Correct Answer: how the city should expand refill stations and keep them working
Passage Reference: We believe the city should add stations, but only with a real plan to keep them working
Why this is correct: The editorial says the city should add refill stations, but only with a plan to keep them working. Then it weighs four views on how to do that.
Tips: Read the last sentence of the first paragraph, where the writers give their view. Then check that the last paragraph turns it into a plan.
Why the other options are wrong:
- why the city should ban the sale of bottled water: Nobody asks for a ban on bottled water. Vending money is treated as a budget question.
- how festival organizers plan to clean up the harbour: The harbour litter after festivals is only the opening picture, and no festival organizers or cleanup plan appear.
- why cyclists want the river trail to be made wider: Tasha Sundberg wants more stations on the trail and data on repairs, not a wider trail.
Correct Answer: a city where fewer bottles were littered after new stations opened
Passage Reference: litter crews collected fewer plastic bottles after new stations went in
Why this is correct: Moreau points to cities where litter crews collected fewer plastic bottles after new stations went in, so this example supports her.
Tips: Find Moreau’s reason: why people pay for water in plastic. Then pick the example that shows her idea working somewhere else.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a city where washroom budgets fell after vending sales were cut: Falling washroom budgets after vending cuts would back Luc Tessier’s warning about lost money, not Moreau’s case for more stations.
- a city where bottle sales rose after new fountains were added: Rising bottle sales after new fountains would show the fountains did not help, which works against Moreau.
- a city where cyclists asked for a wider path along the river: A request for a wider path has nothing to do with Moreau’s point about distance to a fountain and plastic litter.
Correct Answer: Luc Tessier
Passage Reference: cutting it without a replacement would hurt that budget first
Why this is correct: Tessier says vending money keeps washrooms clean and that cutting it would hurt that budget first.
Tips: Read each speaker’s lines and look for the word “warning” near a name. Then check what that person says would be hurt first.
Why the other options are wrong:
- Rachel Moreau: Rachel Moreau argues that more stations reduce plastic litter. She does not discuss washroom budgets.
- Tasha Sundberg: Tasha Sundberg talks about cyclists on the dry trail and how often stations work, not washroom cleaning.
- Kofi Okafor: Kofi Okafor is concerned with posting water test results, not with vending money.
Correct Answer: Users would be able to check each station’s water test results
Passage Reference: He wants every station to carry a QR code linking to its monthly water test results, so users can see that the tap has been checked
Why this is correct: Okafor wants a QR code on every station linking to monthly water test results, so users could check them.
Tips: Okafor’s lines mention a QR code. Ask what that code would let people see.
Why the other options are wrong:
- Cyclists would find a station at every junction on the trail: Stations at trail junctions are what Tasha Sundberg asks for, not Okafor.
- Vending machines would be removed from every public square: Okafor never mentions vending machines, and nobody in the editorial asks to remove them.
- Festival crowds would be banned from bringing plastic bottles: Nobody in the editorial proposes banning plastic bottles at festivals.
Correct Answer: support new stations while urging council to plan for upkeep
Passage Reference: We believe the city should add stations, but only with a real plan to keep them working
Why this is correct: The writers back more stations. But they urge council to fund upkeep and publish repair and test records first.
Tips: Purpose questions ask what the whole editorial is trying to do. Compare each choice with the view in the first paragraph and the last one.
Why the other options are wrong:
- reject new stations because the city cannot afford them: In the first paragraph, the writers say the city should add stations, so they do not reject them.
- praise council for already fixing every broken fountain: The second paragraph says some fountains are still taped shut, so council has not fixed them all.
- celebrate the end of the summer festival season: The festival litter is only the opening picture. The writers argue about refill stations and their upkeep, not the festival season.
Correct Answer: people buy bottled water when a fountain is too far
Passage Reference: people buy bottled water when the nearest fountain is too far away
Why this is correct: Moreau told the works committee that people buy bottled water when the nearest fountain is too far away. The commenter says their Saturday runs back her up.
Tips: The comment names Moreau, so go back to her report to the works committee. The right choice restates her first point.
Why the other options are wrong:
- the harbour should ban plastic bottles at festivals: Moreau never asks for a festival ban on plastic bottles. She argues for more refill stations.
- vending money should pay for the new stations: Moreau says nothing about vending money. The money question comes up only in the facilities manager’s warning.
- most fountains in the city are already broken: Only some existing fountains are taped shut, and that detail comes from Tessier, not Moreau.
Correct Answer: a broken fountain does more harm than no fountain
Passage Reference: A broken fountain does more harm than no fountain
Why this is correct: Facilities manager Luc Tessier said these exact words, and the commenter calls it the facilities manager’s line.
Tips: The comment calls him the facilities manager. Look for his short quote in the second paragraph.
Why the other options are wrong:
- concession owners already pay too much in fees: Tessier actually proposes a new fee on concessions, so he does not think they pay too much.
- the city should stop selling bottled water: Tessier wants to protect the vending money that keeps washrooms clean, so he would not stop the sales.
- new stations cost less than repairing old ones: Tessier never compares the cost of new stations with repairs. He only says crews are waiting for spare parts.
Correct Answer: the city report how often each station is working
Passage Reference: she wants the city to report how often each one is actually working
Why this is correct: Sundberg wants the city to report how often each station is actually working, and the commenter says Sundberg also asks for this.
Tips: Sundberg supports the plan but adds a request after “but”. Read exactly what she asks for.
Why the other options are wrong:
- every cyclist carry two bottles on long rides: Sundberg never tells cyclists to carry more bottles. She wants stations on the trail.
- the trail be widened at every busy junction: Sundberg wants stations at trail junctions, not wider junctions.
- stations be built only in the downtown squares: Sundberg asks for stations at trail junctions, so she does not want them only downtown.
Correct Answer: approve the concession fee before building new stations
Passage Reference: council should approve the concession fee first, publish repair and water-test records for every station, and only then build the new network along the trail
Why this is correct: Look at the recommendation in the last paragraph. Council should approve the concession fee first and only then build the new network along the trail.
Tips: Look for order words like “first” and “only then” in the last paragraph. They show what comes before what.
Why the other options are wrong:
- close every vending machine before next summer: Closing vending machines is never suggested. The writers want a fee to replace the washroom money first.
- charge cyclists a small fee to use the trail: The fee in the editorial is on food and drink concessions, not on cyclists using the trail.
- build the trail stations before fixing the old ones: Here the order is the other way round. Building the new network comes last, after repair records are published.
Correct Answer: taped shut while crews wait for parts
Passage Reference: some existing fountains are already taped shut while crews wait for spare parts
Why this is correct: Tessier describes fountains that are already taped shut while crews wait for spare parts. The commenter says the fountain on their route is like the ones the editorial mentions.
Tips: The commenter says the fountain is like the ones in the editorial. Find the fountains that are not working in the second paragraph.
Why the other options are wrong:
- busy with cyclists filling their bottles: No fountain is described as busy with cyclists. Sundberg says riders leave the trail to buy bottles because they have no water.
- hidden behind a row of food trucks: No fountain in the editorial is blocked by food trucks. The food and drink concessions come up only as the source of a fee.
- shut off every night to save water: Nobody mentions fountains being turned off at night to save water.
