Read the following article from a website.
New Brunswick’s labour department is studying a proposal that would give ride-hail and delivery drivers a basic safety net without making them employees. Under the plan, every app would pay twenty-five cents per trip into a benefits account in each driver’s name. The money would follow the driver from one app to another and could be used for sick days, injury leave or retirement savings. The department estimates that about 4,000 people in the province earn at least part of their income through these apps.
Svetlana Mironova, a labour lawyer in Fredericton, helped design the proposal. “Drivers keep choosing their own hours, and they still build up something for a bad week,” she said. “Right now, one icy sidewalk can wipe out a month of savings. A quarter on each trip is a small price for a real floor under people.” Mironova says a similar account for construction workers has run in another province for years.
Maxence Marceau, a regional manager for one of the larger delivery apps, warns that the cost will not stay with the companies. “Someone pays for every quarter, and in the end it is the customer,” Marceau said. “In a city the size of Moncton, a small rise in fees means fewer orders, and fewer orders mean less work for drivers. Nobody wins in that case,” he added. Ornella Mazzanti, who owns a pizza restaurant in Moncton, shares part of that worry. “The apps already keep thirty percent of every order,” she said. “If they add another charge, my menu prices will have to go up again,” Mazzanti said.
Comfort Nkansah, a mother of two in Dieppe, delivers food for three apps between school drop-off and pickup. In March she twisted her knee carrying a heavy order up a flight of stairs and could not work for ten days. “I did not earn a cent while I healed,” Nkansah said. “I want that safety net, but the reason I do this job is that I can stop at three o’clock for my kids. If the plan comes with fixed shifts, I will say no thank you,” she added.
Using the drop-down menu (▾), choose the best option according to the information given on the website.
According to Marceau, the cost of the new charge 2..
The reporter presents the proposal as 3..
Comfort Nkansah’s position would likely be supported by 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 plan to give app drivers a basic safety net
Why this is correct: The labour department is studying a proposal to give ride-hail and delivery drivers a basic safety net. Every speaker reacts to it.
Passage Reference: a proposal that would give ride-hail and delivery drivers a basic safety net without making them employees
Tips: Check each option against what Mironova, Marceau, Mazzanti and Nkansah say. If an option fits one speaker well but the others not at all, set it aside.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a new app for ordering food in Moncton: The apps already exist. Nobody describes a new one.
- the rising cost of pizza in small cities: Mazzanti worries about her prices, but this is one detail.
- safety rules for icy sidewalks in winter: Ice is mentioned only as an example of how a driver can get hurt.
Correct Answer: would fall on customers in the end
Passage Reference: in the end it is the customer
Why this is correct: Marceau says the cost will not stay with the companies. In the end, he says, it is the customer who pays.
Tips: Read Marceau’s quotes once more. Match the option to his own words, and drop ideas that come from Mazzanti or Mironova.
Why the other options are wrong:
- would be paid for by the province: Under the plan the apps pay into the accounts. Marceau never says the province pays.
- would come out of drivers’ earnings: Marceau never says drivers would pay. He says customers pay, and then orders fall.
- would be split with restaurants: Restaurants are Mazzanti’s worry. Marceau does not mention them.
Correct Answer: a middle way between no help and full employment
Passage Reference: a basic safety net without making them employees
Why this is correct: The reporter describes a basic safety net that comes without making drivers employees. That is a middle way between no help and a full job.
Tips: Skip the quotes and look at how the reporter explains the proposal. Choose the description that fits those words, not a stance the reporter never takes.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a rule that makes drivers employees of the apps: The reporter says the opposite. The plan works without making drivers employees.
- an idea that is sure to fail: The reporter gives no opinion on whether the plan will work.
- a law that is already in force across Canada: The department is still studying the proposal. It is not in force.
Correct Answer: a survey showing many drivers work around school hours
Passage Reference: the reason I do this job is that I can stop at three o’clock for my kids ... If the plan comes with fixed shifts, I will say no thank you
Why this is correct: Nkansah works between school drop-off and pickup so she can stop at three o’clock for her kids. A survey like this would back her case against fixed shifts.
Tips: Picture each option as a new fact. Ask if it would help Nkansah make her point, or if it belongs with someone else.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a study showing most drivers want set shifts: Nkansah wants to stop at three o’clock for her kids. A study in favour of set shifts works against her.
- a rule that apps must lower their fees: Lower app fees fit Mazzanti’s concern about her prices, not Nkansah’s.
- a report that apps pay drivers very well: Nkansah says she earned nothing while she healed. Good pay would not support her call for a safety net.
Correct Answer: workers could gain, but some fear who pays
Passage Reference: helped design the proposal ... warns that the cost will not stay with the companies ... shares part of that worry
Why this is correct: Mironova and Nkansah see real help for workers. Marceau and Mazzanti fear that someone, in the end, pays the cost.
Tips: Hold each option up against Mironova, Marceau, Mazzanti and Nkansah. The right one is never contradicted by any of them or by the facts given.
Why the other options are wrong:
- the app companies plan to leave the province: Nobody says the apps would leave. Marceau talks only about fees and orders.
- most drivers do not want any safety net: Nkansah says she wants the safety net. Nobody says drivers reject it.
- the plan has already cut injuries among drivers: The plan has not started. No results are reported.
Correct Answer: twenty-five cents
Passage Reference: every app would pay twenty-five cents per trip into a benefits account
Why this is correct: Every app would pay twenty-five cents per trip into a benefits account.
Tips: This blank needs the payment for one trip. Find how the plan would fill each account.
Why the other options are wrong:
- ten cents: The article gives a higher amount.
- fifty cents: The article gives half this amount.
- one dollar: The article gives a much smaller amount.
Correct Answer: 4,000
Passage Reference: The department estimates that about 4,000 people in the province earn at least part of their income through these apps.
Why this is correct: The department estimates that about 4,000 people in the province earn at least part of their income through these apps.
Tips: Find the number of people in the province who earn money this way.
Why the other options are wrong:
- 2,000: This is half the figure in the article.
- 3,000: This is smaller than the figure in the article.
- 6,000: This is bigger than the figure in the article.
Correct Answer: a month
Passage Reference: one icy sidewalk can wipe out a month of savings
Why this is correct: Mironova says one icy sidewalk can wipe out a month of savings.
Tips: The commenter means the lawyer. Find her warning about one fall and how much it can cost.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a week: Mironova mentions a bad week elsewhere, but here she says a longer time.
- a year: Mironova gives a shorter time.
- a season: Mironova does not mention a season.
Correct Answer: thirty percent
Passage Reference: The apps already keep thirty percent of every order
Why this is correct: Mazzanti says the apps already keep thirty percent of every order.
Tips: Here the writer means the restaurant owner. Find what she says the apps take from her sales.
Why the other options are wrong:
- ten percent: Mazzanti gives a much higher figure.
- twenty percent: Mazzanti gives a higher figure.
- forty percent: Mazzanti gives a lower figure.
Correct Answer: ten days
Passage Reference: In March she twisted her knee carrying a heavy order up a flight of stairs and could not work for ten days.
Why this is correct: Nkansah twisted her knee and could not work for ten days.
Tips: Find what happened to the mother in March. Notice how long she was off the road.
Why the other options are wrong:
- five days: Nkansah was off work for longer than this.
- three weeks: Nkansah was off work for less time than this.
- two months: Nkansah was off work for much less time than this.
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