Correct Answer: how Canada should spend its Arctic money
Passage Reference: I think Ottawa is about to spend its Arctic money in the wrong order
Why this is correct: The column opens by saying Ottawa is about to spend its Arctic money in the wrong order. Every speaker then argues about where that money should go.
Tips: For a “mainly about” question, read the first sentence and the last paragraph together. Look for the idea every speaker keeps arguing over.
Why the other options are wrong:
- why Canada should sell its northern airstrips: Nobody wants to sell airstrips. Kaplan wants new ones built for civilian use.
- how to train search-and-rescue volunteers: Tan leads a volunteer crew, but the column never discusses how volunteers are trained.
- whether allies should build bases in the North: Allies come up only in Kaplan’s shared monitoring agreements. Nobody proposes allied bases.
Correct Answer: Sebastian Gallant
Passage Reference: He told a committee that a new runway means little if the local clinic has no nurse and young families cannot find a home.
Why this is correct: Sebastian Gallant, the mayor, told a committee that a new runway means little if the clinic has no nurse. It also means little if families cannot find a home. He doubts that runways alone make a town secure.
Tips: Ask which speaker talks about daily life in a town rather than ships or ports. Then look for a word like “if” that limits what a project is worth.
Why the other options are wrong:
- Agatha Loiselle: Agatha Loiselle wants faster patrols and sensors. She does not question the value of runways.
- Ilaria Kaplan: Ilaria Kaplan wants airstrips built first for civilian supply runs, so she supports runways rather than doubting them.
- Hui Tan: Hui Tan talks about where new ships should be based, not about runways and town life.
Correct Answer: reports of foreign aircraft probing northern airspace
Passage Reference: Foreign ships and aircraft already probe how quickly we respond, she says, and every late delivery tells rivals where the gaps are.
Why this is correct: Loiselle says foreign ships and aircraft already probe how quickly Canada responds, and she wants patrols without delay. Reports of foreign aircraft probing northern airspace would support her.
Tips: Find Loiselle’s reason for wanting patrols quickly. Then pick the evidence that would prove the danger she describes is real.
Why the other options are wrong:
- families leaving towns that lack housing: Families unable to find homes support Gallant’s call for housing, not Loiselle’s case for faster patrols.
- a hamlet where one nurse does every job: A town that depends on one nurse fits the columnist’s story and Gallant’s call for staffed clinics. It does not fit Loiselle’s warning about foreign pressure.
- a base that sat empty for most of a year: An empty base supports Kaplan’s view that standalone bases waste money, not Loiselle’s urgency.
Correct Answer: the military would get priority only in an emergency
Passage Reference: Ports and airstrips, she says, should be designed first for civilian supply runs, with clear rules that give the military priority in an emergency.
Why this is correct: Kaplan says ports and airstrips should be designed first for civilian supply runs. Clear rules would give the military priority in an emergency. So the military would take priority only when an emergency comes.
Tips: Kaplan’s design has two parts: who the ports are for first, and what the rules say. Read the word “first” and then ask when the rules would matter.
Why the other options are wrong:
- the military would control the ports all year: Kaplan wants the ports designed first for civilian supply runs. The military gets priority only in an emergency.
- civilian ships would pay the military to dock: Kaplan never mentions docking fees. Civilian supply runs come first in her design.
- each port would serve only allied navies: Allies appear only in Kaplan’s monitoring agreements. Her ports are for civilian supply runs first.
Correct Answer: argue for changing the order of Arctic spending
Passage Reference: I think Ottawa is about to spend its Arctic money in the wrong order, and I would rather say so before Parliament votes.
Why this is correct: The writer says the money is being spent “in the wrong order”. The column ends by setting out a different order. It builds civilian ports and airstrips first, funds clinics and housing alongside them, and places patrols where rescues happen.
Tips: For a purpose question, read the first sentence and then the plan in the last paragraph. Ask what the writer wants Parliament to do before it votes.
Why the other options are wrong:
- praise the defence package as it stands: The columnist says the package treats northern people as an afterthought, so it is not praise.
- call for cancelling all northern patrols: The writer wants Loiselle’s patrols stationed where Tan’s crew needs them. The writer does not want them cancelled.
- describe a holiday in a northern town: The week in the hamlet is a single piece of evidence, not the reason the column was written.
Correct Answer: commercial traffic
Passage Reference: since commercial traffic in Arctic waters will keep growing no matter what Canada decides
Why this is correct: Loiselle links faster patrols to search-and-rescue because commercial traffic in Arctic waters will keep growing no matter what Canada decides.
Tips: The comment names Loiselle, so go back to her lines in the second paragraph. Find the words “will keep growing” and read what comes just before them.
Why the other options are wrong:
- cruise tourism: Cruise tourism is never mentioned. Loiselle talks about commercial traffic.
- fishing fleets: Fishing fleets are not mentioned in the column.
- research voyages: Research voyages are never mentioned. Loiselle expects commercial traffic to grow.
Correct Answer: internet service that survives winter storms
Passage Reference: He wants the next round of federal money aimed at staffed clinics, lasting housing and internet service that survives winter storms.
Why this is correct: Gallant wants the next round of federal money aimed at staffed clinics, lasting housing and internet service that survives winter storms.
Tips: The comment calls him “the mayor”, so find the mayor’s lines. He gives a list of three things, and the right choice is one of them.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a second runway for larger planes: Gallant says a runway means little without a nurse and homes, so he does not ask for another one.
- higher pay for visiting soldiers: Gallant never talks about soldiers’ pay. His list is clinics, housing and internet.
- a ferry to the nearest city: No ferry is mentioned in the column.
Correct Answer: shared monitoring deals with allies
Passage Reference: Shared monitoring agreements with allies often buy more safety per dollar than a base that sits empty most of the year.
Why this is correct: Kaplan says shared monitoring agreements with allies often buy more safety per dollar. A base that sits empty most of the year buys less.
Tips: The comment says “give the best value”, so look for words about money in Kaplan’s lines. The right choice says the same idea in different words.
Why the other options are wrong:
- larger patrol ships for every coast: Larger patrols are closer to Loiselle’s view. Kaplan praises shared monitoring agreements.
- new bases in each territory: Kaplan says a base that sits empty most of the year buys less safety than shared agreements.
- more fighter jets in the North: Fighter jets are never mentioned in the column.
Correct Answer: Tuktoyaktuk
Passage Reference: Hui Tan, who leads a volunteer search-and-rescue crew out of Tuktoyaktuk
Why this is correct: The column introduces Hui Tan as the leader of a volunteer search-and-rescue crew out of Tuktoyaktuk.
Tips: Find the sentence that introduces Hui Tan and her job. The place name comes right after the words “crew out of”.
Why the other options are wrong:
- Iqaluit: Iqaluit is never mentioned. Tan’s crew works out of Tuktoyaktuk.
- Yellowknife: Yellowknife is not named in the column.
- Churchill: Churchill is not named in the column. The crew is based in Tuktoyaktuk.
Correct Answer: the clinic’s generator
Passage Reference: where the only nurse was also the only person who could repair the clinic’s generator
Why this is correct: Look at the last paragraph. The writer remembers a hamlet where the only nurse was also the only person who could repair the clinic’s generator.
Tips: The nurse story is in the last paragraph. Read the whole sentence to see what else the nurse could do.
Why the other options are wrong:
- the town’s water pipes: Water pipes are never mentioned. The nurse could repair the clinic’s generator.
- the airstrip lights: Airstrips come up in Kaplan’s plan, but the nurse’s repair skill was about the clinic’s generator.
- the school furnace: No school or furnace appears in the column.
