Read the following article from a website.
Three weeks ago, Margery Caron, a food writer for a Saskatoon newspaper, posted online that a well-known hockey player had pulled her back from the curb as a bus ran a red light. Her story spread across the country within a day. When people teased her about it, she wrote a second message telling everyone to calm down. That is when the jokes turned into thousands of insults, and strangers began sending complaints to her employer. The case has started a debate about who should step in when an online crowd turns on one person.
Caron now says she regrets the tone of both messages. “I was frightened and bragging all at once, and I dealt with the response poorly,” she said. “But nobody deserves to have their parents’ phone ringing at two in the morning,” Caron added. Someone had posted her parents’ home number online. Leander Dumont, a lawyer who advises people targeted by online abuse, says he believes the platforms should carry most of the responsibility. “They designed the features that let a crowd gather within hours, so they should design ways to slow it down,” Dumont said. “Give users a one-click way to limit replies from strangers, and remove anything that shares a home address or phone number within an hour. That is not too much to ask.”
Paulette Desjardins, a sergeant with the city police, says most of what Caron received was rude but not criminal. “We step in when there are threats, or when someone shares private details to scare a person,” Desjardins said. “But officers cannot referee every insult on the internet,” she added.
Quentin Cheung, a consultant who helps companies write workplace policies, says the damage often spreads to the office. “When two hundred complaints arrive in one morning, managers panic,” he said. “Nobody should be disciplined over a viral message before a manager has read the actual words and talked to the employee,” Cheung added. “If managers did that, most of these cases would end with no punishment at all.”
Using the drop-down menu (▾), choose the best option according to the information given on the website.
Paulette Desjardins would likely say that posting a person’s home number 2..
According to Dumont, the platforms 3..
Overall, the article suggests that 4..
This article was most likely written for 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: who should act when a crowd attacks someone online
Why this is correct: A writer was attacked by an online crowd. The article asks who should step in, and each speaker gives an answer.
Passage Reference: The case has started a debate about who should step in when an online crowd turns on one person.
Tips: Test each option against every person quoted. The topic is the one thing the whole group is talking about, not a single detail from the story.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a hockey player who saved a woman from a bus: The bus story is only how the trouble started. It is not the main topic.
- a plan to make city buses safer for walkers: A bus appears in the story, but nobody discusses bus safety.
- a newspaper that is closing its food section: Nothing in the article says the newspaper is closing anything.
Correct Answer: could be a matter for the police
Passage Reference: We step in when there are threats, or when someone shares private details to scare a person
Why this is correct: Desjardins says police step in when someone shares private details to scare a person. A home phone number posted online is that kind of private detail.
Tips: Read each of Desjardins’s quoted sentences. Test each option against them, and drop any that another speaker would say.
Why the other options are wrong:
- is rude but never a police matter: Desjardins calls most of the messages rude but not criminal. Sharing private details is the exception she names.
- should be handled by the person’s boss: Desjardins does not mention employers. Cheung is the one who talks about managers.
- is a problem only platforms can fix: Platforms are Dumont’s focus. Desjardins says police do act in some cases like this one.
Correct Answer: built the tools that let abuse spread so fast
Passage Reference: They designed the features that let a crowd gather within hours
Why this is correct: Dumont says the platforms designed the features that let a crowd gather within hours. So, in his view, they should also design ways to slow it down.
Tips: Read all of Dumont’s quotes and the sentence that introduces him. Keep the option one of his sentences states.
Why the other options are wrong:
- should close the account of anyone who jokes: Dumont asks for tools to limit replies and remove private details. He never asks for accounts to be closed.
- cannot be expected to control their users: Dumont says the opposite. He thinks the platforms should carry most of the responsibility.
- should pass every complaint to the police: Dumont wants the platforms to act. Desjardins, the police sergeant, says officers cannot referee every insult.
Correct Answer: several groups could share the work of protecting people
Passage Reference: so they should design ways to slow it down ... We step in when there are threats, or when someone shares private details to scare a person ... Nobody should be disciplined over a viral message before a manager has read the actual words and talked to the employee
Why this is correct: Dumont wants platforms to slow crowds, and Desjardins says police act on threats. Cheung wants managers to read the words first. So each group has a part to play.
Tips: Test every option against all the speakers and against the reporter’s own sentences. Keep the one that none of them contradicts.
Why the other options are wrong:
- the police should deal with every online insult: Desjardins, a police sergeant, says officers cannot referee every insult on the internet. Police step in only for threats or private details.
- the journalist deserved the insults she received: Caron admits her messages were poor, but nobody says she deserved the abuse. She says nobody deserves late-night calls to her parents.
- managers should punish workers over viral posts right away: Cheung says the opposite. Nobody should be disciplined before a manager has read the actual words and talked to the employee.
Correct Answer: general readers who follow the news
Passage Reference: Her story spread across the country within a day. ... The case has started a debate about who should step in when an online crowd turns on one person.
Why this is correct: Caron’s story spread across the country, and the article asks who should step in when an online crowd attacks someone. That matters to anyone who uses the internet.
Tips: Ask what the article is really about once you set aside the small details. Then decide who would want this story.
Why the other options are wrong:
- cooks looking for new recipes to try: Caron is a food writer, but the article never discusses food. It is about the abuse she received.
- police officers learning about cybercrime law: Only one police sergeant is quoted, and she says most messages were not criminal. The article does not teach the law.
- hockey fans who follow the player’s team: The hockey player appears only in Caron’s first message. The article is about the reaction online, not about hockey.
Correct Answer: calm down
Passage Reference: she wrote a second message telling everyone to calm down
Why this is correct: Caron’s second message told everyone to calm down. That is when the jokes turned into insults.
Tips: The commenter remembers the writer’s second message. Find what it told people to do.
Why the other options are wrong:
- log off: Caron did not tell people to log off.
- stop reading: Caron did not tell people to stop reading.
- be kind: Caron did not ask people to be kind.
Correct Answer: a red light
Passage Reference: a well-known hockey player had pulled her back from the curb as a bus ran a red light
Why this is correct: Caron wrote that a hockey player pulled her back from the curb as a bus ran a red light.
Tips: The commenter retells how the whole story began. Find what the bus did at that moment.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a stop sign: A stop sign is not mentioned in the article.
- a yellow light: The article says a different colour.
- a crosswalk signal: A crosswalk signal is not mentioned in the article.
Correct Answer: three weeks
Passage Reference: Three weeks ago, Margery Caron, a food writer for a Saskatoon newspaper, posted online
Why this is correct: The article says the writer posted her story three weeks ago.
Tips: The commenter is asking how recent the story is. Find where the article says when the writer posted her message.
Why the other options are wrong:
- three days: The article gives a longer time than this.
- three months: The article gives a shorter time than this.
- a year: The article gives a much shorter time than this.
Correct Answer: two hundred
Passage Reference: When two hundred complaints arrive in one morning, managers panic
Why this is correct: Cheung says managers panic when two hundred complaints arrive in one morning.
Tips: The commenter thinks about the consultant’s example. Find the number of complaints he gives.
Why the other options are wrong:
- fifty: Fifty is not in the article.
- five hundred: Five hundred is not in the article.
- a thousand: A thousand is not the consultant’s number. The thousands in the article are the insults the writer received, not the complaints in his example.
Correct Answer: Saskatoon
Passage Reference: Margery Caron, a food writer for a Saskatoon newspaper
Why this is correct: The article says Caron writes for a Saskatoon newspaper.
Tips: The commenter means the writer’s employer. Find the city the article gives for her newspaper.
Why the other options are wrong:
- Regina: Regina is not mentioned in the article.
- Winnipeg: Winnipeg is not mentioned in the article.
- Calgary: Calgary is not mentioned in the article.
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