Correct Answer: whether and how to bring plants into classrooms
Passage Reference: The school board here in Moncton is testing plants in a handful of classrooms this year
Why this is correct: The blogger explains that the school board is testing plants in some classrooms. Every person in the post gives a view on whether and how that should happen.
Tips: The blogger comes back to their son more than once. Ask which choice names the issue the son’s story is used to open.
Why the other options are wrong:
- how to raise money for a new school garden: The writer runs a garden club, but the post never talks about raising money for a garden.
- why old portables should be replaced this year: Old portables come up only because of the mould risk. Nobody asks for them to be replaced.
- how the school should spend its sports budget: Sports and budgets are never discussed. The blog post is only about plants in classrooms.
Correct Answer: Kaveh Rahmani
Passage Reference: warns that too much water in old portables with weak air flow can lead to mould inside the walls
Why this is correct: Kaveh Rahmani, the facilities manager, warns that too much water in old portables can lead to mould inside the walls.
Tips: Go through the people one at a time and find talk about damage to a building. Keep the one who links that damage to the pots.
Why the other options are wrong:
- Bronwyn Castonguay: Bronwyn Castonguay is the teacher who started the plant idea. She talks about calmer students, not mould.
- Philippa Oakes: Philippa Oakes’s daughter has a mould allergy, but her request is a plant list and a seat choice. The warning about mould in the walls comes from Rahmani.
- Dunstan Lessard: Dunstan Lessard worries about who will water the plants during holidays, not about mould.
Correct Answer: a record of fewer lesson stops once plants arrived
Passage Reference: she has kept a simple chart of how often she has to stop a lesson to ask for quiet
Why this is correct: Castonguay says her students settle faster with plants, and her chart shows fewer stops to ask for quiet. A record like that would support her position.
Tips: Find Castonguay’s lines and say her claim simply. Then ask which choice would back it up best.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a photo of damp drywall in a portable: Damp drywall would support Rahmani’s warning about mould, which argues for more caution, not for Castonguay’s case.
- a count of children with allergies at the school: A count of allergic children would support Oakes’s worry, not Castonguay’s claim that plants help students settle.
- a sign-up sheet with several empty weeks: Empty weeks on a sign-up sheet would support Lessard’s worry about who waters the plants, not Castonguay’s claim.
Correct Answer: families would see a list of approved plants first
Passage Reference: wants a written list of approved plants shared with families before any more pots arrive
Why this is correct: Oakes wants a written list of approved plants shared with families before any more pots arrive. So her condition means families see the list first.
Tips: Find Oakes’s condition and read it to the end. Match its idea in other words.
Why the other options are wrong:
- every classroom would receive plants in the same week: Oakes wants care before more plants arrive, so plants in every room at once is the opposite of her condition.
- teachers would pick any plants they liked: Oakes wants only approved plants, so teachers could not choose any plant they liked.
- the plant test would end after one month: Oakes never asks to end the test. She asks for a list of approved plants before more arrive.
Correct Answer: back a slow start and ask parents to join in
Passage Reference: One wing first, a public plant list and a sign-up sheet sound like a sensible way to begin.
Why this is correct: The blogger supports starting with one wing, a plant list and a sign-up sheet. Then the post invites more parents to the garden club meeting where the list will be made.
Tips: Pick out the sentences where the blogger speaks in their own voice. Ask what job those sentences do across the whole blog post.
Why the other options are wrong:
- complain that the board ignored the garden club: The writer never says the board ignored the club. The club is helping to make the plant list.
- argue that plants belong outside the school: In the last paragraph, the writer supports plants in classrooms and says “I am with Castonguay on the plants.”
- explain how to care for a spider plant at home: The spider plant is only a short story about the son. The blog post gives no care tips.
Correct Answer: teachers take turns with the watering
Passage Reference: She also thinks donated plants cost almost nothing if teachers take turns with the watering.
Why this is correct: Castonguay thinks donated plants cost almost nothing if teachers take turns with the watering.
Tips: The blank follows “if”, so it is Castonguay’s condition for keeping costs low. Find her sentence about cost and read it to the end.
Why the other options are wrong:
- parents buy them at the spring sale: Castonguay talks about donated plants. A spring sale is never mentioned.
- the board orders them in bulk: Nobody suggests that the board buy plants in bulk. The plants are donated.
- students grow them from seeds: Growing plants from seeds is never suggested. Castonguay’s condition is shared watering by teachers.
Correct Answer: one wing of the school
Passage Reference: He wants the test kept to one wing of the school
Why this is correct: The facilities manager, Rahmani, wants the test kept to one wing of the school.
Tips: The facilities manager is Rahmani. Find how far he would let the test go, and match that area to a choice.
Why the other options are wrong:
- the portables near the gym: Rahmani talks about old portables in general, but he never picks the ones near the gym for the test.
- the grade four classroom: Castonguay teaches grade four, but Rahmani never limits the test to her classroom.
- the main office and library: Neither the office nor the library is named as a place for the test.
Correct Answer: March break and snow days
Passage Reference: wonders who will look after the plants during March break and snow days
Why this is correct: Lessard, the principal, wonders who will look after the plants during March break and snow days.
Tips: Go to the principal, Lessard, and read the question he asks about care. Then match the times he names.
Why the other options are wrong:
- summer holidays and long weekends: Lessard does not mention summer holidays or long weekends. He names March break and snow days.
- staff meetings and field trips: Staff meetings and field trips are never mentioned in the blog post.
- exam weeks and sports days: Exam weeks and sports days are never mentioned. Lessard’s worry is about March break and snow days.
Correct Answer: move to a seat away from the windows
Passage Reference: should be able to move to a seat away from the windows without having to explain why
Why this is correct: Oakes says any child who reacts should be able to move to a seat away from the windows. The child should not have to explain why.
Tips: Oakes is the parent whose daughter has an allergy. Find what she says a child who reacts should be allowed to do.
Why the other options are wrong:
- go home early without a note: Oakes never says a child should go home. She wants the child to change seats.
- take the plant out of the room: Oakes does not ask for plants to be removed when a child reacts. The child moves seats.
- spend the day in the library: The library is never mentioned. Oakes wants a seat away from the windows in the same room.
Correct Answer: has not sneezed once near his plant
Passage Reference: My son’s spider plant is doing well, by the way, and he has not sneezed once near it.
Why this is correct: In the last paragraph, you learn that the son’s spider plant is doing well and he has not sneezed once near it.
Tips: This blank is about the writer’s son. Find where the writer gives news about him, then test each choice.
Why the other options are wrong:
- waters every plant in his classroom: The blog post says nothing about the son watering every plant. It only says his own plant is doing well.
- brought a cactus home from school: The son brought home a spider plant in a yogurt cup, not a cactus.
- moved his desk to the back row: The son asked to keep the plant on his desk. No desk move is mentioned.
