Read the following article from a website.
The Kamloops school board will vote in January on whether to end the uniform rule in its five middle schools. Students in the three middle grades now wear a navy polo shirt with grey pants or a skirt, and a full set costs families about one hundred and twenty dollars. A survey this fall found that sixty percent of parents want to keep uniforms, while most students who answered want them gone. Board members say they have never received so many letters on a single issue.
Maureen Hollingsworth, a vice-principal at one of the schools, wants the rule kept. “Before uniforms, I spent every Monday sorting out arguments about shoes and jackets,” she said. “Now those arguments are rare, and students spend their energy on schoolwork instead. If the rule goes, the Monday fights will come back,” Hollingsworth added.
Elijah Jovanovic, the Grade 8 student representative on the board, says the rule is not applied fairly. “One teacher lets you wear a hoodie over the polo, and the next one sends you to the office for it,” Jovanovic said. “Students can live with rules. What we cannot stand is a rule that changes from room to room.” He would replace the polo with a short list of approved colours that students could buy at any store in the city.
Rosalie Imbert, who leads the parent association, backs uniforms but wants more help for families. “Our hardship fund has a four-page form in English only,” Imbert said. “Many of our families never apply. The form should take five minutes, in any language a parent reads.” She also wants a shelf in every school where families can swap used shirts. Grant Ingleby, a father of twins, says he mostly worries about the bill. “Two kids, two sets, and both of them grew out of everything by spring,” Ingleby said. “I bought the whole thing twice in one school year. That is money we had set aside for hockey.”
Using the drop-down menu (▾), choose the best option according to the information given on the website.
The author presents the issue as 2..
According to Imbert, the hardship fund 3..
Paragraph three mainly presents 4..
Maureen Hollingsworth warns that ending the rule would lead to 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 vote on whether students must keep wearing set clothing
Why this is correct: The board will vote on whether to end the uniform rule in its middle schools. Each speaker gives a view on that vote.
Passage Reference: will vote in January on whether to end the uniform rule
Tips: Look for each option in what Hollingsworth, Jovanovic, Imbert and Ingleby say. Look for the option that connects the different people, not one that belongs to a single person.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a plan to build two new middle schools: No new schools are planned in the article.
- a survey about lunch prices in schools: There is a survey, but it is about uniforms, not lunch.
- a new rule about student phones in class: Phones are not mentioned in the article.
Correct Answer: a question that has drawn unusual attention
Passage Reference: Board members say they have never received so many letters on a single issue.
Why this is correct: The reporter says board members have never received so many letters on a single issue. That shows the question has drawn a lot of attention.
Tips: Read only the reporter’s lines outside the quotation marks. Ask which description those lines can prove, and test every option that way.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a problem the board has already solved: The board will vote in January. Nothing has been solved yet.
- a matter that only students feel strongly about: The survey shows that parents care a lot too, so it is not only students.
- a joke that students take too seriously: The reporter never makes fun of the issue. It is reported seriously.
Correct Answer: is too hard for many families to use
Passage Reference: Our hardship fund has a four-page form in English only ... Many of our families never apply.
Why this is correct: Imbert says the fund has a four-page form in English only, and many families never apply. So the fund is too hard for many to use.
Tips: Look closely at every sentence Imbert says. Check each option against her words, and cross out any that someone else says or nobody says.
Why the other options are wrong:
- has run out of money for this year: Imbert does not say the fund has no money. Her problem is the form.
- should also pay for store-bought clothes: Store-bought clothes are Jovanovic’s idea for replacing the polo. Imbert does not link them to the fund.
- has helped nearly every family that applied: Imbert says many families never apply. She does not say most applicants got help.
Correct Answer: a student’s case for changing the rule
Passage Reference: says the rule is not applied fairly ... He would replace the polo with a short list of approved colours
Why this is correct: Paragraph three belongs to Jovanovic, the student representative. He says the rule is not applied fairly and suggests a list of approved colours instead.
Tips: Reread “Paragraph three” and say in a short phrase what it is there to do. Choose the description that fits those lines and no others.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a school leader’s case for keeping uniforms: Hollingsworth makes the case for uniforms in paragraph two.
- the cost of uniforms and the survey results: The cost and the survey are in paragraph one.
- a parent group’s plan to help families: Imbert’s ideas for helping families come in paragraph four.
Correct Answer: more quarrels over what students wear
Passage Reference: Before uniforms, I spent every Monday sorting out arguments about shoes and jackets ... If the rule goes, the Monday fights will come back
Why this is correct: Hollingsworth used to sort out arguments about shoes and jackets every Monday. She says the Monday fights will come back if the rule goes.
Tips: Find Hollingsworth’s quoted sentences and read them closely. Choose the result she says would happen, and drop results from other speakers.
Why the other options are wrong:
- higher clothing bills for families: Clothing bills are Ingleby’s concern. Hollingsworth does not talk about cost.
- a shorter list of approved colours: The list of colours is Jovanovic’s idea. It is not a result Hollingsworth predicts.
- students skipping class on Mondays: Hollingsworth mentions Mondays only as the day the arguments happened. She does not say students would skip class.
Correct Answer: one hundred and twenty dollars
Passage Reference: a full set costs families about one hundred and twenty dollars
Why this is correct: A full set of the uniform costs families about one hundred and twenty dollars.
Tips: The comment wants the price of a full set. Find where the article describes what students wear now.
Why the other options are wrong:
- one hundred and fifty dollars: This amount is not in the article. The real price is lower.
- two hundred and twenty dollars: This amount is not in the article. The real price is much lower.
- one hundred and five dollars: This amount is not in the article. The real price is a little higher.
Correct Answer: sixty percent
Passage Reference: sixty percent of parents want to keep uniforms
Why this is correct: The survey found that sixty percent of parents want to keep uniforms.
Tips: Find the survey result for parents. Students and parents answered differently, so read carefully.
Why the other options are wrong:
- forty percent: Forty percent is not in the article.
- seventy percent: Seventy percent is not in the article.
- half: The article gives a figure higher than half.
Correct Answer: hockey
Passage Reference: I bought the whole thing twice in one school year. That is money we had set aside for hockey.
Why this is correct: Ingleby says he bought the whole set twice in one school year. That was money the family had set aside for hockey.
Tips: The commenter means the father of twins. Find what he says the second purchase used up.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a holiday: A holiday is not mentioned in the article.
- music lessons: Music lessons are not mentioned in the article.
- a new bike: A bike is not mentioned in the article.
Correct Answer: used shirts
Passage Reference: a shelf in every school where families can swap used shirts
Why this is correct: Imbert wants a shelf in every school where families can swap used shirts.
Tips: The commenter means the parent leader. Find what she wants families to be able to trade.
Why the other options are wrong:
- used pants: Imbert does not mention pants.
- old skirts: Imbert does not mention skirts.
- winter boots: Boots are not mentioned in the article.
Correct Answer: five
Passage Reference: its five middle schools
Why this is correct: The vote is about the uniform rule in the board’s five middle schools.
Tips: The comment wants the number of schools. Find how the article describes the board’s middle schools.
Why the other options are wrong:
- three: Three is not the number of schools.
- four: Four is not the number of schools.
- six: Six is the niece’s grade in the comment, not the number of schools.
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