Read the following article from a website.
Parents at an elementary school in Saskatoon will vote next week on whether to keep the school’s Halloween candy sale. Every year after Halloween, parents drop off spare treats, and older students pack them into bags to sell in the lunchroom. Last year the sale raised about $2,100 for class trips. It also left boxes of melted chocolate in the school’s compost bins, and the parent council has asked everyone for their views.
Casimir Lindgren, who teaches Grade 5, wants the sale to stay. “My class raised more in one candy week than in a month of selling greeting cards,” he said. “Children work harder when they can see and count what they are earning.” He says the money sent two classes on a field trip to Regina last spring. Lindgren would limit the sale to five school days. “A short sale keeps the excitement up and the mess down,” Lindgren explained.
Oluwaseun Kamara, a dietitian who visits the school twice a month, disagrees. “In October the younger grades study healthy eating,” she said. “Then a week later the hallway is full of chocolate bars. That undoes the whole lesson.” Kamara would rather see a family fun run raise the money, or at least much smaller bags of candy. “Even a smaller bag would show the children that the adults were listening,” she said.
Perpetua Larkin, a parent volunteer in charge of the lost-and-found, expects the leftover treats to arrive whatever the vote decides. “We can set up a sorting table outside the office,” Larkin said. “Sealed treats can go to the food bank, and nothing opened should ever reach a classroom,” she added. Lysander Koval, the school’s principal for the past six years, says he will not approve another year without numbers. “I want to know how many kilograms came in and how many ended up in the garbage,” he said. “If most of it is wasted, the sale ends.”
Using the drop-down menu (▾), choose the best option according to the information given on the website.
Most likely, Koval wants 2..
The author describes the question as 3..
Kamara’s views would most likely be supported by 4..
This article would most likely appear in 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: whether a school should keep selling donated candy
Why this is correct: Parents will vote on whether to keep the Halloween candy sale. Every speaker gives a view on it.
Passage Reference: Parents at an elementary school in Saskatoon will vote next week on whether to keep the school’s Halloween candy sale.
Tips: Check every option against Lindgren, Kamara, Larkin and Koval, speaker by speaker. Do not choose an option just because one of its words appears in the text.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a new lunch menu for young students: Students sell candy at lunch, but no new lunch menu is planned.
- a food bank that needs more donations: Larkin would send sealed treats to the food bank. The food bank is not the topic.
- a plan to raise money with a fun run: A fun run is only Kamara’s alternative idea.
Correct Answer: facts about the leftovers before he decides
Passage Reference: I want to know how many kilograms came in and how many ended up in the garbage
Why this is correct: Koval will not approve another year without numbers. He wants to know how many kilograms came in and how many were thrown away.
Tips: Read what Koval says in the article. Test each option against his own words, and drop any that another speaker wants.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a fun run to take the place of the sale: A family fun run is Kamara’s idea. Koval does not suggest it.
- the sale to run for a whole month: Nobody asks for a longer sale. Lindgren even wants it kept short.
- parents to stop sending in their treats: Larkin expects treats to arrive whatever happens, and Koval never asks parents to stop.
Correct Answer: one with a clear gain and a clear cost
Passage Reference: Last year the sale raised about ... for class trips. It also left boxes of melted chocolate in the school’s compost bins
Why this is correct: The reporter says the sale raised money for class trips. In the next sentence, the reporter adds that it left melted chocolate in the compost bins.
Tips: Leave the quotes aside and read the lines the reporter writes. See which option matches the way those lines describe the sale.
Why the other options are wrong:
- one that every parent has already settled: Parents will vote next week, so nothing is settled yet.
- one that causes no real problems: The reporter mentions boxes of melted chocolate in the compost bins. That is a problem.
- one that the school has stopped caring about: The parent council has asked everyone for their views. The school clearly cares.
Correct Answer: a study finding sweets at school weaken food lessons
Passage Reference: In October the younger grades study healthy eating ... That undoes the whole lesson.
Why this is correct: Kamara says the younger grades study healthy eating in October. A hallway full of chocolate a week later undoes that lesson, so such a study backs her.
Tips: Read all of Kamara’s sentences. Picture each option as a new fact, and keep the one that helps her side rather than someone else’s.
Why the other options are wrong:
- figures showing candy outsells other fundraisers: Better sales figures support Lindgren, who wants to keep the sale.
- a report on food banks taking sealed treats: Sending sealed treats to the food bank is Larkin’s plan. It does not support Kamara’s worry.
- a count showing little candy is thrown away: A small amount of waste would help the sale stay. Kamara would rather see it changed.
Correct Answer: a local paper’s community news pages
Passage Reference: the parent council has asked everyone for their views
Why this is correct: The story is about one Saskatoon school’s vote, with local people giving their views. That is news for a local paper.
Tips: Consider the whole story rather than one quote. Decide which option names a place that would print it just as it is written.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a cookbook of healthy school lunches: Kamara talks about healthy eating, but the article gives no recipes or lunch ideas.
- a national magazine about the candy trade: The story is about one school’s fundraiser, not about the candy business across the country.
- a handbook for running a food bank: The food bank comes up once, in Larkin’s plan. The article gives no advice on running one.
Correct Answer: $2,100
Passage Reference: Last year the sale raised about $2,100 for class trips.
Why this is correct: Last year the sale raised about $2,100 for class trips.
Tips: The blank needs an amount of money. Find what last year’s sale earned.
Why the other options are wrong:
- $1,200: The sale raised more than this.
- $2,500: The sale raised less than this.
- $3,100: The sale raised much less than this.
Correct Answer: greeting cards
Passage Reference: My class raised more in one candy week than in a month of selling greeting cards
Why this is correct: Lindgren says his class raised more in one candy week than in a month of selling greeting cards.
Tips: The teacher compares the candy week with an older fundraiser. Find what his class used to sell.
Why the other options are wrong:
- baked goods: Baked goods are not mentioned in the article.
- raffle tickets: Lindgren does not talk about raffles.
- school calendars: Calendars never come up in the article.
Correct Answer: five
Passage Reference: Lindgren would limit the sale to five school days.
Why this is correct: Lindgren would limit the sale to five school days.
Tips: Read what the teacher says about the length of the sale. Check the number of days he would allow.
Why the other options are wrong:
- three: Lindgren’s limit is longer than three days.
- seven: Lindgren’s limit is shorter than seven days.
- ten: Ten days is twice as long as Lindgren wants.
Correct Answer: outside the office
Passage Reference: We can set up a sorting table outside the office
Why this is correct: Larkin says the school can set up a sorting table outside the office.
Tips: The commenter means the parent from the lost-and-found. Find where she would put her table.
Why the other options are wrong:
- in the gym: The gym is not mentioned in the article.
- beside the lunchroom: Students sell candy at lunch, but the table is not beside the lunchroom.
- at the front doors: Larkin does not mention the front doors.
Correct Answer: twice a month
Passage Reference: a dietitian who visits the school twice a month
Why this is correct: Kamara is described as a dietitian who visits the school twice a month.
Tips: Look at how the article introduces the dietitian. Find how often she comes to the school.
Why the other options are wrong:
- once a week: Kamara visits less often than every week.
- once a term: Kamara visits much more often than once a term.
- every Friday: No day of the week is given for her visits.
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