Read the following article from a website.
When the Prairie Civic Institute asked twelve hundred Regina residents this summer what makes them proud of Canada, public health care came first, chosen by sixty-eight percent. National parks came second and hockey came third. Near the bottom, only twenty-two percent chose the country’s founding documents. The city now plans to use the results to pick the themes for next year’s Canada Day festival, and the survey has started a lively argument.
Leocadia Hesketh, the pollster who ran the survey, says the ranking makes sense. “People feel proud of the things they touch in daily life,” Hesketh said. “You use a health card at the clinic and hike in a park on the weekend. Nobody carries a founding document in a wallet. A survey simply tells you where people live their lives,” Hesketh added. She says the festival should celebrate what residents actually named.
Thorvald Isfeld, a historian at a Regina college, thinks that view is too narrow. “Every service on that list exists because of laws and agreements that people argued over for decades,” Isfeld said. “If a festival celebrates the results and forgets the history, children will think these things simply fell from the sky. Pride without memory is very thin,” he warned. He wants at least one part of the festival to tell that story.
Noor Jamal, a high school civics teacher, sees no need to choose. “My students can be proud of hospitals and also learn which rights protect them,” Jamal explained. “I ask them to trace one thing they love back to the decision that created it. They are always surprised by what they find. Some of them go home and ask their grandparents,” she added. Wystan Ingersoll, who chairs the festival committee, says his budget allows only four main stages. “We will listen to all of these ideas,” Ingersoll said. “But we have room for four themes, and the survey is the clearest voice we have.”
Using the drop-down menu (▾), choose the best option according to the information given on the website.
At present, Leocadia Hesketh wants 2..
Overall, the article suggests that 3..
Thorvald Isfeld would likely say that the services people named 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: a survey on pride and how a city will use it
Why this is correct: A survey asked residents what makes them proud. The city plans to use the results to pick festival themes, and every speaker reacts to that.
Passage Reference: The city now plans to use the results to pick the themes for next year’s Canada Day festival
Tips: Ask what all four speakers are reacting to. Check each option against the facts the article gives before anyone is quoted.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a plan to cut the budget for national parks: National parks appear only in the survey ranking. Nobody plans to cut their money.
- a contest to design a new city flag: No flag contest is mentioned in the article.
- a debate over teaching sport in schools: Sport is not discussed as a school subject. Nobody talks about teaching it.
Correct Answer: the festival to reflect what residents chose
Passage Reference: People feel proud of the things they touch in daily life ... She says the festival should celebrate what residents actually named.
Why this is correct: Hesketh says the ranking makes sense, because people feel proud of what they use every day. She says the festival should celebrate what residents actually named.
Tips: Read every line Hesketh says or is reported to say. Pick the option that matches what she is asking for now.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a larger survey before anything is decided: Hesketh defends the survey she ran. She does not ask for a bigger one.
- a stage that tells how rights were won: Telling the story behind the services is what Isfeld wants. Hesketh wants the festival to follow the survey.
- students to learn where rights came from: Jamal teaches her students about rights. Hesketh does not talk about schools.
Correct Answer: people disagree about what the festival should honour
Passage Reference: the survey has started a lively argument
Why this is correct: The reporter says the survey has started a lively argument. Hesketh wants the results followed, Isfeld wants history included, and Ingersoll has room for few themes.
Tips: Test each statement against Hesketh, Isfeld, Jamal and Ingersoll in turn, then against the reporter’s facts. Drop any statement that one of them contradicts.
Why the other options are wrong:
- history should be the main theme of the festival: Nobody asks for this. Isfeld wants only one part of the festival to tell the history. Hesketh and Ingersoll want the survey results to lead.
- the committee has already picked its themes: Ingersoll says the committee will listen to all of these ideas. Nothing is decided yet.
- most residents feel no pride in their country: The survey asked what makes people proud, and they named many things. Pride is not missing.
Correct Answer: are the result of decades of public debate
Passage Reference: Every service on that list exists because of laws and agreements that people argued over for decades
Why this is correct: Isfeld says every service on the list exists because of laws and agreements people argued over for decades. So he sees them as the result of long public debate.
Tips: Read Isfeld’s quotes from start to finish. Choose the option that follows from his words, and set aside ideas that come from other speakers.
Why the other options are wrong:
- matter more than the founding documents: That ranking comes from the survey Hesketh ran. Isfeld thinks the history behind the services matters.
- should each have a stage at the festival: Stages are part of Ingersoll’s budget. Isfeld asks only that some part of the festival tell the story.
- were mostly created in recent years: Isfeld says people argued over them for decades, so they are not new.
Correct Answer: people who live in the city
Passage Reference: The city now plans to use the results to pick the themes for next year’s Canada Day festival
Why this is correct: The article reports a Regina survey and the city’s plan for its own festival. Local residents are quoted, so it suits people living there.
Tips: Picture each set of readers in the options with this article in hand. Keep the readers this report was clearly meant to serve.
Why the other options are wrong:
- historians who study how Canada was founded: Isfeld mentions history, but the article reports a local festival debate. It does not present research on Canada’s founding.
- tourists planning trips to national parks: National parks appear only in the survey ranking. The article gives no travel advice.
- pollsters learning how to design surveys: The article reports what the survey found. It does not teach anyone how to design one.
Correct Answer: twelve hundred
Passage Reference: asked twelve hundred Regina residents
Why this is correct: The institute asked twelve hundred Regina residents what makes them proud of Canada.
Tips: This blank needs the size of the survey. Find how many residents the institute asked.
Why the other options are wrong:
- eight hundred: Eight hundred is not in the article.
- two thousand: Two thousand is not in the article.
- six hundred: Six hundred is not in the article.
Correct Answer: hockey
Passage Reference: National parks came second and hockey came third.
Why this is correct: Health care came first, national parks second, and hockey came third.
Tips: The article gives the order of the top answers. Count down the ranking carefully.
Why the other options are wrong:
- national parks: National parks came second, not third.
- the flag: The flag is not part of the ranking in the article.
- the national anthem: The anthem is not mentioned in the article.
Correct Answer: twenty-two percent
Passage Reference: only twenty-two percent chose the country’s founding documents
Why this is correct: Only twenty-two percent chose the country’s founding documents.
Tips: Look at the two percentages in the survey results. Pick the one tied to the founding documents.
Why the other options are wrong:
- twelve percent: Twelve percent is not in the article.
- thirty percent: Thirty percent is not in the article.
- forty-two percent: Forty-two percent is not in the article.
Correct Answer: grandparents
Passage Reference: Some of them go home and ask their grandparents
Why this is correct: Jamal says some of her students go home and ask their grandparents.
Tips: The commenter means the teacher. Find who she says her students talk to at home.
Why the other options are wrong:
- parents: Jamal does not say parents.
- cousins: Cousins are not mentioned in the article.
- neighbours: Neighbours are not mentioned in the article.
Correct Answer: four
Passage Reference: But we have room for four themes
Why this is correct: Ingersoll says his budget allows only four main stages, so there is room for four themes.
Tips: The commenter means the person who runs the festival committee. Find the limit he gives.
Why the other options are wrong:
- three: Three is not the number Ingersoll gives.
- five: Five is not the number Ingersoll gives.
- six: Six is not in the article.
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