Read the following article from a website.
The Riverbend Minor Hockey Association in Saskatoon will vote in March on whether to remove body checking from its under-fifteen division, which has about nine hundred players. The same plan would require any player who takes a hard hit to sit out the rest of the game until a trainer has checked for signs of a concussion. Last season, the division reported thirty-one concussions, more than any other age group in the association.
Gudrun Halvorsen, a sports medicine doctor who treats many young players, supports the change. “Most of the concussions I see at this age come from checks the player never saw coming,” Halvorsen said. “Their necks are not strong enough yet to brace for a hit. A helmet protects the skull from a crack, but it cannot stop the brain from moving inside it.” She adds that a sit-out rule would catch injuries that players try to hide from their coaches.
Coach Darnell Jeffries, who has worked with under-fifteen teams for eleven years, thinks the plan would backfire. “Checking does not disappear. It comes back at sixteen, in a bigger and faster league,” Jeffries said. “If we take it away now, those players will meet it with no idea how to protect themselves. That is when the worst injuries happen.” He would rather spend practice time teaching young players how to give and take a hit safely.
Obiora Ibekwe, a father whose daughter missed most of last season after a hit into the boards, backs the vote. “For two months she could not read for more than ten minutes without a headache, and her marks fell in every subject,” Ibekwe said. “I would trade a few exciting hits for a healthy kid every time,” he added. Owen Hadley, a fourteen-year-old defenceman, sees it differently. “Learning to take a hit is part of the sport, and I am good at it,” Hadley said. “At least three guys on my team say they will switch to basketball if checking goes.”
Using the drop-down menu (▾), choose the best option according to the information given on the website.
Paragraph three mainly presents 2..
The main point of the article is that 3..
Darnell Jeffries thinks that removing checking now would lead to 4..
Most likely, Owen Hadley sees taking a hit as 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 proposal to remove body contact from a youth league
Why this is correct: The association will vote on removing body checking from its under-fifteen division. All four speakers react to that plan.
Passage Reference: on whether to remove body checking from its under-fifteen division
Tips: Check each option against what Halvorsen, Jeffries, Ibekwe and Hadley say. If an option fits most of the people quoted, it is probably the topic.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a plan to build a new arena for older teams: No arena is mentioned. The vote is about how young players may play.
- a study of neck injuries among adult players: Halvorsen talks about the necks of young players, not adults. No study is described.
- a rule that makes every young player wear a mouth guard: Mouth guards are not mentioned in the article.
Correct Answer: a coach’s case against the change
Passage Reference: Checking does not disappear. ... He would rather spend practice time teaching young players how to give and take a hit safely.
Why this is correct: “Paragraph three” quotes Coach Jeffries. He explains why players should learn checking young and how he would teach it safely.
Tips: Read “Paragraph three” in full and decide in a few words what it is there to do. Then test each choice on those lines alone.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a doctor’s account of how young players get hurt: Halvorsen explains how young players get hurt, but her words are not in “Paragraph three”.
- a father’s story about his injured daughter: Ibekwe tells his daughter’s story in a different part of the article, not in “Paragraph three”.
- the injury numbers for every age group: The article gives one injury number for one division, not numbers for every age group.
Correct Answer: even people worried about injuries disagree on the plan
Passage Reference: I would trade a few exciting hits for a healthy kid every time ... That is when the worst injuries happen.
Why this is correct: Halvorsen and Ibekwe back the change to protect players. Jeffries also cares about injuries but thinks the plan would make them worse later.
Tips: Read Halvorsen, Jeffries, Ibekwe and Hadley before choosing. Keep the statement the article as a whole supports, and drop any that one of them contradicts.
Why the other options are wrong:
- most young players want checking removed: Hadley, the only player quoted, wants to keep checking.
- helmets stop most concussions in young players: Halvorsen says a helmet cannot stop the brain from moving inside it.
- the association has already removed checking: The vote is in March, so checking has not been removed yet.
Correct Answer: worse injuries once the players are older
Passage Reference: If we take it away now, those players will meet it with no idea how to protect themselves. That is when the worst injuries happen.
Why this is correct: Jeffries says checking comes back at sixteen in a faster league. He says those who never learned it would not know how to protect themselves.
Tips: Go through Jeffries’s quoted sentences in order. Pick the result he predicts, and drop any that other speakers describe.
Why the other options are wrong:
- more injuries that players hide from coaches: Halvorsen talks about players hiding injuries. Jeffries does not.
- falling marks for injured students at school: Ibekwe describes his daughter’s marks falling. Jeffries does not talk about school.
- fewer concussions among young teens: Halvorsen hopes for fewer injuries. Jeffries thinks the plan would make injuries worse later.
Correct Answer: a skill worth being proud of
Passage Reference: Learning to take a hit is part of the sport, and I am good at it
Why this is correct: Hadley says learning to take a hit is part of the sport, and Hadley is good at it. So Hadley is proud of this skill.
Tips: Read Hadley’s quoted sentences one at a time. Test every option against them, and cross out any that comes from Halvorsen, Jeffries or Ibekwe.
Why the other options are wrong:
- the main cause of injuries in hockey: Halvorsen talks about how hits injure young players. Hadley never calls hits the main cause of injury.
- something coaches should stop teaching: Jeffries wants coaches to teach hitting safely, and Hadley values the skill. Neither wants it dropped.
- a reason school marks drop: Falling marks happened to Ibekwe’s daughter, not to Hadley.
Correct Answer: nine hundred
Passage Reference: which has about nine hundred players
Why this is correct: The under-fifteen division has about nine hundred players.
Tips: This blank needs the size of the division. Find where the article describes it.
Why the other options are wrong:
- three hundred: Three hundred is not in the article.
- five hundred: Five hundred is not in the article.
- seven hundred: Seven hundred is not in the article.
Correct Answer: never saw coming
Passage Reference: Most of the concussions I see at this age come from checks the player never saw coming
Why this is correct: Halvorsen says most concussions at this age come from checks the player never saw coming.
Tips: The commenter is repeating the doctor’s words. Find what she says about the checks that cause most injuries.
Why the other options are wrong:
- took at full speed: Halvorsen does not talk about speed.
- took from bigger players: Halvorsen does not talk about size.
- took along the boards: The boards come up in Ibekwe’s story, not in Halvorsen’s words.
Correct Answer: eleven years
Passage Reference: who has worked with under-fifteen teams for eleven years
Why this is correct: Jeffries has worked with under-fifteen teams for eleven years.
Tips: The commenter means the coach. Find how the article introduces him and his experience.
Why the other options are wrong:
- eight years: Eight years is not in the article.
- nine years: Nine years is not in the article.
- fifteen years: Fifteen is part of the division’s name, not the coach’s years.
Correct Answer: basketball
Passage Reference: At least three guys on my team say they will switch to basketball if checking goes.
Why this is correct: Hadley says at least three guys on the team will switch to basketball if checking goes.
Tips: The commenter means the young defenceman. Find the other sport the player’s teammates talk about.
Why the other options are wrong:
- soccer: Soccer is not mentioned in the article.
- lacrosse: Lacrosse is not mentioned in the article.
- volleyball: Volleyball is not mentioned in the article.
Correct Answer: a trainer
Passage Reference: until a trainer has checked for signs of a concussion
Why this is correct: Under the plan, a player who takes a hard hit sits out until a trainer has checked for signs of a concussion.
Tips: Go back to the details of the plan. Find who must look at a player before the player can return.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a team doctor: Halvorsen is a doctor, but the rule does not name a doctor.
- a league official: The rule does not name an official.
- a team nurse: A nurse is not mentioned in the article.
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