Correct Answer: how far a new law on repairing electronics should go
Passage Reference: Ottawa is now drafting a law that would give Canadians a right to repair
Why this is correct: The editorial supports Ottawa’s repair law but weighs the fear that it could go too far. So it is about how far the law should go.
Tips: The editors point to an experience they say is common among their readers. Which choice names the issue that shared experience leads into?
Why the other options are wrong:
- how Ottawa should ban independent repair shops: The law would help independent shops by giving them parts and manuals. Nobody wants to ban them.
- why new phones break sooner than older ones: How long new and older phones last is never compared. The topic is the repair law.
- whether repair cafés should charge for their work: Bassett runs a volunteer repair café, but whether cafés should charge is never discussed.
Correct Answer: Colm Goyette
Passage Reference: If the codes that unlock a device’s security are handed to anyone who asks, he argues, counterfeiters and hackers will be first in line
Why this is correct: Colm Goyette argues that if security codes are handed to anyone who asks, counterfeiters and hackers will be first in line.
Tips: Look for a worry about software rather than hardware. Check who raises it, since another person only shares it.
Why the other options are wrong:
- Eleni Bassett: Eleni Bassett wants parts sold at fair prices. She does not raise any worry about criminals.
- Zina Kirby: Zina Kirby worries that companies will delay selling parts, which is a worry about timing, not about criminals.
- Maxim Dorsey: Maxim Dorsey shares a concern about software and suggests accounts and logs, but the warning about counterfeiters and hackers is Goyette’s.
Correct Answer: towns that dumped fewer phones once parts were sold
Passage Reference: half the phones her volunteers see could be fixed in twenty minutes with a battery that nobody is allowed to buy
Why this is correct: Bassett says many phones could be fixed if owners could buy the part. Towns that dumped fewer phones once parts were sold would show that selling parts works.
Tips: Find what Bassett told the hearing and ask what she is trying to prove. Pick the real result that would count as proof of it.
Why the other options are wrong:
- reports of hackers who used leaked repair codes: Hackers using leaked codes would support Goyette’s warning, not Bassett’s case for selling parts.
- shops that failed a security check in the last year: Failed security checks would back Dorsey’s call for accounts and checks, not Bassett’s argument.
- owners who would rather buy a brand-new phone: Owners preferring new phones would weaken Bassett’s case, because her argument is that phones should be fixed.
Correct Answer: batteries and screens would be sold from the first day
Passage Reference: require wear parts such as batteries and screens from the day a device is sold
Why this is correct: Kirby wants wear parts such as batteries and screens required from the day a device is sold. Security parts would come only after the warranty ends.
Tips: Read Kirby’s condition in her lines closely. Match the choice to exactly what her sentence says.
Why the other options are wrong:
- every security part would be released at once: Kirby wants security-related parts only once the warranty ends, so they would not all be released at once.
- makers would stop selling parts after the warranty: Kirby wants security parts to become available after the warranty, not to stop then.
- repair shops would need a licence from Ottawa: Kirby never mentions licences for shops. Registered accounts are Dorsey’s idea.
Correct Answer: back repair rights with limits on software access
Passage Reference: Parliament should pass the law this year, with Kirby’s two deadlines and Dorsey’s registered accounts written into it.
Why this is correct: The writers say “We support that law”. But they add Kirby’s later deadline for security parts and Dorsey’s registered accounts. These are limits on software access.
Tips: Read only the editors’ own sentences about the issue. Choose the aim that their own words serve, not an aim from one quoted person.
Why the other options are wrong:
- defend makers who refuse to sell parts: The writers want makers to be required to sell parts, so they do not defend them.
- report on a repair café in Kingston: The Kingston café is only one example. The editorial’s aim is to argue for the law.
- warn readers against fixing their own phones: The writers want ordinary owners to be able to buy parts. So they do not warn them against repairs.
Correct Answer: a battery should cost far less than a phone
Passage Reference: arguing that a replacement battery should never cost nearly as much as a new phone
Why this is correct: Bassett, the repair café organizer, argues that a replacement battery should never cost nearly as much as a new phone.
Tips: The organizer in the line is Eleni Bassett. Read what she argues for and say it simply, then test each choice.
Why the other options are wrong:
- every phone should come with a spare battery: Bassett wants batteries sold at fair prices, not included with every phone.
- repair cafés should be paid by the government: Bassett’s café uses volunteers, and she never asks for government money.
- makers should fix phones free for five years: Bassett never asks makers to do repairs for free. She wants them to sell parts.
Correct Answer: companies might hold back parts until models are old
Passage Reference: companies will delay selling parts until a model is too old to be worth fixing
Why this is correct: Kirby, the competition lawyer, warns about what happens without a deadline. Companies will delay selling parts until a model is too old to be worth fixing.
Tips: The comment calls her the competition lawyer, which is Kirby. Find the risk she describes and match it in other words.
Why the other options are wrong:
- small shops could steal customers’ data: Kirby never says shops might steal data. Her warning is about companies delaying parts.
- hackers could copy a phone’s security codes: The warning about hackers comes from Goyette, not from the competition lawyer.
- batteries could become dangerous after repairs: Nobody in the editorial says repaired batteries are dangerous.
Correct Answer: registered accounts that record each repair
Passage Reference: He proposes that repair shops register accounts, with every repair recorded in a log
Why this is correct: Dorsey, the security researcher, proposes that repair shops register accounts, with every repair recorded in a log.
Tips: The comment calls him the researcher, so find Dorsey. Read his idea and look for the choice that says it differently.
Why the other options are wrong:
- free training courses for repair shops: Dorsey never mentions training courses. His idea is accounts, logs and security checks.
- a single repair shop in each province: Dorsey does not limit the number of shops. He wants every shop to register an account.
- security codes given to every owner: Dorsey shares Goyette’s concern about software, so he does not want codes given to everyone.
Correct Answer: report on parts prices after two years
Passage Reference: ask the Competition Bureau to report on parts prices after two years
Why this is correct: In the last paragraph, the writers say Parliament should ask the Competition Bureau to report on parts prices after two years.
Tips: This blank is the writers’ own advice. Find where they name the Competition Bureau and see the task they give it.
Why the other options are wrong:
- fine makers that glue batteries: Glued batteries are a complaint in the first paragraph, but the Bureau is never asked to fine anyone.
- approve each new phone before sale: Approving phones before sale is never suggested. The Bureau’s job would be a report on prices.
- run its own chain of repair shops: The Bureau is never asked to run shops. It is asked for a report on parts prices.
Correct Answer: glued in place
Passage Reference: the battery is glued in place and the maker will not sell the part
Why this is correct: Look at the first paragraph. It opens with a laptop whose battery is glued in place and whose maker will not sell the part.
Tips: “Your example” points to the writers’ own story about a laptop. Find it and read what they say about the battery.
Why the other options are wrong:
- sold out in every store: The part is not sold out. The maker refuses to sell it at all.
- too hot to touch: Nothing in the editorial says the battery overheats. It is glued in place.
- shipped only overseas: Shipping is never mentioned. The problem is that the battery is glued in and not sold.
