Read the following article from a website.
The Moncton school board is testing potted plants in eight elementary classrooms this year, and trustees will decide in June whether to allow them in every school. The test began when a Grade 4 teacher asked families to send in small plants for her windowsills. Since then, the board has heard from teachers who love the idea, staff who worry about damp walls and parents of children with allergies.
Clementine Lamarche, the teacher who started the test, says the plants have changed the mood in her room. “My students come in from recess and settle down much faster,” she said. “I kept a simple chart of how often I had to stop a lesson and ask for quiet. It went from about fifteen times a day to nine.” Lamarche adds that the plants have cost the board nothing. “Every pot in my room was donated, and the children take turns with the watering can,” Lamarche said.
Aurelio Kemppainen, the board’s facilities manager, is worried about water. “Many of our classrooms are old portables with poor air flow,” he said. “Too much watering can lead to mould inside the walls. Fixing one damp wall costs more than every plant in the district.” Kemppainen wants the test kept to newer buildings for now, with a mould check every month in each room that has plants.
Yasmin Laidlaw, whose daughter has a mould allergy, says families need to know what is coming into classrooms. “I am not against plants,” Laidlaw said. “I just want a written list of safe plants sent home before any more pots arrive,” she added. “My daughter should be able to move away from the window without having to explain why.” Obinna Kasongo, the principal, supports the test but asks who will look after the plants during March break. “If a plant dies over a holiday, the children learn that nobody really cared for it,” he said. Kasongo would like a list at the front office where staff and parents can sign up for each holiday week.
Using the drop-down menu (▾), choose the best option according to the information given on the website.
Yasmin Laidlaw would likely say that schools 2..
Kemppainen warns that mould inside one wall would mean 3..
This article was most likely written for 4..
Overall, the article suggests that 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 test of keeping plants in classrooms
Why this is correct: The board is testing potted plants in some classrooms. All four speakers react to that test.
Passage Reference: The Moncton school board is testing potted plants
Tips: Ask what every person in the article is reacting to. Choose the answer that is wide enough for every speaker.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a new garden club for parents: The article never describes a garden club.
- repairs to old portable classrooms: Kemppainen mentions old portables, but only as one worry about the plants.
- a study of allergies among students: Laidlaw’s daughter has an allergy, but nobody is studying allergies.
Correct Answer: should share plant choices with parents ahead of time
Passage Reference: I just want a written list of safe plants sent home before any more pots arrive
Why this is correct: Laidlaw asks for a written list of safe plants to be sent home before more pots arrive. So she wants parents told about plant choices in advance.
Tips: Go back to the lines that come from Laidlaw. Keep an option only if it follows from what she says, not from what others say.
Why the other options are wrong:
- should take every plant out of the classrooms: Laidlaw says she is not against plants. She only wants to know which ones are coming.
- should keep plants only in the newest buildings: Keeping the test to newer buildings is Kemppainen’s idea, not Laidlaw’s.
- should ask parents to water plants on holidays: Holiday care is Kasongo’s worry. Laidlaw does not talk about holidays.
Correct Answer: a repair costing more than all the plants
Passage Reference: Fixing one damp wall costs more than every plant in the district.
Why this is correct: Kemppainen says too much watering can cause mould inside the walls. He adds that fixing one damp wall costs more than every plant in the district.
Tips: Find the sentences Kemppainen says and read each one in full. Choose the option he expects, and drop any that comes from another person in the article.
Why the other options are wrong:
- more children with allergies staying home: Allergies come from Laidlaw. Kemppainen talks about walls and repair costs, not about children staying home.
- teachers stopping lessons more often: Lamarche says she stops lessons less often now. Kemppainen says nothing about lessons.
- plants dying over the March break: Plants dying over a holiday is Kasongo’s worry, not Kemppainen’s.
Correct Answer: families with children in the city’s schools
Passage Reference: trustees will decide in June whether to allow them in every school
Why this is correct: The article reports a test in Moncton classrooms and a decision trustees will make in June. Families with children in those schools would want to read it.
Tips: Think about the article as a whole. For each option, ask whether those readers are the people this story was written for.
Why the other options are wrong:
- gardeners who want tips on indoor plants: No tips on caring for plants are given. The article reports views on a school test.
- builders who repair old portable classrooms: Kemppainen mentions old portables, but nothing explains how to repair them.
- doctors who study allergies in children: Laidlaw’s daughter has an allergy, but no research on allergies is reported.
Correct Answer: a low-cost idea can still raise practical concerns
Passage Reference: the board has heard from teachers who love the idea, staff who worry about damp walls and parents of children with allergies
Why this is correct: The plants cost the board little, yet staff and parents raise worries about mould, allergies and holiday care. The whole article shows those concerns.
Tips: Read the views of Lamarche, Kemppainen, Laidlaw and Kasongo. Keep only the option that stays true once every one of them has been read.
Why the other options are wrong:
- the plants have already raised students’ marks: Lamarche says her students settle down faster. Nobody talks about marks.
- most parents want the test to end right away: Laidlaw, the only parent quoted, says she is not against plants. She just wants a list first.
- the board has already chosen to add more plants: Trustees will decide in June. Nothing has been chosen yet.
Correct Answer: eight
Passage Reference: testing potted plants in eight elementary classrooms
Why this is correct: The board is testing potted plants in eight elementary classrooms this year.
Tips: This blank needs the size of the test. Check how many rooms the board is using this year.
Why the other options are wrong:
- four: Four is part of “Grade 4”, the teacher’s grade. It is not the number of classrooms.
- six: The test covers more classrooms than six.
- twelve: The test covers fewer classrooms than twelve.
Correct Answer: nine
Passage Reference: It went from about fifteen times a day to nine.
Why this is correct: Lamarche says her chart went from about fifteen times a day to nine.
Tips: The teacher gives two numbers for her chart. Make sure you choose the newer one.
Why the other options are wrong:
- five: Lamarche’s chart did not fall that low.
- seven: Seven does not appear in Lamarche’s chart.
- fifteen: Fifteen was the number before the plants arrived. The blank asks where it has fallen to.
Correct Answer: donated
Passage Reference: Every pot in my room was donated
Why this is correct: Lamarche says every pot in her room was donated.
Tips: Find what the teacher says about where the pots in her room came from.
Why the other options are wrong:
- borrowed: Lamarche does not say the pots were borrowed.
- homegrown: Lamarche does not say the plants were grown at school.
- hand-painted: Lamarche does not say the pots were painted.
Correct Answer: month
Passage Reference: with a mould check every month in each room that has plants
Why this is correct: Kemppainen wants a mould check every month in each room that has plants.
Tips: The commenter repeats the facilities manager’s request. Find how often he wants the rooms checked.
Why the other options are wrong:
- two weeks: Kemppainen asks for checks less often than every two weeks.
- six weeks: Kemppainen asks for checks more often than every six weeks.
- term: Kemppainen asks for checks more often than once a term.
Correct Answer: front office
Passage Reference: Kasongo would like a list at the front office where staff and parents can sign up for each holiday week.
Why this is correct: Kasongo would like a list at the front office where staff and parents can sign up for each holiday week.
Tips: Read what the principal wants for holiday weeks. Find the place in the school where people would sign up.
Why the other options are wrong:
- staff room: Staff can sign up, but the list is not in the staff room.
- main hallway: Kasongo puts the list at the front office, not in a hallway.
- school library: The library is not mentioned in the article.
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