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CELPIP Practice Reading: Reading for Viewpoints ID: #63183 Easy The Curb Ramp at the End of My Street

Read the following blog post from a website.

I use a power wheelchair, and every winter my world shrinks to the few blocks where someone has cleared the curb ramps. After last week’s storm I sat stuck for twenty minutes at the corner of my own street, because a ridge of packed snow covered the ramp. So I was pleased to hear that city council here in Saskatoon is debating a firmer sidewalk rule: clear your walk within 24 hours after the snow stops, or pay a fine. Then I looked across the fence at Delia, my 81-year-old neighbour, who had hip surgery in October, and I felt less sure.

Greer Lemieux, a bylaw officer, told council that complaint records from two pilot wards show walks get cleared much sooner when tickets arrive within a day of a storm. “Packed snow on a curb ramp is a locked door for people on wheels,” she said. She wants the fine money to go to sand crews and salt bins, and residents would get a text message warning before any ticket goes out. Otis Banerjee, who speaks for a local seniors’ group, argues that flat fines will fall hardest on older people who live alone and are too frail to shovel. He is asking for a 48-hour grace period, with volunteer shovellers sent out before anyone pays a cent.

Councillor Mireille Dagenais says she likes a clear deadline, but tickets should not spread beyond the two pilot wards until a volunteer shovel program is running and people know how to reach it. Hamid Keating, who runs a bakery on the main street, points out that one owner who never clears the walk can keep customers away from a whole row of shops. He would like the city to post an online map of blocks that are often left uncleared, so neighbours can see which streets still need a hand.

My own answer is a bit of both. I want the deadline, because I am tired of turning back at snowy corners. But I also want Delia to keep her dignity, and a $100 ticket would not move a single shovelful of snow from her walk. I think Dagenais has the order right: build the volunteer program first, then fine the people who simply cannot be bothered. I have already signed up to help the shovel team in my ward. I can’t lift a shovel myself, but I can answer the phone and match volunteers with the neighbours who need them.

Using the drop-down menu (▾), choose the best option according to the information given on the website.

This blog post is mainly about 1.
.

Who most clearly worries that fines would hurt older people who live alone? 2.
.

Greer Lemieux’s position would most likely be supported by 3.
.

What outcome does Mireille Dagenais’s condition call for? 4.
.

The blogger mentions Delia mainly to 5.
.

The following is a comment by a visitor to the website page. Complete the comment by choosing the best option to fill in each blank.

Every winter our street has the same argument over the one house with an unshovelled walk, so this post felt very familiar to me. Greer Lemieux wants the fines to fund 6.
, which sounds more useful than sending the money into the general budget. The seniors’ advocate is asking for 7.
, and my own grandmother would have welcomed that after her fall. The bakery owner’s idea of 8.
 is clever, and our ward could try it before the next big storm. I also like that nobody would get a ticket without 9.
, since plenty of people on my block work nights and miss the city’s snow reports. The blogger, who 10.
, has given me a good reason to stop grumbling about the corner house and knock on its door with a shovel instead.

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