Correct Answer: how far AI should replace people on customer phone lines
Passage Reference: the news that banks, phone companies and even some government lines are testing AI agents to answer routine calls came as a relief
Why this is correct: The blogger reads that banks and phone companies are testing AI agents on routine calls. Then the post weighs how much of the work bots should take over from people.
Tips: Look at the news the writer reacts to in the first paragraph. Then ask what question every speaker after that is answering.
Why the other options are wrong:
- why hold times at Canadian banks keep growing every year: The blog post mentions one long wait, but it never says that bank hold times keep growing every year.
- how call-centre unions are bargaining with large lenders: Owusu is a union steward, but the blog post describes no union bargaining with large lenders.
- what privacy offices have ruled about recorded bank calls: Matsuda says rules on notices and logs should be published. No privacy office has ruled on recorded bank calls.
Correct Answer: evidence that callers lose faith in a company the longer they wait
Passage Reference: “Every minute on hold costs us a little of the customer’s trust,” she told an industry conference in Toronto
Why this is correct: Bergeron’s case rests on the idea that waiting on hold damages trust. So proof that callers lose faith as they wait would support her.
Tips: First find Bergeron’s reason in her quote at the conference. Then pick the proof that would show that quote is true.
Why the other options are wrong:
- evidence that junior agents learn casework from simple calls: Junior agents learning casework from simple calls is Owusu’s argument against bots, so it would not help Bergeron.
- evidence that most callers prefer to visit a branch: Nobody in the post says callers prefer to visit a branch. Also, it would not show that waiting on hold costs trust, which is Bergeron’s claim.
- evidence that bots make more mistakes on balance checks than agents do: The post gives no evidence about bot mistakes on balance checks. Also, proof that bots get them wrong would weaken Bergeron’s plan, not support it.
Correct Answer: Theo Owusu
Passage Reference: “Take away the simple calls and nobody gets trained for the hard ones,” he said
Why this is correct: Owusu says that if the simple calls go, new agents never get trained for the hard ones.
Tips: Read each speaker’s lines and ask who each worry is about. This question is about workers, not callers.
Why the other options are wrong:
- Lucia Bergeron: Lucia Bergeron wants bots to take routine calls to cut hold times. She does not talk about training new agents.
- Mei Matsuda: Mei Matsuda worries about notices and bot decision logs, not about agents losing experience.
- Grant Bianchi: Grant Bianchi asks for same-day callbacks on fraud or money trouble. Bianchi says nothing about how agents learn.
Correct Answer: companies would publish notice and logging rules before setting staff-cut targets
Passage Reference: Until those rules are published, she argues, no company should announce targets for cutting staff
Why this is correct: Matsuda’s condition is about order: the notice and logging rules come first, and staff-cut targets can only be announced after that.
Tips: Mei Matsuda’s condition is her second sentence in the third paragraph. Put it in your own words, then pick the choice that says the same thing.
Why the other options are wrong:
- companies would stop using bots for any questions about account balances: Matsuda never asks companies to stop using bots for account balance questions. Balance checks are a job Bergeron wants bots to do.
- companies would refund fees to customers kept on hold: Matsuda never mentions refunds for long holds. Her condition is that notice and logging rules are published before any staff-cut targets.
- companies would let bots answer calls only after midnight: Letting bots answer calls only after midnight is what Owusu would accept, not Matsuda’s condition.
Correct Answer: explain a worry about how AI lines would treat older callers
Passage Reference: What keeps me up at night is my dad. He speaks slowly, with the accent of the village he left sixty years ago, and he hangs up when he feels rushed.
Why this is correct: The writer’s strongest feeling is a worry about the father. He is a slow, accented speaker whom a bot may not follow, so the waiting would only move to the family.
Tips: Purpose questions ask what the whole post is trying to do. Compare each choice with the first and last paragraphs.
Why the other options are wrong:
- report the findings of a survey on call-centre wait times: The blog post quotes people and tells one story about a long hold, but it reports no survey findings on wait times.
- warn readers to close accounts at banks that use AI agents: The writer never tells readers to close their bank accounts and would even welcome shorter queues.
- defend a union demand to ban all customer-service bots: No one in the blog post asks to ban all customer-service bots. Owusu himself is fine with bots after midnight.
Correct Answer: a same-day callback from a real person
Passage Reference: Grant Bianchi, a consumer advocate, insists on one more safeguard: if a caller mentions fraud or money trouble, a human must call back the same day
Why this is correct: Bianchi insists that when a caller mentions fraud or money trouble, a human must call back the same day.
Tips: The comment names Bianchi, so find the word “insists” in Bianchi’s lines. Match what Bianchi asks for to a choice.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a full transcript of every bot chat: A saved transcript of every chat is part of Bergeron’s plan, not the safeguard Bianchi insists on.
- a saved record of each bot decision: A saved record of each bot decision is Matsuda’s demand for logs, not Bianchi’s idea.
- bots that take calls only after midnight: Bots that take calls only after midnight are what Owusu would accept. Bianchi does not suggest this.
Correct Answer: junior staff being cut before anyone else
Passage Reference: he fears that companies will cut junior staff first
Why this is correct: Owusu fears that companies will cut junior staff first and discover the damage later. That is the fear the commenter says came true at their own company.
Tips: The comment calls him the union steward. Find his fear in his lines and match it to a choice.
Why the other options are wrong:
- bots misreading callers who have strong accents: Bots misreading callers with strong accents is the blogger’s worry about the father, not a warning from Owusu.
- agents being monitored more closely by software: Owusu never talks about software watching agents at work. His fears are about training and junior staff being cut first.
- overnight bots giving wrong answers after midnight: Owusu is fine with bots answering questions after midnight, so wrong overnight answers are not his warning.
Correct Answer: a button that sends callers to a person
Passage Reference: She wants AI to handle password resets and balance checks, with a button that sends you straight to a person and a saved transcript of every chat
Why this is correct: Bergeron wants bots to have a button that sends the caller straight to a person. The commenter gives her credit for this idea.
Tips: The comment gives Bergeron credit for something customers wanted. Look at the last sentence of her lines for the parts of her plan.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a promise that no bot chat is ever saved: Bergeron promises the opposite: she wants a saved transcript of every chat, so she never says that no bot chat is saved.
- a log of every choice the bot makes: Logging every decision a bot makes is Matsuda’s demand. Bergeron asks for a transcript of chats, not a log of bot choices.
- an overnight phone line run only by bots: Bots answering after midnight is something Owusu would accept. Bergeron never proposes a line run only by bots at night.
Correct Answer: telling callers plainly when they are speaking to a machine
Passage Reference: customers must be told in plain language when they are talking to a machine
Why this is correct: Matsuda says customers must be told in plain language when they are talking to a machine. The commenter would like that point written into law.
Tips: The comment names Matsuda, so go to her lines. Look at the first rule she writes about.
Why the other options are wrong:
- fining companies for every call that is dropped: Nobody in the blog post, Matsuda included, suggests fines for dropped calls. Her point is about telling callers they are talking to a machine and logging bot decisions.
- keeping bots away from password resets: Matsuda never asks to keep bots away from password resets. Password resets are a task Bergeron wants bots to take.
- paying agents more to work overnight shifts: Paying agents more for overnight shifts is not mentioned by Matsuda or by anyone else in the blog post.
Correct Answer: the waiting shifting from the caller onto the family
Passage Reference: A bot that cannot follow him would not save anyone time; it would just move the waiting to me
Why this is correct: In the last paragraph, the writer fears that a bot which cannot follow the father would save no time. It would just move the waiting to the writer, a member of the family.
Tips: Find the writer’s own fear in the last paragraph. Match it to a choice in other words.
Why the other options are wrong:
- bank fees rising for anyone who asks for a person: Fees for asking to speak to a person are never mentioned. The worry is about time and waiting.
- private banking records being shared with a machine: Sharing banking records is not the writer’s worry. Privacy logs are Matsuda’s topic, and even she does not raise sharing.
- local branches closing across small towns: Branch closures in small towns are never mentioned in the blog post. The whole discussion is about phone lines.
