Read the following article from a website.
Kingston city council will vote in early December on whether downtown restaurants may keep heated, enclosed patios on the sidewalk from December to March. Until now, every sidewalk patio has had to come down by November 15. Restaurant owners asked for the change after a cold, quiet winter last year, when many of them cut staff hours. The proposal would apply to about forty restaurants on the main shopping street and the blocks around it.
Celestine Moreau, who owns a bistro with fourteen employees, says the patio is what keeps her servers working. “In January my dining room is half empty, but people will happily sit in a warm glass room and watch the snow,” she said. “Last winter I had to cut every server down to two shifts a week. An enclosed patio could bring those shifts back.” Moreau adds that the structures would be built from panels that can be taken apart in under an hour.
Prakash Nair, a supervisor with the city’s public works department, worries about snow clearing. “Our sidewalk machines need a clear lane about two metres wide,” Nair said. “A fixed structure catches blowing snow, and the drift ends up right where people walk. Then we are back out with shovels.” He says crews spent extra hours last year clearing around benches and planters that had been left out. Ludmila Novotna, who uses a wheelchair and chairs the city’s accessibility committee, says she sees a problem bigger than snow. “When a sidewalk narrows, I am the one who has to turn back and find another route,” Novotna said. “Warm dining should never cost someone their way home.”
Councillor Benedikt Mostyn says the two sides can meet in the middle. He has proposed a trial on just two blocks this winter. “Restaurants would get their patios, but they would have to move the panels back within twelve hours of any major snowfall,” Mostyn said. “If crews or residents report a blocked sidewalk, the permit ends. That is a simple rule everyone can understand,” he added.
Using the drop-down menu (▾), choose the best option according to the information given on the website.
Paragraph three mainly presents 2..
This article would most likely appear in 3..
Ludmila Novotna would likely say that the patios 4..
At the moment, Benedikt Mostyn wants 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 request to keep heated dining rooms on sidewalks
Why this is correct: Council will vote on whether restaurants may keep heated, enclosed patios on the sidewalk in winter. Every speaker reacts to that request.
Passage Reference: whether downtown restaurants may keep heated, enclosed patios on the sidewalk from December to March
Tips: Each wrong option here borrows a word or a place from the article. Pick the option that all four speakers are discussing, not one that matches a single detail.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a new rule for snow clearing on city roads: Snow clearing is one worry in the debate. No new rule for roads is proposed.
- a shortage of staff at downtown restaurants: Moreau cut her servers’ shifts, but nobody says workers are hard to find.
- a plan to close the main shopping street: Nobody plans to close any street.
Correct Answer: views on snow clearing and wheelchair access
Passage Reference: Prakash Nair, a supervisor with the city’s public works department, worries about snow clearing. ... Ludmila Novotna, who uses a wheelchair and chairs the city’s accessibility committee, says she sees a problem bigger than snow.
Why this is correct: “Paragraph three” quotes Nair, a public works supervisor, on snow clearing. Then Novotna, who uses a wheelchair, explains what a narrow sidewalk means for her.
Tips: Look again at “Paragraph three” only. Decide what those sentences do, then find the option that says so.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a bistro owner’s case for the patios: Moreau makes her case before “Paragraph three”.
- the views of a downtown business group: No business group is quoted anywhere in the article.
- the rule that patios follow today: The current rule opens the article. It is not in “Paragraph three”.
Correct Answer: a local news site for city residents
Passage Reference: Kingston city council will vote in early December ... Restaurant owners asked for the change after a cold, quiet winter last year, when many of them cut staff hours.
Why this is correct: The article reports a Kingston council vote and the views of local people. A local news site for the city would carry it.
Tips: Think about who would pick up this text and why. Keep only the place whose readers would want it as written.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a cookbook of warm winter meals: The article gives no recipes. It reports a debate about patios.
- a guide to building glass rooms: The article mentions panels but gives no building steps.
- a national report on snow science: Nair talks about snow clearing, but no research is reported. The story is about one city.
Correct Answer: must leave room for everyone to get past
Passage Reference: When a sidewalk narrows, I am the one who has to turn back and find another route ... Warm dining should never cost someone their way home.
Why this is correct: Novotna says that when a sidewalk narrows, she has to turn back. Warm dining should never cost someone their way home, so patios must leave room to pass.
Tips: Read Novotna’s quoted sentences. Check each option against her words, and rule out any that belongs to another speaker or to no one.
Why the other options are wrong:
- would help restaurants through the winter: This is Moreau’s point. Novotna does not talk about how restaurants do.
- are fine as long as they move after a snowfall: Moving the panels after a snowfall is Mostyn’s rule. Novotna worries about any narrow sidewalk, not only after snow.
- are worth losing some sidewalk space: Novotna says the opposite. A narrow sidewalk makes her turn back.
Correct Answer: a short trial on a few blocks first
Passage Reference: He has proposed a trial on just two blocks this winter.
Why this is correct: The reporter says Mostyn has proposed a trial on just two blocks this winter. So he wants to try the patios on a small area first.
Tips: Find the reporter’s lines about Mostyn and his own quotes. An option is right only if those lines show it.
Why the other options are wrong:
- the current patio rule kept as it is: Mostyn wants restaurants to get their patios on a trial. That changes the current rule.
- patios allowed on every downtown street: Mostyn’s trial covers just two blocks, not every street.
- new machines for clearing sidewalks: Mostyn never talks about snow machines.
Correct Answer: November 15
Passage Reference: every sidewalk patio has had to come down by November 15
Why this is correct: Every sidewalk patio has had to come down by November 15.
Tips: This blank needs today’s deadline. Find what the article says about the rule until now.
Why the other options are wrong:
- October 15: This date is not in the article. The rule gives a later day.
- October 31: This date is not in the article.
- November 1: The date in the article is two weeks later.
Correct Answer: forty
Passage Reference: The proposal would apply to about forty restaurants
Why this is correct: The proposal would apply to about forty restaurants.
Tips: Find where the article explains how many businesses the plan covers.
Why the other options are wrong:
- twenty: The article gives a bigger number.
- thirty: This is smaller than the number in the article.
- fifty: This is bigger than the number in the article.
Correct Answer: two shifts
Passage Reference: Last winter I had to cut every server down to two shifts a week.
Why this is correct: Moreau says she had to cut every server down to two shifts a week last winter.
Tips: The commenter means the bistro owner. Find what she says happened to her staff last year.
Why the other options are wrong:
- one shift: Moreau gives a higher number of shifts.
- three shifts: Moreau gives a lower number of shifts.
- four shifts: Four shifts are not mentioned in the article.
Correct Answer: under an hour
Passage Reference: panels that can be taken apart in under an hour
Why this is correct: Moreau says the panels can be taken apart in under an hour.
Tips: Look for what the bistro owner says about how the patio is built. Notice the time she gives.
Why the other options are wrong:
- under thirty minutes: Moreau does not promise a time this short.
- about two hours: Moreau gives a shorter time.
- about three hours: This is much longer than the time Moreau gives.
Correct Answer: twelve hours
Passage Reference: they would have to move the panels back within twelve hours of any major snowfall
Why this is correct: Mostyn says restaurants would have to move the panels back within twelve hours of any major snowfall.
Tips: Here the writer means the councillor. Find the deadline he sets for restaurants after a storm.
Why the other options are wrong:
- three hours: Mostyn allows more time than this.
- six hours: Mostyn allows more time than this.
- nine hours: Mostyn allows more time than this.
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