Read the following article from a website.
The school board in Glenroe, a rural county on the Atlantic coast, will vote in March on whether to pay for after-school classes in Gaelic, a language that was once heard in almost every kitchen in the area. The plan would cost about $85,000 a year and would run classes twice a week in four schools, taught by local speakers. A county survey last year counted fewer than 200 people who speak Gaelic fluently, and most of them are over seventy.
Wilfrid Anstruther, who is eighty-one and learned Gaelic from his grandmother, has offered to teach one of the classes for free, every Tuesday and Thursday. “When I was a boy, every song at a wedding was in Gaelic,” Anstruther said. “Now I can count the people I speak it with on two hands. If the children do not learn it, the language will be buried with my generation.”
Trustee Gennaro Bellini says he respects that history but must look at results. “Our Grade 6 math scores fell again this year,” Bellini said. “Eighty-five thousand dollars would pay for two tutors who could help hundreds of children with skills they need for every job. I cannot put a language class ahead of that.” Vivienne Buchanan, whose two daughters attended a free trial class last spring, disagrees. “My girls came home singing songs their great-grandmother knew,” she said. “That connection to a place is a skill too,” Buchanan added.
Professor Ifeoma Adeyinka, who studies language revival at a university in Halifax, says the board should be realistic about what classes can do. “Two hours a week will not make anyone fluent,” she explained. “Languages survive when families use them at home and in shops. Classes work best as one part of a wider plan, with summer camps and recordings of older speakers,” Adeyinka said. She suggests the board start with one school and measure how many children keep attending over a full school year.
Using the drop-down menu (▾), choose the best option according to the information given on the website.
This article was most likely written for 2..
Gennaro Bellini believes that spending the money on tutors would lead to 3..
Paragraph four mainly presents 4..
Most likely, Vivienne Buchanan wants 5..
The following is a comment by a visitor to the website page. Complete the comment by choosing the best option to fill in each blank.
AI explanationShows the answer. Tap to open.
Correct Answer: a plan to fund lessons in a fading local language
Why this is correct: The board will vote on paying for after-school classes in Gaelic, a language few people still speak. Every speaker reacts to that plan.
Passage Reference: will vote in March on whether to pay for after-school classes in Gaelic
Tips: Compare each option with what Anstruther, Bellini, Buchanan and Adeyinka each say. The answer is the subject the whole article is built on, not a small fact inside it.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a new music program for the county’s rural schools: Songs are mentioned, but nobody proposes a music program.
- a survey of the health of older residents: The survey counted Gaelic speakers. It did not study health.
- a summer camp for young Gaelic singers: Summer camps are one part of Adeyinka’s wider plan. They are not the main subject.
Correct Answer: residents of the county where the board will vote
Passage Reference: The school board in Glenroe, a rural county on the Atlantic coast, will vote in March
Why this is correct: The article reports a coming vote by the Glenroe school board. It quotes a local speaker, a trustee and a parent, so it speaks to people who live there.
Tips: Ask what the article is trying to do for its reader. Then rule out any reader it does nothing for.
Why the other options are wrong:
- students preparing for a language exam: No exam is mentioned, and the article gives no study advice. It reports a funding vote.
- tourists planning a holiday on the coast: The coast is only where the county is. Nothing in the article helps someone plan a trip.
- researchers who study the health of older adults: The ages of fluent speakers are given, but the article is not about health. It is about paying for classes.
Correct Answer: many more children getting help with key skills
Passage Reference: two tutors who could help hundreds of children with skills they need for every job
Why this is correct: Bellini says the same money would pay for two tutors. He says they could help hundreds of children with skills they need for every job.
Tips: Read Bellini’s quoted sentences one by one. Choose the result he predicts, and drop any he never mentions.
Why the other options are wrong:
- higher pay for the county’s teachers: Bellini wants to hire tutors, not raise the pay of current teachers.
- smaller classes in every county school: Bellini never talks about class size. He talks about tutors helping children with math and job skills.
- language lessons during the school day: Bellini would rather not fund the language classes at all. He does not suggest moving them.
Correct Answer: an expert’s advice to start small and measure results
Passage Reference: She suggests the board start with one school and measure how many children keep attending over a full school year.
Why this is correct: Paragraph four belongs to Professor Adeyinka, who studies language revival. She says classes alone will not make anyone fluent and suggests starting with one school and measuring results.
Tips: Read “Paragraph four” again and ask what it adds that the rest of the article does not. Then check each choice against it.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a trustee’s reasons for spending the money on tutors: Bellini, the trustee, gives his reasons in paragraph three, not paragraph four.
- an older speaker’s offer to teach a class for free: Anstruther makes this offer in paragraph two. He does not speak in paragraph four.
- a survey of how many children speak Gaelic at home: The only survey counted fluent speakers, and most of them are over seventy. Nobody counts children who speak it at home.
Correct Answer: the board to pay for the classes
Passage Reference: whose two daughters attended a free trial class last spring, disagrees ... That connection to a place is a skill too
Why this is correct: Buchanan disagrees with the trustee who would rather pay for tutors. She says the connection her girls felt is a skill too, so she wants the classes paid for.
Tips: Read Buchanan’s quotes and the line that introduces her. Then pick the wish that fits her words.
Why the other options are wrong:
- her daughters to get math tutoring: Math tutors are Bellini’s idea. Buchanan disagrees with him.
- the trial class to end this spring: The trial class already took place last spring, and Buchanan liked it. She wants more, not less.
- only adults to study the old language: Buchanan is pleased that her girls learned old songs. She wants children to take part.
Correct Answer: fewer than 200
Passage Reference: counted fewer than 200 people who speak Gaelic fluently
Why this is correct: A county survey counted fewer than 200 people who speak Gaelic fluently.
Tips: This blank needs the number of fluent speakers. Find the result of the county survey.
Why the other options are wrong:
- fewer than 50: The survey found more speakers than this.
- about 500: The survey found fewer speakers than this.
- more than 1,000: The survey found far fewer speakers than this.
Correct Answer: $85,000
Passage Reference: The plan would cost about $85,000 a year
Why this is correct: The plan would cost about $85,000 a year.
Tips: Find the yearly price the board would pay.
Why the other options are wrong:
- $65,000: The plan would cost more than this.
- $75,000: The plan would cost more than this.
- $95,000: The plan would cost less than this.
Correct Answer: eighty-one
Passage Reference: who is eighty-one and learned Gaelic from his grandmother
Why this is correct: Anstruther is eighty-one and learned Gaelic from his grandmother.
Tips: Find the age of the man who offered to teach.
Why the other options are wrong:
- seventy-one: Anstruther is older than this. Seventy is the age most speakers are over.
- seventy-eight: Anstruther is older than this.
- eighty-four: Anstruther is younger than this.
Correct Answer: great-grandmother
Passage Reference: My girls came home singing songs their great-grandmother knew
Why this is correct: Buchanan says her girls came home singing songs their great-grandmother knew.
Tips: The commenter repeats the mother’s story. Find whose songs the girls brought home.
Why the other options are wrong:
- grandmother: Anstruther learned Gaelic from his grandmother. Buchanan’s girls sang songs from an older relative.
- great-aunt: Buchanan does not mention a great-aunt.
- grandfather: Buchanan does not mention a grandfather.
Correct Answer: twice
Passage Reference: would run classes twice a week in four schools
Why this is correct: The article says the plan would run classes twice a week in four schools.
Tips: The commenter is describing the board’s plan, not the professor’s view. Find how often the article says the classes would meet.
Why the other options are wrong:
- once: The article gives more than one class a week.
- three times: Three times a week is not the number in the article.
- every day: The classes would not run every day. The article gives a smaller number.
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