Read the following article from a website.
Last summer’s drought cut Saskatchewan’s wheat harvest by nearly a quarter, and grocery prices rose within weeks. Now the provincial government is considering a forty-million-dollar plan to pay for research on crops that can survive hot, dry years and to train farmers to grow them. The plan will be debated in the legislature this fall, and farm groups, food banks and taxpayers have all weighed in.
Solveig Desrochers, a plant scientist at the provincial university, says she believes the work cannot wait. “Breeding a new wheat that handles drought takes about ten years from the first cross to the farmer’s field,” Desrochers said. “If we wait for the next dry year to start, the new wheat would not be ready for another decade. We cannot start breeding the day the rain stops.” Ewan Crichton, who grows wheat and lentils near the Alberta border, agrees that research matters, but he says it is only half the job. “New seeds mean little if farmers do not learn how to use them,” Crichton said. “Hold field days on working farms. Farmers trust what they see over a neighbour’s fence more than anything they read in a report.”
Nomvula Dlamini, who runs the region’s largest food bank, argues that growing more food is not the only answer. “About one third of our harvest never reaches a shop shelf,” she said. “Some of this money should go to better storage, so less food goes to waste,” Dlamini added. “A load of grain that spoils in a leaky bin feeds nobody, no matter how good the seed was.”
Lysander Duval, who speaks for a provincial taxpayers’ group, warns that forty million dollars is a lot to spend on promises. “Seed companies and food processors will make money from these new crops,” Duval said. “They should pay a fair share of the cost, not leave it all to taxpayers.” Duval says he is not against research. “I simply want to know who else is paying,” he said.
Using the drop-down menu (▾), choose the best option according to the information given on the website.
Each of the people quoted seems to agree that 2..
Solveig Desrochers believes that breeding a new wheat would mean 3..
Lysander Duval would likely say that taxpayers 4..
This article would most likely be published in 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 provincial plan to help farms cope with drought
Why this is correct: After a drought, Saskatchewan is considering a plan to pay for crops that survive dry years. Every speaker gives a view on it.
Passage Reference: to pay for research on crops that can survive hot, dry years and to train farmers to grow them
Tips: Ask of every option whether Desrochers, Crichton, Dlamini and Duval each touch on it. Some options borrow a place or a word from the text, so check that the article really talks about them.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a fight over grocery prices in the city: Grocery prices rose, but that is only background. Nobody argues about them.
- a university that is closing its farm: Desrochers works at the university, but nothing is closing.
- a new food bank near the Alberta border: Dlamini already runs a food bank. Nobody plans a new one.
Correct Answer: research on new seeds is part of the answer
Passage Reference: she believes the work cannot wait ... agrees that research matters ... growing more food is not the only answer ... Duval says he is not against research.
Why this is correct: Desrochers says the work cannot wait, and Crichton calls research half the job. Dlamini says more food is not the only answer, and Duval is not against research.
Tips: Check each choice against every speaker, one at a time. Keep only the idea that none of them rejects.
Why the other options are wrong:
- the province should drop the whole plan: Nobody asks for this. Even Duval, who worries about the cost, says he is not against research.
- farmers should leave some fields empty: Nobody suggests this. The speakers talk about seeds, farm visits, waste and cost.
- grocery stores should cut their prices: Grocery prices rose after the drought, but nobody asks stores to cut them.
Correct Answer: about ten years before farmers can plant it
Passage Reference: Breeding a new wheat that handles drought takes about ten years from the first cross to the farmer’s field
Why this is correct: Desrochers says breeding a new wheat that handles drought takes about ten years. Only then does it reach the farmer’s field.
Tips: Read every sentence Desrochers says. Pick the result she describes, and drop results she never mentions.
Why the other options are wrong:
- about two years of work in a laboratory: Desrochers says the work takes about ten years from the first cross to the farmer’s field, not two.
- twenty years before the first seeds are sold: Desrochers gives about ten years, not twenty. She does not talk about selling seeds.
- a seed that farmers would refuse to grow: Desrochers never says farmers would refuse the new wheat. Crichton only says farmers need to learn how to use new seeds.
Correct Answer: should not carry the cost by themselves
Passage Reference: Seed companies and food processors will make money from these new crops
Why this is correct: Duval says seed companies and food processors will make money from the new crops. So he thinks those companies should help pay as well.
Tips: Read all of Duval’s quotes and the lines that report his view. Keep the option his words lead to, and drop any that turns them around.
Why the other options are wrong:
- will make the most money from new crops: Duval says seed companies and food processors will make money. He does not say taxpayers will.
- should not pay for research of any kind: Duval says he is not against research. He only wants others to share the cost.
- must pay first and ask questions later: Duval wants to know who else is paying before the money is spent. This choice reverses his view.
Correct Answer: a news site for readers across the province
Passage Reference: The plan will be debated in the legislature this fall, and farm groups, food banks and taxpayers have all weighed in.
Why this is correct: Saskatchewan’s legislature will debate this plan. Farm groups, food banks and taxpayers have all weighed in, so it suits news for the whole province.
Tips: Look at the reporter’s own sentences, not the quotes. For each place in the options, ask whether the people who use it would expect exactly this kind of text.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a science journal reporting new test results: Desrochers explains how long breeding takes, but no test results are reported. The article reports opinions on a plan.
- a cookbook full of recipes using lentils: Lentils come up only as one of Crichton’s crops. The article gives no recipes.
- a seed company’s catalogue for farmers: Seed companies are mentioned only in Duval’s point about cost. The article sells nothing.
Correct Answer: nearly a quarter
Passage Reference: Last summer’s drought cut Saskatchewan’s wheat harvest by nearly a quarter
Why this is correct: The article says last summer’s drought cut the wheat harvest by nearly a quarter.
Tips: The commenter wants the size of last year’s loss. Find what the article says about the harvest.
Why the other options are wrong:
- nearly a tenth: The article gives a bigger loss than a tenth.
- nearly a third: A third is the share of the harvest Dlamini says is lost, not last summer’s drop.
- nearly half: The article gives a smaller loss than half.
Correct Answer: the rain stops
Passage Reference: We cannot start breeding the day the rain stops.
Why this is correct: Desrochers says, “We cannot start breeding the day the rain stops.”
Tips: The commenter repeats the scientist’s short warning. Find her exact words.
Why the other options are wrong:
- the crops fail: Desrochers does not use these words.
- prices rise: Prices are not part of Desrochers’s point.
- the money arrives: Desrochers does not use these words.
Correct Answer: field days
Passage Reference: Hold field days on working farms.
Why this is correct: Crichton wants the province to hold field days on working farms.
Tips: The commenter agrees with the farmer about training. Find the kind of event he asks for.
Why the other options are wrong:
- night classes: Night classes are not mentioned in the article.
- trade shows: Trade shows are not mentioned in the article.
- online courses: Online courses are not mentioned in the article.
Correct Answer: forty
Passage Reference: a forty-million-dollar plan
Why this is correct: The article says the province is considering a forty-million-dollar plan for research and training.
Tips: The blank needs the price of the whole plan. Find the figure the article gives when it describes the government’s idea.
Why the other options are wrong:
- fourteen: Fourteen is not in the article.
- twenty: Twenty is not in the article.
- sixty: Sixty is not in the article. The plan costs less than this.
Correct Answer: storage
Passage Reference: Some of this money should go to better storage, so less food goes to waste
Why this is correct: Dlamini says some of the money should go to better storage, so less food goes to waste.
Tips: The commenter means the food bank director. Find what she wants part of the money spent on.
Why the other options are wrong:
- trucks: Trucks are not mentioned in the article.
- roads: Roads are not mentioned in the article.
- packaging: Packaging is not mentioned in the article.
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