Correct Answer: letting families choose schools outside their area
Passage Reference: They want to let families apply for elementary seats outside their own catchment area
Why this is correct: The columnist explains that trustees want to let families apply for seats outside their own catchment area. Every paragraph weighs that plan.
Tips: For a question about the whole column, look at the plan named in the first paragraph. Each speaker is reacting to that plan.
Why the other options are wrong:
- whether to close small rural schools: No school is being closed. The column is about families applying across catchment lines.
- how to hire more French teachers: French immersion comes up only as a program with a waiting list. Hiring teachers for it is never discussed.
- why school buses are often late: Buses come up in Jovanovic’s point about getting to school, but late buses are never mentioned.
Correct Answer: Amani Jovanovic
Passage Reference: Open choice with no bus plan, she notes, mostly helps parents who own a car and can start work late.
Why this is correct: Amani Jovanovic notes that choice without a bus plan mostly helps parents who own a car and can start work late. That means families who can drive.
Tips: Read each speaker’s worry and ask whose worry is about getting to school. The others are about teachers, lotteries or programs.
Why the other options are wrong:
- Wren Cheng: Wren Cheng wants more choice for families. She does not warn that choice would mainly help drivers.
- Basil Nadeau: Basil Nadeau worries that neighbourhood schools would lose students, not about which families can drive.
- Enzo Labelle: Enzo Labelle wants audited lotteries and a cap on transfers. He does not discuss who can get to school by car.
Correct Answer: a report of teachers moving to popular schools
Passage Reference: citywide choice without limits, he says, would shift teachers toward the schools that are already popular
Why this is correct: Nadeau warns that citywide choice would shift teachers toward schools that are already popular. A report showing teachers moving to popular schools would support him.
Tips: First find Nadeau’s reason for his view. Then pick the evidence that would make that reason stronger.
Why the other options are wrong:
- records of siblings split between schools: Split siblings are part of Cheng’s evidence for more choice, not Nadeau’s warning.
- a count of families without a car: Families without a car would support Jovanovic’s call for a bus plan, not Nadeau’s point.
- a finding that bus routes cost less than expected: Cheaper bus routes would help Jovanovic’s plan work. They say nothing about neighbourhood schools losing students.
Correct Answer: an outside auditor would check every lottery
Passage Reference: will vote for the plan only if an outside auditor checks every seat lottery
Why this is correct: Labelle will vote for the plan only if an outside auditor checks every seat lottery. That is the outcome his condition calls for.
Tips: Labelle’s condition comes after “only if”. Read that clause closely and match it in other words.
Why the other options are wrong:
- trustees would redraw every catchment line: Labelle never asks for new catchment lines. His condition is an outside auditor for every seat lottery.
- principals would run the lotteries themselves: Labelle wants an outside auditor to check the lotteries, not principals running them alone.
- every family would get its first choice: Labelle never promises first choices. His condition is that an outside auditor checks every lottery.
Correct Answer: cautious, favouring a small start
Passage Reference: I believe the board should move much more slowly ... The board should open a small number of seats this year
Why this is correct: The columnist believes the board should move much more slowly. The column recommends opening only a small number of seats this year, then measuring the effect.
Tips: Read the last paragraph. Note how the writer talks about the idea there, then test each choice.
Why the other options are wrong:
- eager to open every boundary: In the first paragraph, the writer calls opening every boundary at once a mistake. So the writer is not eager.
- firmly against any change: The writer says some flexibility is overdue and wants a small number of seats opened this year.
- unsure, with no clear view: You can see a clear view in the first sentence, and the column ends with a firm recommendation.
Correct Answer: French immersion and arts programs
Passage Reference: long waiting lists for French immersion and arts programs
Why this is correct: Cheng’s transfer records show split siblings and long waiting lists for French immersion and arts programs.
Tips: The comment mentions Cheng’s records, so find the sentence about her group’s transfer records. The blank is about the waiting lists, not the siblings.
Why the other options are wrong:
- full-day kindergarten classes: Kindergarten is never mentioned. The waiting lists are for French immersion and arts programs.
- before-school care programs: Nadeau mentions after-school care at neighbourhood schools, but Cheng’s waiting lists are for French immersion and arts.
- sports and music clubs: Sports and music clubs are never mentioned in Cheng’s records.
Correct Answer: open their gyms on weekends
Passage Reference: schools that still run after-school care and open their gyms on weekends
Why this is correct: Nadeau is the east-end principal. He says open enrolment would pull students away from schools that still run after-school care and open their gyms on weekends.
Tips: The comment calls him “the east-end principal”. His sentence lists two things these schools still do, and the blank matches the second one.
Why the other options are wrong:
- hold classes on Saturdays: Nadeau says the gyms open on weekends, not that classes are held on Saturdays.
- serve free breakfast every day: Breakfast is never mentioned. Nadeau mentions after-school care and weekend gyms.
- rent rooms to local churches: Renting rooms is never mentioned. Nadeau says the schools open their gyms on weekends.
Correct Answer: students in special education
Passage Reference: how seats for students in special education will be protected
Why this is correct: Jovanovic, the equity officer, wants the board to publish how seats for students in special education will be protected.
Tips: The comment calls her “the equity officer”. Find the part of her sentence that says which seats must be protected.
Why the other options are wrong:
- children of school staff: Staff children are never mentioned. The equity officer wants seats for students in special education protected.
- families new to Canada: Newcomer families are never mentioned in the column.
- students who live closest to each school: The equity officer talks about protecting seats for students in special education, not seats based on distance.
Correct Answer: a cap on mid-year transfers
Passage Reference: He also wants a limit on how many students may switch schools once classes begin
Why this is correct: Labelle also wants a limit on how many students may switch schools once classes begin. That is a cap on mid-year transfers, and it lets principals plan their staffing.
Tips: Labelle has two requests, and the comment says “as well”, so look for the second one. It starts with “He also wants”.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a parent vote on each new seat: Labelle never asks parents to vote on seats. What he wants besides the audit is a limit on switching schools once classes begin.
- a new school in the east end: Nobody asks for a new school. The east end comes up only because Nadeau is a principal there.
- smaller classes in every grade: Class sizes are never discussed. Labelle wants to cap transfers so principals can plan staffing.
Correct Answer: waited a year for an arts program
Passage Reference: the arts program he longed for sat just across the boundary, and we spent a year on a waiting list
Why this is correct: In the last paragraph, the writer’s son longed for an arts program just across the boundary. The family spent a year on a waiting list.
Tips: The comment asks about the writer’s son. Find the sentence that begins “When my own son was in grade three” and read it to the end.
Why the other options are wrong:
- switched schools in grade three: Nothing says the son switched schools in grade three. The family spent a year on a waiting list.
- rode a bus across town each day: Nothing is said about the son riding a bus. The program was just across the boundary.
- went to school in the east end: The column never says where the son went to school. The east end is where Nadeau works.
