Read the following article from a website.
Vancouver city council is weighing a plan that would charge drivers nine dollars to enter the downtown core on weekdays between five in the morning and seven at night. Cameras would read licence plates at twenty-two entry points, and every dollar raised would go to more frequent buses and protected bike lanes. City staff estimate that traffic in the core would drop by about fifteen percent. Council is expected to decide before the end of the year, and the first bills could arrive in 2028.
Professor Rima Maalouf, a transport economist who has studied similar charges overseas, calls the plan overdue. “Road space downtown is some of the most valuable land in the province, and right now we hand it out for nothing,” she said. “When a European city added a fee, travel times fell within weeks, and nobody wanted to go back.” Maalouf would offer a rebate to low-income households but no blanket exemptions. “Once you exempt everyone with a good reason, you no longer have a charge,” she argued.
Deepa Mukherjee, who organizes home care workers, says the plan looks very different at five in the morning. “Many of our members start their shifts before the first bus even leaves the garage,” Mukherjee said. “Asking a care aide who earns twenty dollars an hour to pay nine dollars a day is not a traffic policy. It is a pay cut.” She wants the charge delayed until early-morning bus service is actually running, not just promised.
Laurent Moisan, who chairs the downtown business association, accepts a charge in principle but fears for shops and offices. “If a plumber has to pay nine dollars to reach my members, the plumber will choose a client in Burnaby,” he said. “Our members cannot afford to lose those visits.” Moisan wants a lower rate for delivery vans between ten and two. Kaveh Nazari, an accessibility planner, says people with disability parking permits must be exempt from the first day. “Nobody who relies on a car to get to medical care should wait six weeks for a paper form,” Nazari said. “The exemption list has to be ready before the cameras are switched on. Otherwise the people with the least choice pay first,” he added.
Using the drop-down menu (▾), choose the best option according to the information given on the website.
The readers this article is most likely written for are 2..
According to Maalouf, road space downtown 3..
Laurent Moisan fears that charging tradespeople to come downtown would mean 4..
The main point of the article is 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 fee for cars entering the city centre on weekdays
Why this is correct: Council is weighing a plan to charge drivers nine dollars to enter the downtown core on weekdays. Each speaker reacts to that plan.
Passage Reference: a plan that would charge drivers nine dollars to enter the downtown core on weekdays between five in the morning and seven at night
Tips: Read the quotes from Maalouf, Mukherjee, Moisan and Nazari and check each option with them. Keep the option whose subject comes up again and again across the article.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a plan to build new bike lanes across the province: Bike lanes are where the money would go. They are not the main subject, and nothing is planned across the province.
- a strike by home care workers over low pay: Mukherjee speaks for care workers, but nobody mentions a strike.
- a rise in delivery prices for local shops: Moisan asks for a lower rate for delivery vans. Delivery prices are not the topic.
Correct Answer: people who live and work in the city
Passage Reference: Vancouver city council is weighing a plan
Why this is correct: The article reports a council plan and the views of people in Vancouver. It is written for people who live and work in the city.
Tips: Notice where this story takes place and what it reports. Ask which readers would care about the whole story, not just one detail.
Why the other options are wrong:
- engineers who design camera systems: Cameras are mentioned in one line. The article does not explain how they work.
- tourists planning a trip to Europe: A European city comes up only as Maalouf’s example. The article gives no travel advice.
- mechanics who repair city buses: Buses come up as where the money would go. Nothing in the article is about repairing them.
Correct Answer: is valuable land that drivers now get for free
Passage Reference: Road space downtown is some of the most valuable land in the province, and right now we hand it out for nothing
Why this is correct: Maalouf calls road space downtown some of the most valuable land in the province. She says the city now hands it out for nothing.
Tips: Look closely at what Maalouf says about road space downtown. Keep the choice that matches her words and set aside ideas from Mukherjee, Moisan or Nazari.
Why the other options are wrong:
- should be saved mainly for delivery vans: A lower rate for vans is Moisan’s idea. Maalouf does not say road space should be saved for them.
- is already taken up by too many bike lanes: Maalouf never says there are too many bike lanes. The money would pay for more of them.
- is worth less than land in the suburbs: Maalouf says the opposite. She calls downtown road space some of the most valuable land.
Correct Answer: fewer trade visits to his members’ businesses
Passage Reference: If a plumber has to pay nine dollars to reach my members, the plumber will choose a client in Burnaby ... Our members cannot afford to lose those visits.
Why this is correct: Moisan says a plumber who must pay nine dollars will choose a client in Burnaby instead. His members would lose those visits.
Tips: Find Moisan’s quotes and follow his example step by step. Keep the outcome he describes, and drop any he never mentions.
Why the other options are wrong:
- higher prices in every downtown shop: Moisan never says shops would raise their prices.
- more delivery vans on the roads after dark: Moisan asks for a cheaper daytime rate for vans. He says nothing about vans at night.
- his members moving their offices to Burnaby: Burnaby is where the plumber might go instead. Moisan never says his members would move.
Correct Answer: many accept the idea but want changes before it starts
Passage Reference: calls the plan overdue ... accepts a charge in principle but fears for shops and offices ... She wants the charge delayed until early-morning bus service is actually running, not just promised.
Why this is correct: Maalouf calls the plan overdue, and Moisan accepts a charge in principle. Still, Mukherjee, Moisan and Nazari each want something changed before it begins.
Tips: Line up the views of Maalouf, Mukherjee, Moisan and Nazari. A choice is right only if none of them, and none of the facts about council, shows it is false.
Why the other options are wrong:
- the charge would be a pay cut for most workers: Mukherjee calls it a pay cut for care aides. That is one speaker’s claim, not the point of the article.
- traffic downtown fell within weeks of the charge: Travel times fell in a European city. The article reports no results here, since the charge has not started.
- council has already agreed to switch on the cameras: Council has not decided yet. It is expected to decide before the end of the year.
Correct Answer: twenty-two
Passage Reference: Cameras would read licence plates at twenty-two entry points
Why this is correct: Cameras would read licence plates at twenty-two entry points.
Tips: This blank needs a number of places. Find where the article explains how the city would read plates.
Why the other options are wrong:
- twelve: The article gives a bigger number.
- twenty: The article gives a slightly bigger number.
- thirty: The article gives a smaller number.
Correct Answer: fifteen percent
Passage Reference: traffic in the core would drop by about fifteen percent
Why this is correct: City staff estimate that traffic in the core would drop by about fifteen percent.
Tips: Look for the estimate from city staff. Notice the size of the change they expect.
Why the other options are wrong:
- ten percent: Staff expect a bigger drop than this.
- twenty percent: Staff expect a smaller drop than this.
- thirty percent: Staff expect a much smaller drop than this.
Correct Answer: twenty dollars
Passage Reference: Asking a care aide who earns twenty dollars an hour to pay nine dollars a day is not a traffic policy.
Why this is correct: Mukherjee describes a care aide who earns twenty dollars an hour.
Tips: The commenter means the organizer. Find the hourly pay she uses in her example, and do not confuse it with the daily fee.
Why the other options are wrong:
- seventeen dollars: Mukherjee gives a higher wage.
- twenty-three dollars: Mukherjee gives a lower wage.
- twenty-six dollars: Mukherjee gives a lower wage.
Correct Answer: ten and two
Passage Reference: Moisan wants a lower rate for delivery vans between ten and two.
Why this is correct: Moisan wants a lower rate for delivery vans between ten and two.
Tips: Here the writer means the business leader. Find the hours he suggests for a cheaper rate.
Why the other options are wrong:
- nine and eleven: Moisan does not name these hours.
- eleven and one: Moisan does not name these hours.
- one and three: Moisan does not name these hours.
Correct Answer: six weeks
Passage Reference: should wait six weeks for a paper form
Why this is correct: Nazari says nobody who relies on a car for medical care should wait six weeks for a paper form.
Tips: The commenter is repeating the planner’s warning about paperwork. Find how long he says people should not have to wait.
Why the other options are wrong:
- three weeks: Nazari gives a longer wait.
- five weeks: Nazari gives a slightly longer wait.
- eight weeks: Nazari gives a shorter wait.
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