Correct Answer: how wide no-spray strips near schools and farms should be
Passage Reference: the county’s argument about wider no-spray strips beside schools and organic land
Why this is correct: The blogger reports a county argument about wider no-spray strips beside schools and organic land. Every speaker gives a view on how wide they should be.
Tips: For a “mainly about” question, find the argument the writer keeps reading about in the first paragraph. Each speaker then adds a view on it.
Why the other options are wrong:
- whether the town should build a second school: Remi’s school is mentioned, but nobody proposes building a second one.
- why canola prices dropped so sharply this year: Canola is growing beside the school, but its price is never discussed.
- how growers can sell more at the Saturday market: The writer sells vegetables at the Saturday market, but market sales are only background, not the topic.
Correct Answer: Wade Fenton
Passage Reference: wants the width of a strip to depend on how toxic the product is and how high the boom rides
Why this is correct: Wade Fenton says one fifty-metre rule would idle odd-shaped corners. He wants the strip width to depend on the product’s toxicity and the boom height.
Tips: Two speakers mention strips that change by product. Check which one argues against a single rule and which one only accepts the idea on a condition.
Why the other options are wrong:
- Hazel Brink: Hazel Brink wants wider strips beside schools and organic plots. She never asks for widths that change with each product.
- Imani Esteves: Imani Esteves worries about her grocery contract and wants day-ahead alerts, not product-based widths.
- Bijan Stoltz: Bijan Stoltz would accept strips that vary by product, but he does not argue against one distance. His point is about out-of-date maps.
Correct Answer: records showing complaints gather along thin roadside crops
Passage Reference: pointing to complaint maps that bunch up where crops are narrow and hug the road
Why this is correct: Brink points to complaint maps that bunch up where crops are narrow and close to the road. Records like these would back her call for wider strips.
Tips: Find what Brink points to when she speaks to the panel. The right choice is evidence of the same pattern, told in different words.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a survey of growers who lost corners to creeks: Corners lost to creeks are Fenton’s reason against one fixed rule, so this survey would help him, not Brink.
- a finding that organic buyers overlook small residues: If buyers overlooked small residues, the organic plots would need less protection, which weakens Brink’s case.
- a report that school fences block most drift: If fences blocked most drift, wider strips beside schools would matter less, so this report works against Brink.
Correct Answer: the province would fund updated parcel maps first
Passage Reference: only if the province pays for new shared maps before anyone starts writing tickets
Why this is correct: Stoltz accepts product-based strips only if the province pays for new shared maps before anyone starts writing tickets. So the outcome is updated maps first.
Tips: Stoltz’s condition starts with “only if” in his last sentence. Read the whole clause and restate it before you choose.
Why the other options are wrong:
- inspectors would begin issuing tickets this summer: Stoltz wants tickets to wait until the new maps exist, so tickets this summer go against his condition.
- every strip would be set at fifty metres: A fixed fifty-metre strip is the rule Fenton criticizes. Stoltz accepts strips that vary by product.
- farmers would draw their own property lines: Stoltz wants the province to pay for shared maps, not farmers drawing their own lines.
Correct Answer: partly won over, yet firm on safety
Passage Reference: Fenton has talked me down a little
Why this is correct: In the last paragraph the writer says Fenton has “talked me down a little”. The writer agrees a careful grower should not be treated like a careless one. Still, the writer wants wind logbooks and alerts before seeding.
Tips: For an attitude question, read the last paragraph. Look at what the writer says about Fenton first, and then at the sentence that starts with “Still”.
Why the other options are wrong:
- fully convinced that the strips are unfair: The blogger still wants strips, logbooks and alerts. So the blogger is not convinced that strips are unfair.
- openly scornful of the farmer’s worries: The writer agrees with part of Fenton’s point, which is the opposite of scorn.
- too unsure to form any view: The blogger lists the safeguards that should be in place before seeding next spring, so there is a firm view.
Correct Answer: low-drift nozzles and boom shields
Passage Reference: She hopes the province will share the cost of low-drift nozzles and boom shields.
Why this is correct: Brink hopes the province will share the cost of low-drift nozzles and boom shields. This matches the commenter’s point about help with the bill.
Tips: The comment calls her “the agronomist”, so find her lines. Look for the words “share the cost” and read what she wants paid for.
Why the other options are wrong:
- newer tractors for small farms: Brink asks for help with nozzles and shields. Tractors are never mentioned.
- wider roads beside the school: Roads come up only in the complaint maps. Nobody asks the province to widen them.
- tests of every organic crop: Residue tests are Esteves’s worry, and Brink never asks the province to pay for testing every crop.
Correct Answer: cancel her premium contract for the year
Passage Reference: A single positive residue test can cancel her premium grocery contract for the year.
Why this is correct: Esteves says a single positive residue test can cancel her premium grocery contract for the year.
Tips: The comment names Esteves, so go back to her lines in the third paragraph. Read what a single bad test could do to her business.
Why the other options are wrong:
- shut down her farm for good: The blog post says she could lose one year’s contract, not that her farm would close forever.
- make her pay a fine to the county: No fine is linked to a residue test. The risk is losing the grocery contract.
- ruin her seed supply for two years: Seed supply is never mentioned, and the risk named lasts for the year, not two years.
Correct Answer: an alert a full day ahead
Passage Reference: an app that alerts neighbouring farms a full day before anyone sprays
Why this is correct: Esteves asks for an app that alerts neighbouring farms a full day before anyone sprays.
Tips: Go to Esteves’s lines and find what she wants neighbouring farms to receive. Match her request in other words.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a phone call from the county: Esteves wants an app alert, and the county is not the one who would call.
- a printed map of organic plots: Maps come from Stoltz and are about legal strips, not a printed list of organic plots.
- a yearly meeting with growers: Esteves wants an alert before each spraying, not one meeting a year.
Correct Answer: wind speed written in a logbook
Passage Reference: with wind speed written in a logbook before the nozzles open
Why this is correct: Brink, the agronomist, wants the strips widened with wind speed written in a logbook before the nozzles open.
Tips: The comment says “before any nozzle opens”, so find the word “before” in Brink’s first sentence. Read what she wants done at that moment.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a permit from the county office: Brink never asks for a county permit. Her condition is a written record of wind speed.
- a neighbour standing at the fence: No one asks for a neighbour to watch at the fence. Brink wants wind speed written down.
- a weather forecast posted online: Brink wants the wind speed recorded in a logbook, not a forecast posted online.
Correct Answer: called the children inside
Passage Reference: Twice last June the teachers called the children inside
Why this is correct: Twice last June, the teachers called the children inside. A sprayer was working on a gusty afternoon, as the first paragraph explains.
Tips: The school story is in the first paragraph. Read what the teachers did on those gusty afternoons.
Why the other options are wrong:
- sent the children home early: The children were called inside, not sent home.
- closed the playground for a month: The blog post mentions two gusty afternoons, not a month-long closing of the playground.
- moved recess into the gym: The teachers called the children inside on two afternoons. The gym and a change to recess are never mentioned.
