Correct Answer: a board debate over phone lockers and honour pouches
Passage Reference: Our school board in Ontario is deciding whether to put phone lockers in classrooms or keep the honour system
Why this is correct: The blogger explains that the board is choosing between phone lockers and the honour system of pouches. Then the post reports each side of the debate.
Tips: Look at the first paragraph for the decision being made. Then check that each later paragraph comes back to it.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a school that has already banned phones in every grade: No school has banned phones in every grade. The board in the blog post is still deciding what to do.
- a parent’s complaint about a child’s report card: No report card is mentioned. The writer talks about Leah’s phone, not her marks.
- a teachers’ strike over safety rules in the hallway: There is no teachers’ strike. Mensah speaks at a committee meeting about lockers, not about a strike.
Correct Answer: fewer lesson interruptions in the locker pilot classes
Passage Reference: he says teachers recorded far fewer interruptions during lessons
Why this is correct: Durand wants lockers because his pilot showed fewer interruptions during lessons, so that result supports his case.
Tips: Find Durand’s reason for his proposal. Pick the result from his own trial that would make that reason stronger.
Why the other options are wrong:
- more lost keys reported during the pilot semester: Lost keys are Mensah’s worry about lockers. More lost keys would count against lockers, so this would not help Durand.
- teacher reports of calmer senior classes without lockers: No teacher reports about senior classes are mentioned. Also, calmer classes without lockers would argue against Durand’s lockers, not for them.
- longer lineups at the lockers between periods: Longer lineups at the lockers would be a problem with lockers, which helps Mensah’s side, not Durand’s.
Correct Answer: Ivan Mensah
Passage Reference: argues that lockers just move the problem into the hallway, where students crowd around a wall of lockers between classes
Why this is correct: Mensah says lockers move the problem into the hallway and describes students crowding and pushing at a wall of lockers.
Tips: Read each speaker’s lines and ask what problem each one sees. Then check whose worry is about a place outside the classroom.
Why the other options are wrong:
- Nils Fujita: Fujita’s concern is how families can contact a student in an emergency, not crowding in the hallway.
- Omar Castillo: Castillo asks the board to post distraction counts every three months. Castillo says nothing about hallway crowds.
- Jamal Durand: Durand supports lockers for the younger grades, so he does not warn that they cause crowding.
Correct Answer: trustees would be free to drop the rule if focus did not improve
Passage Reference: so trustees can drop the rule if focus does not improve
Why this is correct: Castillo wants distraction counts posted every three months so trustees can drop the rule if focus does not improve.
Tips: Castillo’s lines end with a “so” clause. Read what posting the counts would make possible.
Why the other options are wrong:
- the board would publish a list of banned apps each term: Castillo asks the board to publish distraction counts, not a list of banned apps.
- parents would vote on the rule every spring: Castillo never asks for a parent vote. Castillo wants distraction counts posted so trustees can drop the rule.
- students would get their phones back for good behaviour: Nobody in the blog post suggests giving phones back to students for good behaviour.
Correct Answer: torn between the two sides
Passage Reference: Honestly, I walked out of that room more torn than I expected
Why this is correct: In the last paragraph, the writer says the meeting left them more torn than expected. Durand seems right about younger kids, but Mensah makes a good case about teenagers.
Tips: Read the start of the last paragraph for a word about the writer’s own feelings. Then check how the “but” in that paragraph supports it.
Why the other options are wrong:
- angry at the school board: The board is never attacked. The writer calmly weighs what each speaker said.
- bored by the whole meeting: The writer came home with more opinions than before, so the meeting was not boring.
- sure that lockers will fail: The writer thinks Durand is right about lockers for the younger kids. So the writer is not sure they will fail.
Correct Answer: how families can reach a child whose phone is locked
Passage Reference: families need a published way to contact a student whose phone is locked away
Why this is correct: Fujita told trustees that families need a way to contact a student whose phone is locked away. That is the question the commenter praises.
Tips: The comment names Fujita, so go back to what he told trustees. The right choice says the same worry in other words.
Why the other options are wrong:
- how much the new lockers will cost the board: The cost of the lockers is never raised by Fujita or anyone else in the blog post.
- how students will carry their books between classes: Carrying books between classes is not Fujita’s question. He asks about reaching a child.
- how teachers will punish students who break the rule: Fujita says nothing about punishing students who break the rule.
Correct Answer: a phone in a pouch can still light up
Passage Reference: “A phone in a pouch is still a phone that lights up,” Durand told the committee
Why this is correct: Durand told the committee that a phone in a pouch is still a phone that lights up. So a pouch does not stop the distraction.
Tips: Find Durand’s short quote to the committee. The right choice says the same thing in plain words.
Why the other options are wrong:
- lockers cost less than new pouches: Durand never compares the price of lockers and pouches. Money is not discussed at all.
- students hide spare phones in their bags: Spare phones hidden in bags are never mentioned by Durand or anyone else.
- teachers check phones too often in class: Durand talks about phones interrupting lessons, not about teachers checking phones too often.
Correct Answer: the nurse’s office would open a locker quickly
Passage Reference: as long as the nurse’s office can open one quickly when a family has a real emergency
Why this is correct: Durand supports lockers only if the nurse’s office can open one quickly when a family has a real emergency. That is the condition the commenter was glad to hear.
Tips: Durand’s condition starts with “as long as”. Read what must happen when a family has a real emergency.
Why the other options are wrong:
- every student would carry a spare key: Durand never promises spare keys. Lost keys are Mensah’s complaint about lockers.
- the principal would call the family right away: Durand does not say the principal would call families. His emergency plan depends on the nurse’s office.
- teachers would keep a phone at the front desk: Nobody suggests that teachers keep a phone at the front desk. Durand talks about opening a locker.
Correct Answer: the distraction numbers got worse
Passage Reference: He would keep honour pouches for older students unless the distraction numbers get worse
Why this is correct: Mensah would keep honour pouches for older students unless the distraction numbers get worse. That is his only condition for changing his mind.
Tips: Mensah’s view ends with an “unless”. The words after it tell you what would change his mind.
Why the other options are wrong:
- the lockers cost less than planned: Nobody in the blog post talks about the price of the lockers, so cost is not Mensah’s condition.
- more parents asked for lockers: Mensah never says that parents asking for lockers would change his view.
- the pilot ran for a full year: The pilot ran for one semester, and Mensah does not ask for a longer pilot.
Correct Answer: two junior classrooms
Passage Reference: He ran a one-semester pilot with lockers in two junior classrooms
Why this is correct: Durand ran a one-semester pilot with lockers in two junior classrooms, and the commenter wants to begin in the same place.
Tips: Go back to the first sentences about Durand’s trial. Look at where it took place.
Why the other options are wrong:
- two Grade 9 homerooms: The pilot was not in Grade 9 homerooms. The blog post says it was in two junior classrooms.
- the school library: The library is never mentioned. Durand’s pilot was in classrooms.
- the music room: No music room is mentioned. The lockers were tested in two junior classrooms.
