Correct Answer: whether the province should fund climate-ready farming
Passage Reference: The province is weighing a $40-million plan to fund climate-ready crop research and train farmers to use it
Why this is correct: The editorial explains that the province is weighing a plan to fund climate-ready crop research and farmer training. Each person gives a view on that plan.
Tips: For a “mainly about” question, find the plan being weighed in the first paragraph. Then check that every speaker talks about it.
Why the other options are wrong:
- how to lower the price of bread: Grocery prices are mentioned once, but the editorial is about a research and training plan, not bread prices.
- why farmers are leaving the Prairies: No one says farmers are leaving. Leduc still grows wheat and lentils.
- whether food banks should get new buildings: Rowan runs a food bank, but she asks for storage and supply chains for farm food, not new food bank buildings.
Correct Answer: Fitzroy Jaworski
Passage Reference: He wants seed companies and processors, who will profit from the new varieties, to pay a share of the cost.
Why this is correct: Fitzroy Jaworski wants seed companies and processors, who will profit from the new varieties, to pay a share of the cost.
Tips: The question is about who pays. Read each speaker’s lines and ask who wants some of the money to come from outside the province.
Why the other options are wrong:
- Eilidh Bhatt: Eilidh Bhatt wants public money for crop science. She does not ask companies to pay.
- Mungo Leduc: Mungo Leduc wants field days and advisers for farmers, not payments from companies.
- Yuki Rowan: Yuki Rowan wants part of the money for storage and supply chains. She does not say who else should pay.
Correct Answer: figures showing research money falling over ten years
Passage Reference: public money for crop science has fallen by about a third in ten years
Why this is correct: Bhatt argues that the work cannot wait. She says public money for crop science has fallen by about a third in ten years. Figures like these support her call to fund research now.
Tips: Find Bhatt’s reason why the work cannot wait. The right choice is evidence that would make that reason stronger.
Why the other options are wrong:
- surveys of shoppers upset about bread prices: Upset shoppers show that prices rose, but they say nothing about the research funding Bhatt worries about.
- surveys of farmers who prefer field days: Farmers who prefer field days would support Leduc’s request for training, not Bhatt’s case for research money.
- bills showing seed companies’ rising profits: Company profits would support Jaworski’s wish for industry to pay, not Bhatt’s point about falling public money.
Correct Answer: farmers would see new methods on working farms
Passage Reference: He wants field days on working farms
Why this is correct: Leduc wants field days on working farms, because farmers trust what they see over a neighbour’s fence. The outcome is farmers seeing new methods on real farms.
Tips: Look at the word “because” in Leduc’s lines. His reason tells you what his request is meant to achieve.
Why the other options are wrong:
- farmers would read new research in reports: Leduc says farmers trust what they see more than what they read in a report, so reports are not his answer.
- seed companies would run the training days: Leduc never says seed companies should run the training. Companies come up only in Jaworski’s cost plan.
- scientists would move their labs onto farms: Leduc wants field days and visiting advisers, not labs moved onto farms.
Correct Answer: urgent but practical
Passage Reference: the clock is the real enemy ... The drought will be back. We should be ready when it comes.
Why this is correct: The editorial says “the clock is the real enemy” and “The drought will be back”, which is urgent. It also gives exact shares of the money for training and storage, which is practical.
Tips: For tone, look at both how the writers feel and what they recommend. Read the last paragraph and check each choice against both.
Why the other options are wrong:
- calm and uncertain: The writers are sure of their view and say the province cannot afford to start late.
- angry and accusing: Notice that the writers do not blame anyone and agree with points from every speaker.
- amused and relaxed: In the last paragraph, the drought is treated as a serious threat, so the tone is not amused or relaxed.
Correct Answer: new wheat takes about a decade to breed
Passage Reference: a new drought-tolerant wheat takes roughly a decade to breed and test
Why this is correct: Bhatt, the scientist, says a new drought-tolerant wheat takes roughly a decade to breed and test.
Tips: The comment calls her the scientist, so go back to her lines. Look for the time she says is needed to develop a new crop.
Why the other options are wrong:
- new wheat can be ready within a year: Bhatt says a new wheat takes roughly a decade, not a year.
- wheat grows better in drier summers: The drought cut the harvest, so no one says wheat grows better when it is dry.
- most farmers refuse to plant new seeds: Leduc says seeds mean little without training, but no one says farmers refuse them.
Correct Answer: about a third of the harvest never reaches stores
Passage Reference: roughly a third of what our farms produce is lost between the field and the store
Why this is correct: Rowan, the food bank director, says roughly a third of what the farms produce is lost between the field and the store.
Tips: The comment names the food bank director. Find her lines and read her first point, before she says what she wants.
Why the other options are wrong:
- most food banks now grow their own vegetables: Rowan never says food banks grow vegetables. She talks about food lost before it reaches stores.
- farm prices have fallen for five years: No one says farm prices have fallen. Grocery prices went up after the drought.
- half of all farms will close by 2050: The year 2050 is about the world’s population, and no one predicts that farms will close.
Correct Answer: better storage and shorter supply chains
Passage Reference: she wants part of the money spent on better storage and shorter supply chains
Why this is correct: Rowan wants part of the money spent on better storage and shorter supply chains.
Tips: The director wants part of the money spent on something. Read the end of her sentence, after “she wants”.
Why the other options are wrong:
- free meals in rural schools: School meals are never mentioned. Rowan wants money for storage and supply chains.
- new trucks for food banks: Rowan does not ask for trucks for her food bank. She wants better storage and shorter supply chains.
- ads that teach families to cook: Rowan never mentions cooking ads. Her concern is food lost between the field and the store.
Correct Answer: paid advisers who visit in person
Passage Reference: paid advisers who visit in person
Why this is correct: Leduc, the farmer near the Alberta border, wants field days and paid advisers who visit in person.
Tips: The comment calls him the farmer near the border. He asks for two things, and the blank is the second one.
Why the other options are wrong:
- cheaper fuel for tractors: Leduc never talks about fuel. He asks for field days and advisers.
- a phone line for crop questions: Leduc wants advisers who visit in person, not a phone line.
- free internet on every farm: Internet service is never mentioned. Leduc asks for advisers who visit.
Correct Answer: cut the wheat harvest by nearly a quarter
Passage Reference: Last summer’s drought cut our province’s wheat harvest by nearly a quarter
Why this is correct: The editorial opens by saying that last summer’s drought cut the province’s wheat harvest by nearly a quarter.
Tips: The comment quotes something the writers say about last summer. Look at the very first sentence.
Why the other options are wrong:
- doubled the price of farmland in a year: The first paragraph says grocery prices followed the drought, not farmland prices.
- closed half the grain elevators in the province: Grain elevators are never mentioned. The drought cut the wheat harvest.
- ended after only two weeks of heat: Nothing in the passage says how long the drought lasted. It says the drought cut the harvest by nearly a quarter.
