Read the following article from a website.
A provincial survey released in the spring found that office workers now receive more than ninety work messages a day, and many say the flow no longer stops when they go home. A bill now before the legislature would require every employer with at least twenty-five workers to write a policy that limits work emails, texts and calls after hours. A committee is hearing from the public this month, and the bill could become law before the end of the year.
Romilly Daigle, an employment lawyer, says she thinks the rule is long overdue. “A phone buzzing at ten at night keeps a worker half at the office,” Daigle told the committee. “Every policy should name the hours when nobody is expected to reply. Once those hours are in writing, people would finally stop answering out of fear.” Casimir Cruz, who owns three restaurants in the city, says he sees the problem but warns that small businesses run differently. “Plans change at the last minute, and cooks call in sick at midnight,” Cruz said. “A text is often the only way I can fill a gap before breakfast service. If those messages count as a violation, owners without a human resources office will be the ones paying the fines.”
Noriko Dalgaard, a workplace psychologist, says studies back the aim of the bill. She explains that every alert pulls attention away, and getting it back can take several minutes. “Over a week, those minutes turn into hours,” Dalgaard said. “The most useful fix may be technical. Company messaging tools could hold anything that is not urgent until morning, unless the sender chooses otherwise.”
Emmanuel Chikwanha, who speaks for hospital workers in a large union, has a warning of his own. “In some jobs people must be reachable, and no policy will change that,” he said. “A respiratory therapist on call has to answer at three in the morning,” Chikwanha said. “The honest answer is to pay people for being on call, not to pretend the phone never rings.”
Using the drop-down menu (▾), choose the best option according to the information given on the website.
Paragraph three mainly presents 2..
The author presents the issue as 3..
Most likely, Casimir Cruz sees text messages as 4..
Romilly Daigle believes that written quiet hours would lead to 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 bill to limit work messages outside working hours
Why this is correct: A bill would make employers with twenty-five or more staff limit work messages after hours. Every speaker reacts to that bill.
Passage Reference: A bill now before the legislature would require every employer with at least twenty-five workers to write a policy that limits work emails, texts and calls after hours.
Tips: Check every option against Daigle, Cruz, Dalgaard and Chikwanha, speaker by speaker. Wrong options often take a word from the article and build something nobody says.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a survey of how restaurants schedule their cooks: Cruz talks about his cooks, but no survey of restaurants is described.
- a union campaign for higher hospital wages: Chikwanha speaks for hospital staff, but he asks for on-call pay, not higher wages in general.
- a study of how phones affect children’s sleep: Children and sleep are never mentioned in the article.
Correct Answer: research on lost attention and a technical fix
Passage Reference: Noriko Dalgaard, a workplace psychologist, says studies back the aim of the bill. ... Company messaging tools could hold anything that is not urgent until morning
Why this is correct: Paragraph three belongs to Dalgaard. She explains what studies say about lost attention, then suggests that messaging tools hold messages until morning.
Tips: Read “Paragraph three” on its own and decide what it adds to the debate. Then check which choice names that, not another speaker’s point.
Why the other options are wrong:
- the results of a survey of office workers: The survey is reported in paragraph one. Paragraph three talks about studies on attention, not that survey.
- a restaurant owner’s worry about fines: Cruz’s worry about fines comes in paragraph two. Paragraph three does not mention restaurants.
- a lawyer’s case for written quiet hours: Daigle makes this case in paragraph two. Dalgaard supports the aim but suggests a technical fix instead.
Correct Answer: a real problem that many workers report
Passage Reference: many say the flow no longer stops when they go home
Why this is correct: Outside the quotes, the reporter cites a provincial survey. The reporter adds that many workers say the messages no longer stop at home.
Tips: Set aside the speakers’ words and look only at the writer’s own sentences. Then decide which choice those plain sentences actually support.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a fight that the bill has already settled: The bill is still before the legislature. A committee is only now hearing from the public.
- a small worry that only lawyers raise: Daigle is a lawyer, but a psychologist, a restaurant owner and a union speaker also discuss the issue. A survey shows it is widespread.
- a joke about people who love their phones: Nothing in the reporter’s words is funny or mocking. The survey and the bill are reported seriously.
Correct Answer: a needed tool for running his business
Passage Reference: Plans change at the last minute ... A text is often the only way I can fill a gap before breakfast service.
Why this is correct: Cruz says plans change at the last minute, and a text is often his only way to fill a gap. So texts help him run his restaurants.
Tips: Read all of Cruz’s quotes, one sentence at a time. Decide what they show about him, and test each option against them.
Why the other options are wrong:
- something that should be banned after work: Cruz worries that his texts could count as a violation. He wants to keep sending them.
- a rude habit that bosses should drop: Cruz does not say texting staff is rude. He says he often has no other way to reach them.
- a cause of stress for his own family: Cruz never talks about his family. His worry is about running his business.
Correct Answer: staff feeling safe to ignore late messages
Passage Reference: Once those hours are in writing, people would finally stop answering out of fear.
Why this is correct: Daigle says that once quiet hours are in writing, people would stop answering out of fear. Workers would then feel free to leave late messages alone.
Tips: Read each of Daigle’s quoted sentences. Pick the result she predicts, not the rule in the item line.
Why the other options are wrong:
- messages held by software until morning: Holding messages until morning is Dalgaard’s technical idea. Daigle wants each policy to name quiet hours.
- more fines for small restaurant owners: Fines are what Cruz fears for owners like him. Daigle does not talk about fines at all.
- longer working days for office staff: Daigle expects the opposite. She wants work to stop following people home at night.
Correct Answer: ninety
Passage Reference: office workers now receive more than ninety work messages a day
Why this is correct: The survey found that office workers now receive more than ninety work messages a day.
Tips: The blank needs a daily number. Find what the provincial survey found about office workers.
Why the other options are wrong:
- one hundred: The survey’s number is lower than this.
- two hundred: Two hundred is not in the article.
- five hundred: Five hundred is not in the article.
Correct Answer: half at the office
Passage Reference: A phone buzzing at ten at night keeps a worker half at the office
Why this is correct: Daigle says a phone that buzzes at ten at night keeps a worker half at the office.
Tips: The commenter is repeating the lawyer’s exact image. Find what she says the late buzzing phone does.
Why the other options are wrong:
- awake until midnight: Daigle does not talk about sleep.
- worried about the morning: Daigle does not use these words.
- away from the family: Daigle does not mention family.
Correct Answer: midnight
Passage Reference: Plans change at the last minute, and cooks call in sick at midnight
Why this is correct: Cruz says plans change at the last minute, and cooks call in sick at midnight.
Tips: The commenter is thinking about the restaurant owner’s problem. Find the time he gives for the calls from his cooks.
Why the other options are wrong:
- dawn: Cruz does not say dawn.
- noon: Noon is not mentioned in the article.
- suppertime: Suppertime is not mentioned in the article.
Correct Answer: respiratory therapist
Passage Reference: A respiratory therapist on call has to answer at three in the morning
Why this is correct: Chikwanha gives the example of a respiratory therapist on call who has to answer at three in the morning.
Tips: The commenter refers to an example from the union representative. Find the worker he describes.
Why the other options are wrong:
- security guard: Security guards are not mentioned in the article.
- taxi driver: Taxi drivers are not mentioned in the article.
- hotel clerk: Hotel clerks are not mentioned in the article.
Correct Answer: being on call
Passage Reference: The honest answer is to pay people for being on call, not to pretend the phone never rings
Why this is correct: Chikwanha says the honest answer is to pay people for being on call.
Tips: The commenter agrees with the union representative’s solution. Find what he says workers should be paid for.
Why the other options are wrong:
- extra hours at work: Chikwanha does not talk about extra hours.
- the stress they carry: Chikwanha never mentions stress.
- each call they answer: Chikwanha wants pay for being on call, not a payment for each call.
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