Correct Answer: whether trades tracks should get the same standing as academics
Passage Reference: This spring our province is deciding whether to expand its skilled-trades tracks, with new shop equipment, paid apprenticeship hours and a diploma seal that would count the same as the academic one.
Why this is correct: The province is deciding whether to expand its trades tracks with a diploma seal that counts the same as the academic one. The people in the blog post all respond to that plan.
Tips: For a “mainly about” question, find what the province is deciding in the first paragraph. Notice the detail about the diploma seal.
Why the other options are wrong:
- how high schools can improve students’ writing skills: The writer teaches English, but writing skills are never the subject of the debate.
- whether apprentices should be paid more per hour: Paid apprenticeship hours are one part of the plan, but nobody argues about hourly pay.
- how to build a welding shop inside a school: A welding shop comes up only as an example of cost in Radcliffe’s warning.
Correct Answer: Inez Radcliffe
Passage Reference: notes that a single welding shop costs close to a million dollars to build and equip
Why this is correct: Radcliffe, the trustee, notes that one welding shop costs close to a million dollars to build and equip.
Tips: Two speakers talk about money, so read both closely. Ask who warns about what new facilities would cost, not about unfair funding between tracks.
Why the other options are wrong:
- Yannick Perrault: Perrault complains that the trades track gets less money, but he does not warn about how much new facilities cost.
- Faustina Plante: Plante talks about wage and job information for families, not building costs.
- Leandro Prevost: Prevost worries about sorting students too early, not about the price of shops.
Correct Answer: a finding that families rarely see wage numbers for trades
Passage Reference: She wants every grade 9 family to sit down with a counsellor and see real wage and job numbers for both paths before course selection.
Why this is correct: Plante says the bigger barrier is information, and she wants families to see real wage and job numbers before choosing courses. A finding that families rarely see such numbers would support her.
Tips: Plante says the bigger barrier is not prestige but something else. The right choice is proof of that barrier.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a survey showing parents already prefer the trades track: If parents already preferred the trades, there would be no prestige gap or information barrier for Plante to fix.
- a study showing students regret choosing a track early: Regret over early choices would support Prevost’s worry about sorting fourteen-year-olds, not Plante’s point about information.
- a budget showing welding shops cost less than expected: Welding shop costs belong to Radcliffe’s warning and have nothing to do with Plante’s family meetings.
Correct Answer: students would be able to switch tracks through grade 11
Passage Reference: he will only support the plan if students can switch tracks up to the end of grade 11 without losing credits
Why this is correct: Prevost will support the plan only if students can switch tracks up to the end of grade 11 without losing credits.
Tips: Prevost gives one condition for his support. Read the rest of that sentence and check each choice against every part of it.
Why the other options are wrong:
- students would choose a track at fourteen for good: Prevost says a fourteen-year-old should not be locked into a track, so this is the opposite of his condition.
- every student would take at least one shop course: Prevost never asks for a required shop course. His condition is about switching.
- switching tracks would cost students their credits: Prevost wants students to switch without losing credits.
Correct Answer: strongly in favour, with two added safeguards
Passage Reference: I want the province to fund the trades track properly and to give it the same diploma seal ... Prevost’s switching rule seems wise to me, and I would add Plante’s family meetings on top.
Why this is correct: The blogger has waited years for this debate and wants the trades track properly funded with the same seal. Then the writer adds Prevost’s switching rule and Plante’s family meetings.
Tips: Read the last sentence of the first paragraph and the whole last paragraph. Pick the choice that fits everything the writer says there.
Why the other options are wrong:
- opposed, because it sorts students too early: Early sorting is Prevost’s worry. The blogger accepts his rule but supports the plan.
- unsure until the full costs are known: Costs are Radcliffe’s concern. The blogger clearly wants the plan funded now.
- supportive only if parents vote for it: A parent vote is never asked for.
Correct Answer: finished calculus with marks in the nineties
Passage Reference: I have apprentices who finished calculus with nineties
Why this is correct: Perrault told the committee that some of his apprentices finished calculus with nineties.
Tips: The comment asks about some of Perrault’s apprentices. Find his quoted words to the education committee.
Why the other options are wrong:
- failed math in grade 10 at least once: Perrault says the opposite: some apprentices did very well in math.
- never finished high school at all: Perrault’s apprentices finished calculus, which is a high-school course.
- went to university before the trades: Perrault never says his apprentices went to university first.
Correct Answer: gets older equipment and less money
Passage Reference: as long as the trades track gets older equipment and less money than the academic one
Why this is correct: Perrault argues that parents will treat the trades as a second choice. That will last as long as the track gets older equipment and less money than the academic one.
Tips: Perrault’s warning uses the words “as long as”. The blank matches what comes right after them.
Why the other options are wrong:
- is taught by part-time teachers: Perrault says nothing about part-time teachers.
- has fewer students than the academic one: Perrault compares equipment and money, not the number of students.
- is only offered in big cities: Perrault never says where the track is offered. He complains about equipment and money.
Correct Answer: twenty years of experience in schools
Passage Reference: Faustina Plante, a guidance counsellor with twenty years in schools
Why this is correct: The blog post describes Plante as a guidance counsellor with twenty years in schools.
Tips: The comment calls her “the guidance counsellor in your post”. Read the words right after her name and job.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a son in an apprenticeship: Plante’s family is never mentioned.
- trained as an electrician herself: The electrician in the blog post is Perrault, not Plante.
- taught welding for a decade: Plante is a guidance counsellor. Nobody is described as a welding teacher.
Correct Answer: chairs a parent council in the city
Passage Reference: Leandro Prevost, who chairs a parent council in the city
Why this is correct: The blog post introduces Prevost as the chair of a parent council in the city.
Tips: The blank asks who Prevost is. Look at the words right after his name at the start of the third paragraph.
Why the other options are wrong:
- runs apprenticeship placements for the region: Running apprenticeship placements is Perrault’s job.
- sits on the local school board: The school board trustee is Radcliffe, not Prevost.
- teaches shop classes in Brandon: The only teacher from Brandon is the blogger, who teaches English.
Correct Answer: a snowmobile engine
Passage Reference: Last month a quiet student of mine rebuilt a snowmobile engine in his uncle’s garage
Why this is correct: In the last paragraph, a quiet student rebuilt a snowmobile engine in his uncle’s garage last month.
Tips: The comment asks about the writer’s student. Find “Last month a quiet student of mine” and read what he rebuilt.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a vintage motorcycle: No motorcycle is mentioned. The student rebuilt a snowmobile engine.
- a farm tractor: No tractor is mentioned in the blog post.
- a pickup truck’s brakes: No truck is mentioned. The student worked on a snowmobile engine.
