Correct Answer: how Canada should defend its limits on bulk water exports
Passage Reference: I believe Canada has been right to refuse bulk water exports, but I worry that Ottawa is defending that refusal badly.
Why this is correct: The columnist agrees with Canada’s refusal of bulk water exports but worries that the refusal is being defended badly. The column weighs how it could be defended better.
Tips: For a question about the whole column, read the first and last sentences of the first paragraph. The writer names the real problem there, and every speaker adds to it.
Why the other options are wrong:
- whether Canada should sell hydro power abroad: Hydro power is never discussed. The column is about water exports.
- how farmers can save water during a drought: The cousin’s dry creek is one memory in the column, not its subject.
- how cities should price water for homes: Home water prices are never discussed in the column.
Correct Answer: Mateo Akande
Passage Reference: A refusal with no public science behind it, he argues, looks like protection for local business rather than conservation.
Why this is correct: Akande, the trade lawyer, argues that a refusal with no public science behind it looks like protection for local business. So a ban needs public evidence to hold up in a challenge.
Tips: Read each speaker’s reason for or against a ban. Ask who is thinking about whether the ban would stand up to outside pressure, not about scarcity or ownership.
Why the other options are wrong:
- Ursula Aguilar: Aguilar uses science to argue against exports, but she does not talk about a ban holding up against a challenge.
- Kwabena Arbour: Arbour wants First Nations’ consent before transfers. He does not discuss evidence for a trade dispute.
- Giselle Amadi: Amadi argues that water belongs first to the provinces, not that a ban needs public evidence.
Correct Answer: a court ruling that water rules belong mainly to provinces
Passage Reference: insists that water belongs first to the provinces
Why this is correct: Amadi insists that water belongs first to the provinces and wants each province to keep its own drought powers. A ruling that water rules belong mainly to provinces would support her.
Tips: Find the one idea Amadi “insists” on. The right choice is evidence that would back that exact idea.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a treaty confirming a nation’s rights over a river: Treaty rights over rivers are Arbour’s point, and they would limit provinces rather than support Amadi.
- a study showing prairie aquifers are shrinking: Shrinking aquifers would support Aguilar’s case against exports, not Amadi’s point about provincial control.
- a trade panel ruling that bans need published science: A ruling on published science would support Akande’s warning, not Amadi’s claim about provinces.
Correct Answer: large water transfers between provinces would need nations’ consent
Passage Reference: He wants their consent to be required before any large volume of water moves between provinces.
Why this is correct: Arbour wants First Nations’ consent to be required before any large volume of water moves between provinces.
Tips: Arbour’s condition uses the word “before”. Read what must happen first and what it covers.
Why the other options are wrong:
- provinces would cap water use during declared droughts: Drought caps are what Amadi wants, not Arbour’s condition.
- all water exports would stop, even in wet years: Arbour asks for consent before large transfers between provinces. He does not call for stopping every export.
- federal officials would approve every transfer alone: Arbour wants nations to give consent, so federal officials would not decide alone.
Correct Answer: opposed, but wanting the refusal better defended
Passage Reference: I believe Canada has been right to refuse bulk water exports, but I worry that Ottawa is defending that refusal badly. ... Yet saying no is different from having a rule that will survive a trade challenge
Why this is correct: The writer agrees Canada should refuse bulk exports. But the refusal is defended badly, the writer says, and it should rest on published findings and equal limits on industry.
Tips: The first sentence shows the writer’s view in two parts, joined by “but”. The right choice must match both parts.
Why the other options are wrong:
- in favour, if the price is high enough: The writer opposes bulk exports and never suggests a price that would change that.
- undecided until a trade panel rules: In the first sentence, the writer has already decided that Canada is right to refuse exports.
- opposed, but only during drought years: Notice that the writer opposes bulk exports in general, not only when there is a drought.
Correct Answer: decades
Passage Reference: Some aquifers, she notes, take decades to refill.
Why this is correct: Aguilar notes that some aquifers take decades to refill.
Tips: The comment asks how long some aquifers take to refill. Find Aguilar’s short sentence that starts “Some aquifers”.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a few months: Aguilar says refilling takes decades, far longer than a few months.
- one wet spring: Aguilar’s point is that water does not come back quickly, so one spring is far too short.
- about ten years: The column says decades, not a single decade.
Correct Answer: small bottled shipments with clear labels
Passage Reference: She would allow small bottled shipments with clear labels but no tanker contracts.
Why this is correct: Aguilar would allow small bottled shipments with clear labels but no tanker contracts.
Tips: Aguilar says what she “would allow” and what she would not. The blank matches the part she would allow.
Why the other options are wrong:
- exports to drought-hit neighbours only: Aguilar rejects tanker contracts even when neighbours face drought.
- large sales under strict permits: Aguilar rejects tanker contracts, so she allows no large sales, even with permits.
- bulk sales during wet years: Aguilar rejects bulk sales in any year.
Correct Answer: advises a western premier on resources
Passage Reference: Giselle Amadi, who advises a western premier on resources
Why this is correct: The column introduces Amadi as the person who advises a western premier on resources.
Tips: The blank asks who Amadi is. Read the words right after her name at the start of the third paragraph.
Why the other options are wrong:
- guards water for a northern nation: The water guardian for a First Nation in the north is Arbour.
- studies aquifers on the prairies: The hydrologist who studies prairie aquifers is Aguilar.
- argues trade cases for exporters: Akande is the trade lawyer, and he never argues for exporters.
Correct Answer: dried into cracked mud by August
Passage Reference: Two summers ago I watched the creek behind my cousin’s farm in Saskatchewan dry into cracked mud by August
Why this is correct: In the last paragraph, the writer says the creek behind a cousin’s farm turned into cracked mud by August two summers ago.
Tips: The comment speaks to the writer about the cousin’s farm. Find “Two summers ago” and read what the writer watched happen.
Why the other options are wrong:
- flooded the lower fields in May: The creek dried up. It did not flood.
- was dammed for a new reservoir: No dam or reservoir is mentioned. The creek dried up.
- was sold to a bottling company: Nothing in the column says the creek was sold.
Correct Answer: filling tankers or building a pipeline
Passage Reference: someone proposes filling tankers or building a pipeline from a Canadian lake
Why this is correct: In the first paragraph, the writer says someone makes a proposal whenever a drought hits a trading partner. They propose filling tankers or building a pipeline from a Canadian lake.
Tips: The comment repeats the words “every time a drought hits”. Look for a similar sentence near the start of the column.
Why the other options are wrong:
- selling water rights to a foreign company: The proposals are about moving water by tanker or pipeline, not selling rights.
- raising the price of city water: Water prices are never mentioned. The proposals are tankers or a pipeline.
- diverting rivers toward prairie farms: The proposals send water to other countries, not to prairie farms.
