Read the following article from a website.
Adults in Manitoba may soon be able to see a counsellor without first asking a doctor. A proposal before the provincial health committee would pay for up to six sessions a year with any licensed counsellor, and no referral would be needed. Today most people must wait for a doctor’s note, and a private session in Winnipeg costs about $150. The committee will make its recommendation to the health minister in the spring.
Hedda Eberhardt, a counsellor at a community clinic in north Winnipeg, says the referral step drives people away. “Asking for help is hardest the first time,” she told the committee. “When someone hears that the next appointment with a doctor is three weeks away, many of them simply hang up and never call back. By the time they finally reach us, many have already missed weeks of work.” Eberhardt adds that her clinic meets people every day who “waited months for permission to talk.”
Ruairi Fairweather, who oversees the provincial health budget, is more cautious. “Nobody here doubts that the need is real,” Fairweather said. “But if the sessions are free and open to everyone, demand could double within a year. People would then wait as long for a counsellor as they now wait for a doctor.” He would support the plan only as a two-year trial in the north and in one city, with waiting times posted online each month.
Parveen Galbraith, a family doctor in Brandon, supports free sessions but worries about what a counsellor might miss. “Low mood is sometimes a sign of a physical illness, such as low iron or a hormone problem,” she explained. “A counsellor cannot order a blood test.” Galbraith wants counsellors to be able to send a patient to a doctor within a week when something looks medical. Dragomir Esposito, a university student who saw a campus counsellor last year, says cost is what keeps young people away. “I could not pay a hundred and fifty dollars a week from a part-time job,” Esposito said. “Free sessions would have meant asking for help in September instead of April,” he added.
Using the drop-down menu (▾), choose the best option according to the information given on the website.
Paragraph three mainly presents 2..
This article was most likely written for 3..
Galbraith warns that counsellors working with no link to a doctor would mean 4..
Eberhardt would likely say that the wait for a doctor’s note 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 offer free counselling without a referral
Why this is correct: The article begins with a proposal to pay for counselling with no referral needed. Each person quoted then reacts to that plan.
Passage Reference: Adults in Manitoba may soon be able to see a counsellor without first asking a doctor.
Tips: Go through Eberhardt, Fairweather, Galbraith and Esposito, asking each time if the option fits. An option nobody in the article actually talks about is wrong, even if its words look familiar.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a shortage of family doctors in small towns: Long waits for doctors come up, but no one discusses a shortage in small towns.
- a new counselling service for university students: Esposito is a student who used a campus counsellor. The plan itself is for all adults.
- a study of how busy local clinics are: Eberhardt describes her own clinic, but nobody reports on a study of clinics.
Correct Answer: a budget official’s case for testing the plan first
Passage Reference: Ruairi Fairweather, who oversees the provincial health budget, is more cautious. ... He would support the plan only as a two-year trial in the north and in one city
Why this is correct: Paragraph three gives the view of Fairweather, who oversees the health budget. He would support the plan only as a trial in two places first.
Tips: Read “Paragraph three” once more and say in a few words what job it does in the article. Then check each choice against those lines only.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a counsellor’s view of the referral step: Eberhardt gives her view of the referral step in paragraph two, not in paragraph three.
- a student’s story about paying for his sessions: Esposito talks about paying for sessions in paragraph four, not in paragraph three.
- the price of a private session in Winnipeg: The price of a private session is one fact in paragraph one. Paragraph three does not mention it.
Correct Answer: people in the province who follow local news
Passage Reference: The committee will make its recommendation to the health minister in the spring.
Why this is correct: The article reports a plan before a Manitoba committee and the views of several people in the province. It suits readers in the province who follow local news.
Tips: Read the whole article again. For each option, ask whether those readers would want this text just as it is.
Why the other options are wrong:
- university students choosing a campus counsellor: Esposito is the only student quoted. The plan is for all adults, and nobody helps students choose a counsellor.
- counsellors who want advice on running a clinic: Eberhardt works at a clinic, but the article gives no advice about running one. It reports views on a plan.
- readers of a national journal of medical research: No study is presented, and the plan is for one province only. A research journal would not print it this way.
Correct Answer: a physical illness that nobody notices
Passage Reference: Low mood is sometimes a sign of a physical illness, such as low iron or a hormone problem ... A counsellor cannot order a blood test.
Why this is correct: Galbraith says low mood is sometimes a sign of a physical illness. A counsellor cannot order a blood test, so such an illness could be missed.
Tips: Read every sentence Galbraith says, quoted or reported. Keep the option she predicts in her own words, and drop any that comes from another speaker.
Why the other options are wrong:
- people waiting longer for any appointment: Longer waits are what Fairweather fears if demand rises. Galbraith does not raise this.
- students skipping sessions because of cost: Cost is Esposito’s point. Galbraith does not talk about students or prices.
- doctors losing patients to private clinics: Nobody in the article says doctors would lose patients. Galbraith wants counsellors to send patients to doctors.
Correct Answer: makes many people stop trying to get help
Passage Reference: When someone hears that the next appointment with a doctor is three weeks away, many of them simply hang up and never call back.
Why this is correct: Eberhardt says that when people hear the next doctor’s appointment is weeks away, many hang up and never call back. So the wait stops them from getting help.
Tips: Go through Eberhardt’s quoted sentences one at a time. Keep the option that follows from her words, and cross out any idea from Fairweather, Galbraith or Esposito.
Why the other options are wrong:
- protects people from the wrong kind of care: Eberhardt wants the referral step removed. She never says it protects anyone.
- matters less than the price of each session: Price is Esposito’s main point. Eberhardt talks about the wait, not the cost.
- is shorter in the north than in Winnipeg: Eberhardt works in north Winnipeg, but she does not compare waits in different places.
Correct Answer: six
Passage Reference: up to six sessions a year
Why this is correct: The proposal would pay for up to six sessions a year with any licensed counsellor.
Tips: Count the visits the proposal would cover in one year, then fill in that figure.
Why the other options are wrong:
- four: Four is fewer than the proposal would cover.
- eight: Eight is more than the proposal would cover.
- ten: Ten is more than the proposal would cover in a year.
Correct Answer: permission to talk
Passage Reference: “waited months for permission to talk.”
Why this is correct: Eberhardt says her clinic meets people who “waited months for permission to talk.” The commenter repeats her words.
Tips: The commenter is repeating a short phrase from the counsellor. Find her own words about the people who come to her clinic.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a free appointment: Eberhardt does not say people waited for a free appointment.
- an open spot: Eberhardt does not talk about open spots at her clinic.
- a phone call back: In the counsellor’s words, people hang up and never call back. They are not waiting for a call.
Correct Answer: weeks of work
Passage Reference: By the time they finally reach us, many have already missed weeks of work.
Why this is correct: Eberhardt says that by the time people reach her clinic, many have already missed weeks of work.
Tips: Ask what the counsellor says people have often lost before help arrives.
Why the other options are wrong:
- weeks of school: Eberhardt talks about missed work, not missed school.
- their rent payments: Rent is not mentioned in the article.
- their medical checkups: Eberhardt does not say people missed checkups.
Correct Answer: double
Passage Reference: demand could double within a year
Why this is correct: Fairweather says that if the sessions are free and open to everyone, demand could double within a year.
Tips: The blank is about how fast demand could grow. Find the budget official’s prediction and the size of the change.
Why the other options are wrong:
- triple: Fairweather does not say demand could triple. Fairweather gives a smaller figure.
- fall: Fairweather expects demand to go up, not down.
- stay the same: Fairweather expects demand to change. Fairweather says it could go up.
Correct Answer: April
Passage Reference: Free sessions would have meant asking for help in September instead of April
Why this is correct: Esposito says free sessions would have meant asking for help in September instead of April.
Tips: Read what the student says about when he finally reached out. The blank is the month he did ask.
Why the other options are wrong:
- January: January is not mentioned in the article.
- June: June is not mentioned in the article.
- December: December is not mentioned in the article.
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