewer free sessions for young men: Davies never asks for fewer sessions. He wants more support, through funded peer groups.
- a waiting list run by the province: Davies says talking should not wait for anyone’s approval, so a waiting list goes against his view.
Correct Answer: paid $140 for every session
Passage Reference: each session cost $140
Why this is correct: In the second paragraph, the writer says each counselling session cost $140.
Tips: The comment is about something in the writer’s own story. Look at the second paragraph and read what the writer says about getting help.
Why the other options are wrong:
- waited a year for your first session: The waits were three weeks for the doctor and another month for the referral, not a whole year.
- saw a counsellor through your school: The counsellor came through a doctor’s referral. A school is mentioned only in the commenter’s story.
- got free sessions from your doctor: The sessions were not free. Each one cost $140.
Correct Answer: fill notebooks when your thoughts race
Passage Reference: I still fill notebooks when my thoughts start racing
Why this is correct: At the start of the second paragraph, the writer says, “I still fill notebooks when my thoughts start racing.”
Tips: The comment says “you still”, so look for the word “still” in the writer’s own story. It is near the start of the second paragraph.
Why the other options are wrong:
- meet your Thursday circle each week: The Thursday circle is the group that Davies runs. The writer never says they attend it.
- call your old counsellor every month: Calling the counsellor is never mentioned as something that goes on. What continues is writing in notebooks.
- reread the messages from your readers: The writer plans to share the post again but never says they reread the messages.
