Correct Answer: how the province should move ahead with small reactors
Passage Reference: I think the province is rushing them in a way that could sink them
Why this is correct: The columnist wants small modular reactors but thinks the province is rushing them. Every person in the column argues about what must happen before they are built.
Tips: For a “mainly about” question, look at the writer’s view in the first paragraph. Then ask what every expert keeps returning to.
Why the other options are wrong:
- whether coal plants should stay open longer: The coal plant is closing next winter, and no one argues that it should stay open.
- why wind farms are unpopular on the Prairies: Wind comes up only in Reddy’s modelling of winter shortfalls. No one says wind farms are unpopular.
- how towns can lower their power bills: Power bills are never discussed. The column is about how to go ahead with small reactors.
Correct Answer: Isidore Bonsu
Passage Reference: he insists that benefit agreements and shared monitoring be signed before the first shovel goes in
Why this is correct: Isidore Bonsu insists that benefit agreements and shared monitoring be signed before the first shovel goes in.
Tips: Read each speaker’s lines for a time word like “before”. Then ask which one wants something signed, not just planned or funded.
Why the other options are wrong:
- Mathilde Reddy: Mathilde Reddy wants the licensing schedule printed. She does not ask for agreements to be signed first.
- Carys Wainwright: Carys Wainwright wants waste rules in the same law as the reactor approvals. That is a law, not a signed agreement before construction.
- Leander Duchesne: Leander Duchesne wants training budgets locked in before permits. He does not talk about signed agreements.
Correct Answer: models showing winter shortfalls without steady power
Passage Reference: provincial modelling that shows winter shortfalls if the province relies on wind and solar alone without steady backup
Why this is correct: Reddy argues for going ahead with small reactors, and she cites modelling that shows winter shortfalls without steady backup. Models like that support her case.
Tips: Find Reddy’s reason for building. The right choice is evidence that would make that reason stronger.
Why the other options are wrong:
- complaints about storage sites near towns: Complaints about storage sites would support Wainwright’s warning, not Reddy’s case for building.
- records of consultation skipped in past projects: Skipped consultation would support Bonsu’s demand for agreements first, not Reddy’s reliability argument.
- a survey of towns without emergency drills: Towns without emergency drills would support Duchesne’s warning, not Reddy’s argument.
Correct Answer: spent-fuel rules would be part of the reactor law
Passage Reference: rules for moving spent fuel, and a veto for host communities, become part of the same law that approves the reactors
Why this is correct: Wainwright will back the plan only on one condition. Rules for moving spent fuel, and a veto for host communities, must become part of the same law that approves the reactors.
Tips: Look for “only if” in Wainwright’s lines. The words after it tell you what her condition needs.
Why the other options are wrong:
- host towns would lose any say over waste: Wainwright wants a veto for host communities, which gives towns more say, not less.
- reactors would be approved first, waste rules later: Wainwright wants the waste rules in the same law as the approvals, not added later.
- spent fuel would be shipped out of the country: Wainwright wants rules for moving spent fuel, but she never says it should leave the country.
Correct Answer: supportive, but only once the rules catch up
Passage Reference: I have read enough glossy brochures to be wary, and I still come out in favour. ... The province should sign the agreements, pass the waste law and fund the drills first, and only then pour concrete.
Why this is correct: The writer comes out in favour of the reactors. But the writer wants the agreements signed, the waste law passed and the drills funded first. That is support that waits for the rules.
Tips: Read the last paragraph closely and find the writer’s own view. Restate it in simple words, then pick the choice with the same meaning.
Why the other options are wrong:
- opposed, since the waste can never be stored: The writer comes out in favour and asks for a waste law, which assumes waste can be handled.
- enthusiastic, wanting building to start at once: Notice that the writer wants several steps done first and accepts a delay of a year. Building would not start at once.
- neutral, reporting views without a verdict: In the last paragraph, the writer gives a clear verdict and tells the province what order to follow.
Correct Answer: could mean fewer power lines over farmland
Passage Reference: which means fewer long transmission lines cut across farmland
Why this is correct: Reddy argues that small units can sit close to the cities that use the power. This means fewer long transmission lines cut across farmland.
Tips: Reddy is named in the comment, so reread her part of the second paragraph. The right choice restates her idea in plainer words.
Why the other options are wrong:
- can run without any backup in winter: Reddy’s point about winter is that the grid needs steady backup, not that reactors need none.
- would lower power bills within a year: Reddy never promises lower bills. Her point is about fewer transmission lines.
- need less water than coal plants: Water comes up only in Duchesne’s point about permits. Reddy does not compare water use.
Correct Answer: the licensing schedule appear with every announcement
Passage Reference: She also wants Ottawa’s licensing schedule printed next to every provincial announcement
Why this is correct: Reddy wants Ottawa’s licensing schedule printed next to every provincial announcement, so that investors and First Nations read the same calendar.
Tips: Reddy makes more than one point. Look for the sentence where she “also wants” something, and read what she asks for.
Why the other options are wrong:
- reactors be built only on old coal sites: Reddy wants units close to the cities that use the power. She never limits them to coal sites.
- investors pay for all the transmission lines: Investors come up only as readers of the calendar. Reddy never asks them to pay for lines.
- every town hold a vote on the reactors: A vote is never proposed. Wainwright asks for a veto for host communities, which is a different idea.
Correct Answer: more towns will end up storing waste
Passage Reference: without a long-term disposal site, small reactors simply create more storage sites near more towns
Why this is correct: Wainwright, who studies waste policy, says that without a long-term disposal site, small reactors simply create more storage sites near more towns.
Tips: The comment gives her job instead of her name, so find the policy researcher among the speakers. Read her warning to the end and match it in other words.
Why the other options are wrong:
- old waste can be buried on site: Wainwright wants a long-term disposal site, so she does not say old waste can simply be buried on site.
- reactors produce almost no waste: Wainwright’s whole concern is the waste, so she does not say there is almost none.
- disposal sites already exist nearby: Wainwright’s warning starts from the lack of a long-term disposal site.
Correct Answer: training budgets for firefighters and paramedics
Passage Reference: training budgets for local firefighters and paramedics are locked in before any construction permit is issued
Why this is correct: Duchesne, the mayor, supports a careful study on one condition. Training budgets for local firefighters and paramedics must be locked in before any construction permit is issued.
Tips: Find the mayor in the third paragraph. His condition comes after “but only if”.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a new hospital in each host town: Duchesne asks for training budgets, not new hospitals.
- free water testing for every home: Duchesne mentions water permits, but he does not ask for free water testing.
- a seat for mayors on the regulator: Duchesne never asks for a seat on the regulator. His condition is training budgets.
Correct Answer: spent thirty years at the coal plant
Passage Reference: My grandfather spent thirty years at the coal plant that shuts down next winter
Why this is correct: In the first paragraph you can read, “My grandfather spent thirty years at the coal plant that shuts down next winter.”
Tips: Search the passage for the family member named in the comment. The sentence about him is near the start.
Why the other options are wrong:
- helped build the first nuclear plant: The grandfather worked at a coal plant, not a nuclear one.
- fought the reactor plan in court: The writer says a rushed reactor could end up in court, but the grandfather had nothing to do with it.
- ran the town as its mayor: The mayor in the column is Duchesne. The grandfather worked at the coal plant.
