Read the following article from a website.
A Manitoba legislature committee is holding hearings on whether the province should stop changing its clocks twice a year. The bill in front of the committee would keep Manitoba on standard time all year, so clocks would no longer move forward each March. More than 1,400 people have already sent written comments, and the committee will accept more until the end of the month. Committee members hope to report back before summer. The hearings have brought out strong feelings on both sides.
Ileana Kurtz, who runs a restaurant in Brandon with a patio that seats sixty people, opposes the bill. “Summer evenings are when my business makes its money,” she said. “Nobody books a patio table once the sun goes down.” Kurtz says standard time would take an hour of light from every summer evening. “Youth soccer games would end earlier too, and the kids would lose playing time,” Kurtz said.
Ottar Langley, a sleep researcher at a Winnipeg university, supports the change. Langley has studied sleep for twenty years, and his team recently looked at twelve years of hospital records. “In the week after clocks move forward, we see more car crashes and more mistakes at work,” he said. “Millions of people lose an hour of sleep on the same night. That is a high price to pay for brighter evenings,” Langley explained.
Dorota Kalinski, a school trustee who supports the bill, says the parents who call her office worry most about dark winter mornings. “In March, young children wait for the school bus in the dark,” Kalinski said. “Drivers simply can’t see a small child beside a dark road.” She would like schools to hand out reflective vests no matter what the province decides. Bertil Lachapelle, who drives to a job in a neighbouring province, has one condition. “Whatever Manitoba chooses, it should happen only if our neighbours change at the same time,” he said. “Otherwise my office clock and my kitchen clock will never agree,” Lachapelle added.
Using the drop-down menu (▾), choose the best option according to the information given on the website.
Ileana Kurtz thinks that standard time all year would lead to 2..
Ottar Langley would likely say that moving the clocks forward 3..
The author presents the issue as 4..
The readers this article is most likely written for are 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 plan to stop moving the clocks
Why this is correct: A committee is holding hearings on whether the province should stop changing its clocks twice a year. Every speaker reacts to that bill.
Passage Reference: A Manitoba legislature committee is holding hearings on whether the province should stop changing its clocks twice a year.
Tips: Go through Kurtz, Langley, Kalinski and Lachapelle, asking each time if the option fits. Ask why the reporter put these people in one article, and the option that explains that is the topic.
Why the other options are wrong:
- new rules for youth soccer leagues: Kurtz mentions soccer games, but only as one effect of the bill.
- a change to school bus routes: Kalinski talks about children at bus stops, but no route change is planned.
- longer opening hours for restaurants: Kurtz runs a restaurant, but nobody talks about its opening hours.
Correct Answer: young players getting less time on the field
Passage Reference: Youth soccer games would end earlier too, and the kids would lose playing time
Why this is correct: Kurtz says standard time would take an hour of light from summer evenings. She adds that youth soccer games would end earlier and kids would lose playing time.
Tips: Start with Kurtz’s quotes. Ask what she says would happen next, and reject outcomes that come from the other people in the article.
Why the other options are wrong:
- more car crashes after the spring change: Langley links car crashes to the spring clock change. Kurtz does not talk about crashes.
- children waiting for buses in the dark: Kalinski talks about children at dark bus stops. Kurtz does not.
- clocks that differ from a nearby province: Lachapelle is the one who talks about clocks that do not match. Kurtz never mentions other provinces.
Correct Answer: costs more than the lighter evenings are worth
Passage Reference: In the week after clocks move forward, we see more car crashes and more mistakes at work ... That is a high price to pay for brighter evenings
Why this is correct: Langley says crashes and work mistakes rise in the week after clocks move forward. He calls this a high price to pay for brighter evenings.
Tips: Read what Langley says and what his team found. Choose the view his own words point to, and drop views other speakers hold.
Why the other options are wrong:
- matters mostly to restaurant owners: Kurtz speaks for restaurants. Langley talks about everyone who loses sleep.
- is fine if nearby provinces do it too: Lachapelle sets this condition. Langley says nothing about other provinces.
- keeps children safer on winter mornings: Langley sees danger in the clock change, not safety. Kalinski is the one who talks about dark mornings.
Correct Answer: one that stirs strong feelings in people
Passage Reference: The hearings have brought out strong feelings on both sides.
Why this is correct: The reporter writes that the hearings have brought out strong feelings on both sides. That shows an issue people care deeply about.
Tips: Ignore what the speakers say in quotation marks. Check each choice against the reporter’s own lines alone.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a question the committee has already settled: The committee is still taking comments and has not reported back yet.
- a small matter that few people care about: The reporter says the hearings have brought out strong feelings. That is not a matter few people care about.
- a change the reporter wants passed quickly: The reporter never gives an opinion on the bill.
Correct Answer: people who live in the province
Passage Reference: The bill in front of the committee would keep Manitoba on standard time all year, so clocks would no longer move forward each March.
Why this is correct: The article reports a provincial bill that would change the clocks for all of Manitoba. The people who live there are the ones it affects.
Tips: Think about what kind of text this is and whom it serves. For each option, ask if those readers would want it without changes.
Why the other options are wrong:
- doctors who study sleep for a living: The article mentions one study, but it reports a public debate. It is not written for sleep experts.
- tourists planning a summer trip: The article gives no travel advice. It reports hearings on a provincial bill.
- owners looking for patio design ideas: Kurtz owns a patio, but the article gives no design ideas.
Correct Answer: 1,400
Passage Reference: More than 1,400 people have already sent written comments
Why this is correct: More than 1,400 people have already sent written comments.
Tips: Find how many people have written to the committee. Read each digit with care.
Why the other options are wrong:
- 1,900: The article gives a smaller number than 1,900.
- 4,100: The number of comments is much lower than this.
- 14,000: The digits look familiar, but the article’s figure is ten times smaller.
Correct Answer: month
Passage Reference: the committee will accept more until the end of the month
Why this is correct: The committee will accept more written comments until the end of the month.
Tips: Find the deadline for written comments. Do not mix it up with when the committee hopes to report.
Why the other options are wrong:
- week: The deadline is later than the end of the week.
- spring: The article does not set the deadline in spring.
- summer: Summer is when members hope to report, not the deadline for comments.
Correct Answer: sixty
Passage Reference: with a patio that seats sixty people
Why this is correct: Kurtz runs a restaurant with a patio that seats sixty people.
Tips: Look at how the article introduces the restaurant owner. Find the size of her patio.
Why the other options are wrong:
- thirty: The patio seats twice as many people as this.
- forty: The patio seats more people than this.
- ninety: The patio seats fewer people than this.
Correct Answer: twelve
Passage Reference: his team recently looked at twelve years of hospital records
Why this is correct: Langley’s team recently looked at twelve years of hospital records.
Tips: The article gives two numbers about the researcher. Find the one about the hospital records.
Why the other options are wrong:
- two: The team studied many more years than two.
- seven: The team studied more years than seven.
- twenty: Twenty is how long Langley has studied sleep, not the length of the records.
Correct Answer: reflective vests
Passage Reference: She would like schools to hand out reflective vests no matter what the province decides.
Why this is correct: Kalinski would like schools to hand out reflective vests no matter what the province decides.
Tips: The commenter means the school trustee. Find the item she wants every young student to get.
Why the other options are wrong:
- flashlights: Kalinski does not mention flashlights.
- winter boots: Kalinski does not mention boots.
- bus passes: Kalinski talks about the school bus, not bus passes.
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