Correct Answer: whether and how to ease permits for foreign workers
Passage Reference: Ottawa is reviewing how quickly employers in regions like ours may bring in workers from abroad
Why this is correct: Ottawa is reviewing how quickly employers in regions like the island can bring in workers from abroad. The editorial argues for easing permits only with conditions attached.
Tips: For a “mainly about” question, find what Ottawa is reviewing in the first paragraph. The paper’s view and every speaker’s view are about that review.
Why the other options are wrong:
- how to bring back the island’s call centre: The call centre closed, but nobody in the editorial proposes bringing it back. Ibrahimi wants new firms in general.
- how to raise wages at the seafood plant: Wages come up only in Halloran’s condition that permit holders earn the union rate. The editorial is not about a plant-wide raise.
- why the seafood plant should find a new owner: Juneau owns the plant and wants to keep it open. Nobody suggests a new owner.
Correct Answer: Umberto Halloran
Passage Reference: he warns that permits tying a worker to one employer invite abuse, because a worker who complains can be sent home
Why this is correct: Umberto Halloran warns that permits tying a worker to one employer invite abuse, because a worker who complains can be sent home. That is a worry that workers may be afraid to complain.
Tips: Two speakers warn about easy permits, so read both warnings. Ask which one is about how permit workers are treated, not about training local people.
Why the other options are wrong:
- Kerensa Juneau: Kerensa Juneau worries that slow permits will close her plant, not that workers are afraid to complain.
- Farhan Ibrahimi: Farhan Ibrahimi wants a path to residency so newcomers settle. He does not discuss workers being sent home for complaining.
- Elspeth Waterhouse: Elspeth Waterhouse worries that employers will stop training local young people, not about permit workers who complain.
Correct Answer: a study showing settled newcomers start more businesses
Passage Reference: since people who expect to stay buy homes, join teams and start businesses
Why this is correct: Ibrahimi wants a path to permanent residency because people who expect to stay buy homes, join teams and start businesses. A study showing settled newcomers start more businesses would support him.
Tips: Find Ibrahimi’s reason for his view. The right choice is proof of one part of that reason.
Why the other options are wrong:
- wage records showing permit workers earn less: Lower pay for permit workers would support Halloran’s demand for the union rate, not Ibrahimi’s case for residency.
- records of plant jobs that went unfilled: Unfilled plant jobs would support Juneau’s call for faster permits. Ibrahimi says the debate is too focused on that one plant.
- a count of local firms with no apprentices: Firms without apprentices would support Waterhouse’s worry about training, not Ibrahimi’s argument about settling.
Correct Answer: some of each permit fee would fund local training
Passage Reference: She would accept faster approvals if part of every permit fee went into a fund for training island residents.
Why this is correct: Waterhouse would accept faster approvals if part of every permit fee went into a fund for training island residents.
Tips: Waterhouse’s condition follows “if” at the end of her lines. Read that clause and match it in other words.
Why the other options are wrong:
- employers would train locals before any permit: Waterhouse wants employers to keep a reason to train, but her condition is money from permit fees, not training before each permit.
- permits would stop until more locals were trained: Waterhouse accepts faster approvals. She never asks for permits to stop while locals are trained.
- permit workers would share the training fund: Waterhouse wants the fund used for training island residents, not the workers who arrive on permits.
Correct Answer: worth backing but too slow for this spring
Passage Reference: Ibrahimi’s campaign for new firms deserves provincial support too, but it will take years, and the plant needs workers this spring.
Why this is correct: The paper says Ibrahimi’s campaign deserves provincial support, but it will take years. Meanwhile, the plant needs workers this spring.
Tips: Read the last sentence of the editorial. Say in your own words how the paper judges Ibrahimi’s campaign, then match it.
Why the other options are wrong:
- the best answer to the plant’s shortage: The campaign will take years, so it cannot solve this spring’s shortage at the plant.
- a waste of the province’s money: The paper says the campaign deserves provincial support, so it does not call it a waste.
- a reason to delay any permit change: The paper wants permits sped up now. It treats the campaign as a longer-term addition, not a reason to wait.
Correct Answer: about six hundred people
Passage Reference: three international companies kept about six hundred people employed on our island
Why this is correct: Look at the first sentence. Five years ago, three international companies kept about six hundred people employed on the island.
Tips: The comment asks how many workers the firms once had. Look for a number in the first sentence and read it carefully.
Why the other options are wrong:
- nearly two thousand people: The first sentence gives about six hundred, not two thousand.
- about sixty people: The number given is about six hundred, ten times more than sixty.
- half the island’s adults: Nothing in the passage says what share of the island’s adults worked for the firms.
Correct Answer: filled only eleven of them
Passage Reference: She advertised forty jobs on the island last spring and filled only eleven
Why this is correct: Juneau says she advertised forty jobs on the island last spring and filled only eleven.
Tips: The comment repeats Juneau’s words about the forty jobs. Read that sentence to the end to see what happened next.
Why the other options are wrong:
- filled all but a handful: Juneau filled eleven of forty, so most jobs stayed empty, not just a handful.
- got no replies at all: Juneau did fill eleven jobs, so she did get some replies.
- hired mostly students: Nothing in the passage says who Juneau hired. Students are not mentioned.
Correct Answer: firms that serve clients worldwide from here
Passage Reference: he wants a campaign to attract companies that can serve clients around the world from here
Why this is correct: Ibrahimi, the development officer, wants a campaign to attract companies that can serve clients around the world from the island.
Tips: The comment calls him “the development officer”. Find what kind of companies his campaign would try to bring in.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a second seafood processing plant: Ibrahimi says the debate is too focused on one plant. He never asks for a second one.
- a large hotel for summer visitors: Tourism and hotels are never mentioned in the editorial.
- a factory that builds fishing boats: A boat factory is never mentioned. Ibrahimi wants firms that serve clients around the world.
Correct Answer: a European airline
Passage Reference: a call centre that answered for a European airline
Why this is correct: The editorial describes the call centre as one that answered for a European airline.
Tips: The comment asks who the call centre worked for. The first sentence lists the three firms, so read the last one closely.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a national bank: No bank is mentioned. The other lost firm was an insurance claims office.
- the provincial government: The call centre worked for a European airline, not the province.
- an American phone company: No American company is mentioned. The seafood processor was Norwegian-owned and the airline European.
Correct Answer: leads the community college
Passage Reference: Elspeth Waterhouse, president of the community college
Why this is correct: You meet Elspeth Waterhouse near the end of the third paragraph. She is president of the community college.
Tips: The blank asks who Waterhouse is. Read the words right after her name in the third paragraph.
Why the other options are wrong:
- owns the island’s last plant: The remaining plant is owned by Kerensa Juneau, not Waterhouse.
- heads the plant workers’ union: The union local’s president is Halloran, not Waterhouse.
- runs the economic development office: The economic development officer is Ibrahimi, not Waterhouse.
