Read the following article from a website.
A committee of the New Brunswick legislature is holding hearings this fall on a question that matters to almost every renter in the province. At present, landlords may raise the rent on a current tenant by no more than three percent a year, but when a tenant moves out, the next one can be charged any amount. A bill before the committee would make the yearly limit follow the apartment instead of the person. A second part of the bill would apply the same rule to buildings finished after 2026.
Yvette Ngata, a lawyer who represents tenants at the rental tribunal, says the gap between leases drives many of the eviction cases she sees. “When a landlord can raise the price by six hundred dollars just by emptying a unit, every long-term tenant becomes a target,” she said. “I have clients who were told their building needed repairs, and the repairs somehow never started after they left. That is not maintenance. That is a strategy.” Ngata wants the cap to stay with the apartment no matter who lives there.
Callum Mackintosh, a housing economist at a university in Fredericton, supports the first part of the bill but not the second. “Banks look at future rents before they lend money for a new building,” Mackintosh said. “If those rents are capped from the first day, fewer projects will get built, and the shortage will get worse.” He suggests exempting new buildings for their first fifteen years. Rosa Mancuso, who owns a triplex in Moncton, says small owners need some room too. “My roof cost forty thousand dollars last year,” she said. “The only time I can catch up is when a unit changes hands. Take that away and I will have to sell,” Mancuso added.
Wassim Nasser, a warehouse worker in Saint John, says the current system punished him for moving. “The woman who lived in my apartment before me paid eleven hundred dollars,” Nasser said. “I pay sixteen hundred and fifty dollars for the same three rooms, the same old fridge and the same view of the parking lot. Nothing changed except the name on the lease,” he added.
Using the drop-down menu (▾), choose the best option according to the information given on the website.
Callum Mackintosh would likely say that capping rents in new buildings 2..
The reporter presents the question as 3..
Paragraph two mainly presents 4..
Rosa Mancuso expects that losing the chance to raise rent between tenants would mean 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 the yearly cap should stay with each apartment
Why this is correct: A bill would make the yearly limit follow the apartment instead of the person. Every speaker gives a view on that bill.
Passage Reference: A bill before the committee would make the yearly limit follow the apartment instead of the person.
Tips: Ask what change the hearings are about. Pick the option that says this in plain words.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a plan to build more homes in the province: Mackintosh talks about building, but no building plan is described.
- repairs that landlords must finish each year: Repairs come up in Ngata’s and Mancuso’s parts, but no repair rule is proposed.
- a new tribunal for eviction cases: Ngata already works at a tribunal. Nobody proposes a new one.
Correct Answer: would mean fewer homes for renters
Passage Reference: Banks look at future rents before they lend money for a new building ... If those rents are capped from the first day, fewer projects will get built, and the shortage will get worse.
Why this is correct: Mackintosh says capped rents from the first day mean fewer projects get built. Then the shortage gets worse, so renters have fewer homes.
Tips: Work through what Mackintosh says, line by line. Choose what he would agree with, and reject a view that Ngata or Mancuso holds instead.
Why the other options are wrong:
- would stop landlords from faking repairs: Fake repairs are Ngata’s example of how landlords empty units.
- would hurt small landlords the most: Small owners are Mancuso’s concern. Mackintosh talks about banks and new projects.
- would make no difference to builders: Mackintosh says the opposite. He expects fewer projects to be built.
Correct Answer: a concern for renters all over the province
Passage Reference: a question that matters to almost every renter in the province
Why this is correct: In the reporter’s own words, the question matters to almost every renter in the province. So it concerns renters everywhere in New Brunswick.
Tips: Ignore the quoted views and study how the reporter describes the hearings. Test every choice against that description alone.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a quarrel between two landlords in Moncton: Only one landlord, Mancuso, is quoted. The question is a bill for the whole province.
- a matter the tribunal has already settled: The committee is still holding hearings. Nothing has been settled.
- a plan the reporter strongly supports: The reporter never gives an opinion. Views for and against come only from the people quoted.
Correct Answer: a lawyer’s view that the gap leads to evictions
Passage Reference: says the gap between leases drives many of the eviction cases she sees
Why this is correct: Paragraph two belongs to Ngata, who represents tenants. She says the gap between leases drives many of the eviction cases she sees.
Tips: Focus on “Paragraph two” and nothing else. Say to yourself what it adds to the article, then find the option that says the same.
Why the other options are wrong:
- an economist’s plan to exempt new buildings: Mackintosh suggests exempting new buildings in paragraph three.
- a renter’s story about paying more than before: Nasser tells his story in paragraph four.
- the rules that apply when a tenant moves: The current rules are set out in paragraph one.
Correct Answer: being forced to sell her building
Passage Reference: The only time I can catch up is when a unit changes hands. ... Take that away and I will have to sell
Why this is correct: Mancuso says the only time she can catch up on costs is when a unit changes hands. Without that, she will have to sell.
Tips: Study Mancuso’s three quoted sentences together. Pick the result she states herself, not one you would guess.
Why the other options are wrong:
- leaving her units empty for months: Mancuso never says she would leave units empty.
- raising the rent on current tenants: Mancuso does not say she would raise rents on the people living there now.
- putting off repairs to the roof: Her roof is already done. Its cost last year is why she needs to catch up.
Correct Answer: three percent
Passage Reference: landlords may raise the rent on a current tenant by no more than three percent a year
Why this is correct: Landlords may raise the rent on a current tenant by no more than three percent a year.
Tips: This blank needs the current yearly limit. Find where the article explains the rule for people who stay.
Why the other options are wrong:
- two percent: The limit in the article is higher.
- five percent: The limit in the article is lower.
- ten percent: This figure is not in the article.
Correct Answer: 2026
Passage Reference: A second part of the bill would apply the same rule to buildings finished after 2026.
Why this is correct: The second part of the bill would apply the same rule to buildings finished after 2026.
Tips: Find the part of the bill about newer buildings. Notice the year it uses.
Why the other options are wrong:
- 2020: This year is not in the article.
- 2024: This year is not in the article.
- 2030: This year is not in the article.
Correct Answer: Fredericton
Passage Reference: Callum Mackintosh, a housing economist at a university in Fredericton
Why this is correct: The article introduces Mackintosh as a housing economist at a university in Fredericton.
Tips: The commenter means the housing economist. Several cities appear in the article, so check which one goes with him.
Why the other options are wrong:
- Moncton: Moncton is where Mancuso owns her triplex, not where the economist works.
- Saint John: Saint John is where Nasser works.
- Halifax: Halifax is not mentioned in the article.
Correct Answer: forty thousand dollars
Passage Reference: My roof cost forty thousand dollars last year
Why this is correct: Mancuso says her roof cost forty thousand dollars last year.
Tips: Here the writer means the triplex owner. Find the bill she mentions from last year.
Why the other options are wrong:
- twenty thousand dollars: Mancuso gives twice this amount.
- thirty thousand dollars: Mancuso gives a higher cost.
- fifty-five thousand dollars: Mancuso gives a lower cost.
Correct Answer: eleven hundred dollars
Passage Reference: The woman who lived in my apartment before me paid eleven hundred dollars
Why this is correct: Nasser says the woman who lived in his apartment before him paid eleven hundred dollars.
Tips: Two prices appear in the warehouse worker’s story. Make sure you choose the one paid by the person before him.
Why the other options are wrong:
- nine hundred dollars: This amount is not in the article.
- thirteen hundred dollars: This amount is not in the article.
- sixteen hundred dollars: Nasser pays sixteen hundred and fifty dollars himself. The woman before him paid less.
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