Correct Answer: whether Canada should tighten rules for Arctic shipping
Passage Reference: Canada should write tougher rules for cargo ships in its Arctic waters now
Why this is correct: The columnist argues that Canada should write tougher rules for cargo ships in Arctic waters. Every person quoted gives a view on what those rules should be.
Tips: For a “mainly about” question, read the opening sentence of the column. Then check that every speaker talks about the same issue.
Why the other options are wrong:
- how icebreakers are built for polar waters: Icebreakers are mentioned only because ships can now cross without one. How they are built is never discussed.
- why coal exports to Europe are rising: The coal carrier is one example of a voyage, and the column says nothing about coal exports rising.
- whether hunters should move their camps inland: Huard wants ships slowed near hunting grounds, not hunters moved away.
Correct Answer: Alba Kemp
Passage Reference: doubts that any of these rules will mean much on their own
Why this is correct: Alba Kemp doubts that any of the rules will mean much on their own. Canada has few modern patrol ships and little spill equipment in the far north.
Tips: Two speakers talk about whether ships will obey. Ask which one says the country lacks the means to make them obey.
Why the other options are wrong:
- Zaid Greaves: Zaid Greaves says rules count only if ships obey them. But he argues for mandatory rules rather than doubting them. The lack of patrol ships is Kemp’s point.
- Cecil Arcand: Cecil Arcand worries that unusual rules would drive ships away, not that rules could not be enforced.
- Sami Huard: Sami Huard wants speed limits and paid monitors, so he expects rules to help rather than doubting them.
Correct Answer: records of foreign ships reporting to Canadian authorities
Passage Reference: every foreign ship that registers with the Canadian coast guard and accepts its tracking strengthens Canada’s claim
Why this is correct: Greaves says every foreign ship that registers with the coast guard and accepts its tracking strengthens Canada’s claim. So records of such ships would support him.
Tips: Find what Greaves says makes Canada’s claim stronger. Pick the evidence that shows this happening.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a study of seals leaving busy waters: Seals leaving busy waters would back Huard’s concern about hunting, not Greaves’s legal claim.
- a count of patrol ships in the far north: The number of patrol ships relates to Kemp’s worry about enforcement, not to Greaves’s point about registration.
- a comparison of fees on other sea routes: Fees on other routes matter to Arcand’s call to match international rules, not to Greaves’s view.
Correct Answer: ships would slow down near hunting grounds in some seasons
Passage Reference: He asks for speed limits near hunting grounds in certain seasons
Why this is correct: Huard asks for speed limits near hunting grounds in certain seasons, so the outcome is ships slowing down there at those times.
Tips: Look for the words “He asks for” in Huard’s lines. Read that sentence to the end and match it in other words.
Why the other options are wrong:
- all foreign vessels would be banned from the North: Huard asks for seasonal speed limits, not a ban on every foreign ship.
- hunters would stay away from the floe edge: Huard wants ships to slow down so families can keep hunting, not hunters to keep away.
- shipping lines would buy new icebreakers for Canada: Huard never asks shipping lines to buy icebreakers. Patrol ships are raised by Kemp.
Correct Answer: show why traffic through the islands will grow
Passage Reference: Voyages like that will not stay rare.
Why this is correct: The writer uses the shorter voyage as an example. Right after it comes the line that voyages like that will not stay rare.
Tips: Ask why the writer tells this story. Read the short sentence that comes right after the voyage.
Why the other options are wrong:
- praise the shipping line’s skilled crew: The crew is never mentioned. The voyage is used to show why the route is attractive.
- boast about the ship owners’ profits: The owners’ profits are never mentioned. The voyage shows why the route is attractive.
- prove that the summer ice has fully disappeared: The column says ships can cross without an icebreaker for several weeks a year, not that the ice is gone.
Correct Answer: about four days shorter than the canal
Passage Reference: about four days shorter than going through the canal in Panama
Why this is correct: The owners said the trip was about four days shorter than going through the canal in Panama.
Tips: The comment asks what the trip “was”, so find the coal carrier in the first paragraph. Read what its owners said about the trip.
Why the other options are wrong:
- twice as long as the canal route: The Arctic trip was shorter than the canal route, not twice as long.
- only possible with an icebreaker: The column says ships can now cross without an icebreaker for several weeks a year.
- paid for by the federal government: Nothing in the column says the government paid for the voyage.
Correct Answer: treats the route as an international strait
Passage Reference: Washington treats the route as an international strait
Why this is correct: Greaves explains that Washington treats the route as an international strait.
Tips: The comment calls him “the law professor”, so find Greaves’s lines. Look for the sentence that names Washington.
Why the other options are wrong:
- has agreed that the waters are Canadian: Washington disagrees with Canada’s claim. It has not agreed to it.
- sends icebreakers to escort Canadian ships: Escorts are never mentioned in the column.
- wants foreign ships banned from the route: Treating the route as an international strait means keeping it open to all ships, not banning them.
Correct Answer: send ships back to the southern route
Passage Reference: would send ships back to the southern route
Why this is correct: Arcand warns that rules found nowhere else would send ships back to the southern route.
Tips: The comment calls him “the shipping spokesperson”, so find Arcand’s lines. Read the words right after “warns that”.
Why the other options are wrong:
- force ships to hire Inuit pilots: Pilots are not part of Arcand’s warning.
- make shipping lines leave Europe: Arcand’s company is European, but he never says lines would leave Europe.
- double the price of Arctic fuel: Fuel comes up in Huard’s fear of a spill, not in Arcand’s warning.
Correct Answer: damage a coastline for decades
Passage Reference: one fuel spill could damage a coastline for decades
Why this is correct: Huard says one fuel spill could damage a coastline for decades.
Tips: The comment names Huard, so go back to his lines in the third paragraph. Find the words “one fuel spill” and read to the end.
Why the other options are wrong:
- close the hamlet’s only airport: The hamlet’s airport is never mentioned.
- raise heating costs for years: Heating costs are not part of Huard’s fear about a spill.
- end the whale hunt for good: Huard says ships can scare off whales, but he does not say a spill would end the hunt forever.
Correct Answer: counted nine ships from a window
Passage Reference: Last summer I counted nine ships from my kitchen window in Iqaluit
Why this is correct: Look at the first paragraph. Last summer the writer counted nine ships from a kitchen window in Iqaluit.
Tips: The comment says “last summer”, so look for those words at the end of the first paragraph. Read what the writer did.
Why the other options are wrong:
- sailed on the coal carrier: The coal carrier’s voyage is described, but the writer never sailed on it.
- hunted seals near the floe edge: The floe edge and seals come from Huard’s point about hunting families, not from the columnist’s own summer.
- toured a coast guard patrol ship: Patrol ships appear in Kemp’s warning that there are too few, not in the columnist’s story.
