Correct Answer: how wide no-spray strips near schools and farms should be
Passage Reference: the county’s argument about wider no-spray strips beside schools and organic land
Why this is correct: The blogger reports a county argument about wider no-spray strips beside schools and organic land. Every speaker gives a view on how wide they should be.
Tips: For a “mainly about” question, find the argument the writer keeps reading about in the first paragraph. Each speaker then adds a view on it.
Why the other options are wrong:
- whether the town should build a second school: Remi’s school is mentioned, but nobody proposes building a second one.
- why canola prices dropped so sharply this year: Canola is growing beside the school, but its price is never discussed.
- how growers can sell more at the Saturday market: The writer sells vegetables at the Saturday market, but market sales are only background, not the topic.
Correct Answer: Wade Fenton
Passage Reference: wants the width of a strip to depend on how toxic the product is and how high the boom rides
Why this is correct: Wade Fenton says one fifty-metre rule would idle odd-shaped corners. He wants the strip width to depend on the product’s toxicity and the boom height.
Tips: Two speakers mention strips that change by product. Check which one argues against a single rule and which one only accepts the idea on a condition.
Why the other options are wrong:
- Hazel Brink: Hazel Brink wants wider strips beside schools and organic plots. She never asks for widths that change with each product.
- Imani Esteves: Imani Esteves worries about her grocery contract and wants day-ahead alerts, not product-based widths.
- Bijan Stoltz: Bijan Stoltz would accept strips that vary by product, but he does not argue against one distance. His point is about out-of-date maps.
Correct Answer: records showing complaints gather along thin roadside crops
Passage Reference: pointing to complaint maps that bunch up where crops are narrow and hug the road
Why this is correct: Brink points to complaint maps that bunch up where crops are narrow and close to the road. Records like these would back her call for wider strips.
Tips: Find what Brink points to when she speaks to the panel. The right choice is evidence of the same pattern, told in different words.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a survey of growers who lost corners to creeks: Corners lost to creeks are Fenton’s reason against one fixed rule, so this survey would help him, not Brink.
- a finding that organic buyers overlook small residues: If buyers overlooked small residues, the organic plots would need less protection, which weakens Brink’s case.
- a report that school fences block most drift: If fences blocked most drift, wider strips beside schools would matter less, so this report works against Brink.
Correct Answer: the province would fund updated parcel maps first
Passage Reference: only if the province pays for new shared maps before anyone starts writing tickets
Why this is correct: Stoltz accepts product-based strips only if the province pays for new shared maps before anyone starts writing tickets. So the outcome is updated maps first.
Tips: Find Stoltz’s condition in his lines. Put it in your own words, then match it to a choice.
Why the other options are wrong:
- inspectors would begin issuing tickets this summer: Stoltz wants tickets to wait until the new maps exist, so tickets this summer go against his condition.
- every strip would be set at fifty metres: A fixed fifty-metre strip is the rule Fenton criticizes. Stoltz accepts strips that vary by product.
- farmers would draw their own property lines: Stoltz wants the province to pay for shared maps, not farmers drawing their own lines.
Correct Answer: partly won over, yet firm on safety
Passage Reference: Fenton has talked me down a little
Why this is correct: In the last paragraph the writer says Fenton has “talked me down a little”. The writer agrees a careful grower should not be treated like a careless one. Still, the writer wants wind logbooks and alerts before seeding.
Tips: For an attitude question, read the last paragraph closely. Restate the writer’s view of Fenton’s argument simply, then test each choice.
Why the other options are wrong:
- fully convinced that the strips are unfair: The blogger still wants strips, logbooks and alerts. So the blogger is not convinced that strips are unfair.
- openly scornful of the farmer’s worries: The writer agrees with part of Fenton’s point, which is the opposite of scorn.
- too unsure to form any view: The blogger lists the safeguards that should be in place before seeding next spring, so there is a firm view.
Correct Answer: low-drift nozzles and boom shields
Passage Reference: She hopes the province will share the cost of low-drift nozzles and boom shields.
Why this is correct: Brink hopes the province will share the cost of low-drift nozzles and boom shields. This matches the commenter’s point about help with the bill.
Tips: The comment calls her “the agronomist”, so find her lines. Look for the words “share the cost” and read what she wants paid for.
Why the other options are wrong:
- newer tractors for small farms: Brink asks for help with nozzles and shields. Tractors are never mentioned.
- wider roads beside the school: Roads come up only in the complaint maps. Nobody asks the province to widen them.
- tests of every organic crop: Residue tests are Esteves’s worry, and Brink never asks the province to pay for testing every crop.
Correct Answer: cancel her premium contract for the year
Passage Reference: A single positive residue test can cancel her premium grocery contract for the year.
Why this is correct: Esteves says a single positive residue test can cancel her premium grocery contract for the year.
Tips: The comment names Esteves, so go back to her lines in the third paragraph. Read what a single bad test could do to her business.
Why the other options are wrong:
- shut down her farm for good: The blog post says she could lose one year’s contract, not that her farm would close forever.
- make her pay a fine to the county: No fine is linked to a residue test. The risk is losing the grocery contract.
- ruin her seed supply for two years: Seed supply is never mentioned, and the risk named lasts for the year, not two years.
Correct Answer: an alert a full day ahead
Passage Reference: an app that alerts neighbouring farms a full day before anyone sprays
Why this is correct: Esteves asks for an app that alerts neighbouring farms a full day before anyone sprays.
Tips: Go to Esteves’s lines and find what she wants neighbouring farms to receive. Match her request in other words.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a phone call from the county: Esteves wants an app alert, and the county is not the one who would call.
- a printed map of organic plots: Maps come from Stoltz and are about legal strips, not a printed list of organic plots.
- a yearly meeting with growers: Esteves wants an alert before each spraying, not one meeting a year.
Correct Answer: wind speed written in a logbook
Passage Reference: with wind speed written in a logbook before the nozzles open
Why this is correct: Brink, the agronomist, wants the strips widened with wind speed written in a logbook before the nozzles open.
Tips: The comment says “before any nozzle opens”, so find the word “before” in Brink’s first sentence. Read what she wants done at that moment.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a permit from the county office: Brink never asks for a county permit. Her condition is a written record of wind speed.
- a neighbour standing at the fence: No one asks for a neighbour to watch at the fence. Brink wants wind speed written down.
- a weather forecast posted online: Brink wants the wind speed recorded in a logbook, not a forecast posted online.
Correct Answer: called the children inside
Passage Reference: Twice last June the teachers called the children inside
Why this is correct: Twice last June, the teachers called the children inside. A sprayer was working on a gusty afternoon, as the first paragraph explains.
Tips: The school story is in the first paragraph. Read what the teachers did on those gusty afternoons.
Why the other options are wrong:
- sent the children home early: The children were called inside, not sent home.
- closed the playground for a month: The blog post mentions two gusty afternoons, not a month-long closing of the playground.
- moved recess into the gym: The teachers called the children inside on two afternoons. The gym and a change to recess are never mentioned.
