Correct Answer: whether crop insurance for grain farmers needs reform
Passage Reference: whether the province’s crop insurance, designed for steadier times, still fits the years farmers actually face
Why this is correct: The editorial asks whether the province’s crop insurance still fits the years farmers face, and says it needs reform. Every person quoted speaks to that question.
Tips: For a “mainly about” question, find the words “the practical question” in the first paragraph. Every speaker after that answers it.
Why the other options are wrong:
- whether last year’s record harvest was reported fairly: Headlines about the record crop are mentioned, but the real question is crop insurance, not how the harvest was reported.
- how prairie farmers should sell wheat abroad: Selling wheat to other countries is never discussed in the editorial.
- why hail storms are so hard to forecast: Hail is mentioned as a cause of this year’s loss, but forecasting it is not the topic.
Correct Answer: Denzel Hebb
Passage Reference: he warns that removing bad years would raise premiums for every farmer in the plan by as much as eight percent
Why this is correct: Denzel Hebb warns about removing bad years, which farmers are asking for. It would raise premiums for every farmer in the plan by as much as eight percent.
Tips: Sort the speakers into those who make a request and those who respond to someone else’s. Then ask whose answer is about cost.
Why the other options are wrong:
- Silje Molina: Silje Molina makes the request to drop the worst year. She does not warn that it would raise costs.
- Chiara Langlois: Chiara Langlois talks about warming seasons and weather models, not about premiums rising for everyone.
- Yohan Sabo: Yohan Sabo wants discounts for protecting soil moisture, which would lower costs for some farmers rather than raise them.
Correct Answer: farm records where coverage fell right after a dry year
Passage Reference: a single bad season lowers her protection for the seasons that follow
Why this is correct: Molina says one bad season lowers her protection for the seasons after it. Farm records showing coverage falling right after a dry year would prove her point.
Tips: Find Molina’s complaint in her lines. Pick the evidence that shows this happening to real growers.
Why the other options are wrong:
- figures showing premiums rise when bad years are dropped: Rising premiums would support Hebb’s warning, which works against Molina’s request.
- a study showing dry and wet years now swing more: Bigger swings between dry and wet years back Langlois’s point about weather models. They do not show Molina’s coverage shrinking.
- a finding that moisture-saving methods cut crop losses: Moisture-saving methods cutting losses would support Sabo’s discounts, not Molina’s complaint about her average.
Correct Answer: an agronomist would confirm the methods before any discount
Passage Reference: He would support premium discounts for such methods only if an agronomist confirms them on the farm.
Why this is correct: Sabo would support premium discounts for soil-saving methods only if an agronomist confirms them on the farm.
Tips: Look for “only if” in Sabo’s last sentence. It tells you who must visit the farm and what that person must do first.
Why the other options are wrong:
- every farmer would pay the same premium: Sabo wants discounts for some farmers, so premiums would not be the same for everyone.
- discounts would go to the largest farms first: Sabo never mentions farm size. His discounts depend on confirmed methods.
- the agency would stop covering hail damage: Nobody proposes dropping hail coverage, and the editorial wants the plan to pay out after hail.
Correct Answer: calm and practical
Passage Reference: We think both kinds of headline miss the practical question
Why this is correct: The writers set aside dramatic headlines to ask “the practical question”. The editorial ends with specific, measured steps.
Tips: For a tone question, compare the headlines in the first paragraph with how the writers talk. Look at the kind of steps they suggest at the end.
Why the other options are wrong:
- alarmed and angry: The writers criticize wild headlines and stay measured themselves. They are not alarmed or angry.
- mocking and dismissive: Every speaker’s view is treated seriously, even Hebb’s warning, which the writers say “can be met.”
- sentimental and nostalgic: Nothing looks back fondly on the past. The question is how insurance should work now.
Correct Answer: drop the worst year from the average
Passage Reference: She wants farmers to be allowed to drop their worst year from that average.
Why this is correct: Molina, the farmer from Swift Current, wants farmers to be allowed to drop their worst year from that average.
Tips: The comment calls her “the farmer from Swift Current”, so find Molina’s lines. Read the sentence that starts “She wants”.
Why the other options are wrong:
- be paid before each harvest begins: Molina never asks to be paid before the harvest. Her request is about the yield average.
- insure canola at the same rate as wheat: Molina grows wheat and canola, but she never asks for equal rates for the two crops.
- choose their own ten-year period: Molina accepts an average taken from the last decade. She only wants to drop the worst year from it.
Correct Answer: better seed varieties keep lifting average yields
Passage Reference: better seed varieties keep pushing average yields upward
Why this is correct: Langlois, the scientist, notes that better seed varieties keep pushing average yields upward. This is part of why a record and a loss can both happen.
Tips: The comment calls her “the scientist”, so find Langlois’s lines. She makes more than one point, so read to the end of the long sentence.
Why the other options are wrong:
- long-term averages are the best guide: Langlois wants models to give more weight to recent weather records, not only to long-term averages.
- hail storms are now rarer than before: Langlois never says hail is becoming rarer. She talks about swings between dry and wet years.
- prairie summers have been getting cooler: Langlois says Prairie growing seasons have warmed, not cooled.
Correct Answer: leaving stubble on the fields
Passage Reference: for example by leaving stubble on their fields
Why this is correct: Sabo, the economist, gives leaving stubble on the fields as an example of protecting soil moisture.
Tips: The comment calls him “the economist”, so find Sabo’s lines. Look for the words “for example”.
Why the other options are wrong:
- planting trees along field edges: Trees along field edges are never mentioned. Sabo’s example is leaving stubble.
- adding more fertilizer each spring: Fertilizer is never mentioned in the editorial. Sabo’s example is about soil moisture.
- switching from wheat to canola: Molina grows both crops, but no one suggests switching crops as a way to protect moisture.
Correct Answer: a dry June followed by hail
Passage Reference: a dry June followed by August hail cut yields on many farms by about forty percent
Why this is correct: In the first paragraph, the writers say that a dry June followed by August hail cut yields on many farms this year.
Tips: The comment asks about this year’s loss, so read the third sentence of the passage. Notice both causes, in order.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a wet spring and an early frost: The editorial describes a dry June, not a wet spring, and it never mentions frost.
- grasshoppers and a late thaw: Insects and a late thaw are never mentioned. The causes were a dry June and hail.
- flooding in the river valley: This year’s problem was dryness and hail, not flooding.
Correct Answer: spread the steps over three years
Passage Reference: Those steps should be spread over three years
Why this is correct: In the last paragraph the writers say the steps should be spread over three years. That way no farmer faces a sudden jump in costs.
Tips: The comment wonders if the province will really do something, so go to the last paragraph. Match the writer’s request there in other words.
Why the other options are wrong:
- pay farmers before each harvest: Paying farmers before the harvest is never suggested.
- drop the plan for large farms: Large farms are never singled out. The writers want the plan reformed for everyone.
- cut premiums in half next season: The writers expect premiums to rise somewhat and use discounts to offset part of that, not to halve them.
