Correct Answer: how to limit crowds on trails without shutting people out
Passage Reference: timed-entry bookings at the busiest trailheads, starting next summer
Why this is correct: The blog post reacts to a plan for timed-entry bookings at busy trailheads. Each person quoted is trying to protect the trails from crowds while keeping access open for families, shift workers and rural visitors.
Tips: For a “mainly about” question, notice what every paragraph keeps coming back to. A detail that appears in only one paragraph is too narrow.
Why the other options are wrong:
- whether the park should raise its entry fee: An entry fee is never discussed. The plan is about booking times, not prices.
- how wildfire smoke affects hikers’ health: Tamura mentions wildfire smoke only because it can close a valley and cancel bookings, not as a health topic.
- why meadow flowers are vanishing from the park: Radford talks about trampled meadows as a reason for caps, but the blog post is about booking rules, not flowers.
Correct Answer: Idris Comeau
Passage Reference: warns that a system built on booking weeks ahead rewards people with office hours and punishes those whose schedules keep changing
Why this is correct: Idris Comeau warns that booking weeks ahead rewards people with office hours and punishes people whose schedules keep changing.
Tips: Look at who each speaker speaks up for, then read what that person worries about. The question is about work hours, not internet or nature.
Why the other options are wrong:
- Solveig Radford: Solveig Radford wants caps to protect the meadows. She does not say booking favours people with regular hours.
- Valeria Brisebois: Valeria Brisebois worries about households with weak internet, which is about access to technology, not about work schedules.
- Lorne Tamura: Lorne Tamura asks for cultural tour spots and refunds. He does not discuss people’s schedules.
Correct Answer: evidence that meadows recover slowly after busy weekends
Passage Reference: soil studies at the lake show that trampled meadows barely recover after long weekends
Why this is correct: Radford wants daily caps at the busiest trailheads, and her reason is that trampled meadows barely recover after long weekends. More evidence of slow recovery would support her.
Tips: First find Radford’s reason for her view. Then pick the proof that would make that reason stronger.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a survey of shift workers who cannot plan ahead: Shift workers who cannot plan ahead would support Comeau’s worry about advance booking, not Radford’s caps.
- a count of rural homes with weak internet: Rural homes with weak internet would support Brisebois’s call for phone and in-person booking.
- a study showing meadows recover within days: Quick recovery would weaken Radford’s case, because her reason for caps is that trampled meadows barely recover.
Correct Answer: walk-up spaces would exist before any park-wide rule
Passage Reference: only if walk-up spaces and booking help in several languages, by phone and in person, are in place before any rule covers the whole park
Why this is correct: Brisebois could accept caps, but only with some help in place first. Walk-up spaces and booking help by phone and in person must exist before any rule covers the whole park.
Tips: Brisebois’s condition follows the words “but only if”. Read the whole clause and match its idea in other words.
Why the other options are wrong:
- every trailhead would require booking by app: Brisebois worries about people with weak internet, so she wants phone and in-person options, not app-only booking.
- the busiest trailheads would drop their caps: Brisebois could accept Radford’s caps. Her condition adds walk-up spaces rather than removing caps.
- bookings would open only one day ahead: Brisebois never talks about how early bookings open. Her condition is about walk-up spaces and booking help.
Correct Answer: reluctant acceptance with conditions
Passage Reference: So I am not getting the free-for-all I wanted. ... But I will only feel at peace with timed entry if the same-morning permits and Brisebois’s walk-up spaces are real, not a footnote.
Why this is correct: The blogger admits the free-for-all is over and that Radford’s numbers are hard to argue with. But the writer will only accept timed entry if same-morning permits and walk-up spaces are real. That is reluctant acceptance with conditions.
Tips: A closing attitude lives in the last paragraph. Note how the writer talks about timed entry there, then test each choice.
Why the other options are wrong:
- cheerful and complete support: The writer’s stomach dropped at the proposal, and the support comes with conditions. So it is not cheerful or complete.
- firm and total rejection: In the last paragraph, the writer says Radford’s numbers are hard to argue with and would rather book a spot. So this is not a rejection.
- indifference to the final outcome: Notice that the writer hikes the lake trail often and cares a great deal about how the rules turn out.
Correct Answer: shuttle buses paired with bookings
Passage Reference: she wants shuttle buses paired with bookings at the hardest-hit sites
Why this is correct: Radford wants shuttle buses paired with bookings at the hardest-hit sites.
Tips: The comment is about the hardest-hit trailheads. Find the sentence where Radford names those sites and see what she wants there.
Why the other options are wrong:
- higher fees for each car: Radford never mentions fees. She asks for caps, same-morning permits and shuttles.
- rangers at every trail entrance: Rangers are not mentioned. Radford’s idea for the hardest-hit sites is shuttle buses.
- a second parking lot: Radford wants fewer people trampling the meadows, and she never asks for more parking.
Correct Answer: caps where the damage is worst
Passage Reference: He is fine with caps where the damage is worst
Why this is correct: The family advocate, Idris Comeau, is fine with caps where the damage is worst, even though he dislikes booking weeks ahead.
Tips: The comment calls him “the family advocate”. Look for “He is fine with” in his lines to see what limit he does accept.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a ban on dogs on the trail: Dogs are never mentioned in the blog post.
- a lottery for summer weekends: Nobody proposes a lottery. Comeau only accepts caps where the damage is worst.
- a fee for every parked car: Comeau never talks about parking fees. The limit he accepts is caps where the damage is worst.
Correct Answer: spots held back for cultural tours
Passage Reference: He wants spots held back for cultural tours run by nearby Indigenous communities
Why this is correct: Tamura wants spots held back for cultural tours run by nearby Indigenous communities.
Tips: Tamura “raises two practical points”, and the comment asks about the first one. Read the sentence that starts “He wants”.
Why the other options are wrong:
- free shuttles for tour groups: Shuttles are Radford’s idea, and nobody says they should be free for tour groups.
- a separate trail for guided tours: Tamura asks for reserved spots, not a new trail.
- discounts for local tour companies: Tamura never mentions discounts. He wants spots held back for community tours.
Correct Answer: refunds when smoke closes a valley
Passage Reference: he wants clear refunds whenever wildfire smoke closes a valley partway through the summer
Why this is correct: Tamura’s second point is that visitors should get clear refunds whenever wildfire smoke closes a valley.
Tips: This blank is Tamura’s second request. Read his sentence that starts “He wants” to the end and match the second point.
Why the other options are wrong:
- longer hours on summer evenings: Opening hours are never discussed.
- fines for people who skip bookings: Tamura talks about refunds for visitors, not fines.
- cheaper permits for local residents: Nobody asks for cheaper permits. Tamura wants refunds when smoke closes a valley.
Correct Answer: drives a bus on a changing schedule
Passage Reference: My job is driving a city bus in Calgary on a rotating schedule
Why this is correct: You learn in the first sentence that the blogger drives a city bus in Calgary on a rotating schedule. The writer learns about days off only about a week ahead.
Tips: The comment asks about the writer’s own life. Read the opening sentence of the post and match what it says about the writer.
Why the other options are wrong:
- works as a park ecologist: Solveig Radford is the park ecologist. The blogger drives a bus.
- runs tours on the lake trail: The writer hikes the lake trail on days off but does not run tours. Tours come up in Tamura’s point.
- lives beside the park entrance: The writer lives in Calgary and drives west to reach the trail.
