Correct Answer: whether the school should keep selling chocolate to raise money
Passage Reference: its new healthy-schools policy could end candy sales by next fall
Why this is correct: The blogger runs the chocolate fundraiser and learns that a new policy could end candy sales. Every person in the blog post gives a view on whether that sale should continue.
Tips: For a “mainly about” question, look at the news in the first paragraph that gives the writer a jolt. Every speaker after that answers the same question.
Why the other options are wrong:
- how the school should pay for a new gym floor: No gym floor is mentioned. Gita Furlong only wants the gym opened on two evenings a month for sorting.
- whether parents should take over the lunch program: No lunch program is discussed. Lunch bags come up only as one item Boivin plans to sell.
- why the grade six camp trip was cancelled: The camp trip was not cancelled. The blogger says last year’s chocolate sale paid for it.
Correct Answer: Hugo Janzen
Passage Reference: a table of sweets at the front door undoes the nutrition unit that the grade four class studies that very week
Why this is correct: Hugo Janzen, the public health nurse, says that sweets sold at the door undo a nutrition unit taught the same week. That is a worry that selling candy works against what children learn.
Tips: Read each speaker’s reason, not just their side. Ask whose reason is about lessons in class rather than money or volunteer time.
Why the other options are wrong:
- Carmen Boivin: Carmen Boivin wants one more season of chocolate because it raises money quickly. She does not say it works against lessons.
- Gita Furlong: Gita Furlong talks about the work of sorting catalogue orders, not about what students learn in class.
- Oren MacLeod: Oren MacLeod backs the healthy-schools policy, but his point is about timing and grants, not about a nutrition unit.
Correct Answer: figures showing chocolate earns more than other sales
Passage Reference: the caramel bars sold out in four days, while the spring flower sale needed a whole month to raise less than half as much
Why this is correct: Boivin wants to keep chocolate because it brings in money fast. Her own records show the bars sold out in four days. The flower sale raised less than half as much in a month.
Tips: Find the records Boivin brought to the meeting. Pick the evidence that would make her money argument stronger.
Why the other options are wrong:
- figures showing students eat more sweets in sale weeks: Figures about students eating sweets would support the nurse’s health worry, not Boivin’s wish to keep selling chocolate.
- a report that sorting catalogue orders takes many evenings: A report about sorting catalogue orders would back Furlong’s point about volunteer work, not Boivin’s case for chocolate.
- a promise from the board to cover the camp trip: If the board covered the camp trip, the school would need less fundraising money, which weakens Boivin’s reason for more chocolate.
Correct Answer: both kinds of sale would run for a year before any decision
Passage Reference: He also wants both kinds of sale to run side by side for one year, with the results posted, before chocolate is dropped for good.
Why this is correct: MacLeod says chocolate should not be pulled overnight. He wants both kinds of sale to run side by side for a year, with the results posted, before chocolate ends.
Tips: Read the last sentence of MacLeod’s lines. Check what must happen at what point, and what he wants posted.
Why the other options are wrong:
- chocolate would be banned at every school by next month: MacLeod says the board should not pull chocolate overnight, so a ban next month is the opposite of what he wants.
- each class would raise its own money for camp: MacLeod never says each class should raise its own camp money. His plan is about a grant and a year of both sales.
- the principal would choose which sale to keep: The principal appears only in Furlong’s request to open the gym. MacLeod wants results posted, not a choice by the principal.
Correct Answer: fond of it, yet willing to change
Passage Reference: I love the chocolate sale, partly because it is so easy for me
Why this is correct: The writer admits loving the chocolate sale. But after the son’s question, the writer backs a year of running both kinds of sale. That is fondness together with a willingness to change.
Tips: For an attitude question, read the whole last paragraph. Look for one feeling at the start and a decision at the end.
Why the other options are wrong:
- proud of it and unwilling to change: The blogger is willing to change. The blogger backs MacLeod’s year of both sales and will store seed packets this fall.
- tired of it and glad to see it end: The blogger says “I love the chocolate sale,” so the blogger is not tired of it or glad to see it go.
- unsure of it and planning to step down: The writer never plans to step down and has already signed up for the first gym evening.
Correct Answer: seed packets and lunch bags beside the chocolate
Passage Reference: she plans to set out seed packets and reusable lunch bags beside the chocolate this year
Why this is correct: Boivin plans to set out seed packets and reusable lunch bags beside the chocolate this year so families can try something new.
Tips: The comment names Boivin, so go back to her lines in the second paragraph. Find the words “Even so” and read what she plans to add.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a table of used books beside the chocolate: Used books are never mentioned. Boivin’s new items are seed packets and reusable lunch bags.
- a bake sale at the winter concert: No bake sale or winter concert is mentioned in the blog post. Boivin adds new items to the chocolate table.
- a raffle for a new classroom tablet: Nobody suggests a raffle or a tablet. Boivin’s plan is seed packets and lunch bags beside the chocolate.
Correct Answer: the new kinds of sale still cost volunteers time
Passage Reference: non-food sales cost something too
Why this is correct: Furlong reminds the meeting that non-food sales cost something too, because somebody has to sort the catalogue orders. The cost she means is volunteers’ time.
Tips: The comment calls her “the teacher”, so find the teacher’s first sentence in the third paragraph. The right choice says the same idea in different words.
Why the other options are wrong:
- catalogue items rarely reach families on time: Furlong says catalogue orders arrive in mixed boxes, not that they arrive late.
- most parents would rather give cash instead: Furlong never says parents prefer giving cash. She talks about the work of sorting orders.
- students should not sell door to door: Door-to-door selling is never discussed in the blog post. Furlong’s point is about sorting orders.
Correct Answer: a small start-up grant for each school
Passage Reference: He is asking the board to give each school a small start-up grant for its first non-food sale.
Why this is correct: The trustee, Oren MacLeod, wants the board to give each school a small start-up grant for its first non-food sale.
Tips: The comment calls him “the trustee”, so find his lines. He asks the board for money, so read what the money is for.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a ban on chocolate at every school event: MacLeod says the board should not pull chocolate overnight, so he is not asking for a ban at every event.
- a larger budget for school field trips: MacLeod never asks for a bigger field trip budget. His money is a grant for a first non-food sale.
- a paid clerk in every school office: No paid clerk is mentioned. MacLeod’s plan is a start-up grant and a year of both sales.
Correct Answer: something his teacher calls a “sometimes food”
Passage Reference: asked me why I was selling something his teacher calls a “sometimes food.”
Why this is correct: Pim asked the blogger why the blogger was selling something his teacher calls a “sometimes food.”
Tips: Pim’s question is in the last paragraph. Read it closely and notice the words in quotation marks.
Why the other options are wrong:
- why his class had skipped the camp trip: The class did not skip the trip. Chocolate money paid for last year’s grade six camp trip.
- why the family sold chocolate at the door: The family never sold at the door, and Pim’s question was about a “sometimes food,” not about door-to-door selling.
- how much money the chocolate sale made: Pim asked about selling a “sometimes food,” not about how much money the sale raised.
Correct Answer: a gym that opens two evenings a month
Passage Reference: She wants the principal to open the gym two evenings a month
Why this is correct: Furlong wants the principal to open the gym two evenings a month so volunteers can sort orders together.
Tips: The comment does not name a speaker here, so test each choice against the passage. Only one of them is an idea that someone in the post actually suggests.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a classroom where students pack orders: Furlong wants volunteers to work together in the gym. Students packing orders in a classroom is never suggested.
- a weekend market run by the parents: No weekend market is mentioned. Furlong asks for the gym on two evenings a month.
- a van that delivers orders to families: Delivery is never discussed. Furlong’s idea is a gym where volunteers sort orders together.
