Read the following article from a website.
Victoria city council will vote in December on a rule that would allow up to four homes on almost any residential lot, without a public hearing for each project. Today most of the city’s residential land allows only one house, sometimes with a small basement suite. City staff say the change could add about three thousand homes over the next decade, and nearly two hundred people signed up to speak at last week’s hearing.
Priscilla Ostrowski, a senior city planner, says the rule is about process, not size. “The height limits and the space around each house would stay exactly where they are,” Ostrowski said. “What changes is that a small builder no longer needs a lawyer and a year of hearings to put up a fourplex. Most of the people who want to do this are homeowners, not big developers.” She wants the city to publish a set of free, pre-approved building plans that any owner could use.
Clifford Pargeter, president of a residents’ association in Fernwood, says the city is moving too fast. “Our sewer pipes were laid when these streets had half as many people,” Pargeter said. “Nobody has checked whether they can take four kitchens and four bathrooms on every lot.” He would accept duplexes now, but he wants fourplexes approved only after the pipes are checked street by street. Ama Opoku, a lawyer who works with tenants, has a different worry. “New homes are not the same as homes people can afford,” Opoku said. “Without a rule, the fourth unit on every lot will rent for whatever the market will bear.” She wants one unit in each fourplex to rent below the local average for at least fifteen years.
Rainer Pohl, a transit planner, says the location of the new homes matters most. “Put them where the buses already run every ten minutes,” Pohl said. “If you build them on quiet side streets with one bus an hour, every new family will buy a second car,” he warned. “Transit and housing have to be planned together. Otherwise we are just building traffic.”
Using the drop-down menu (▾), choose the best option according to the information given on the website.
Most likely, Priscilla Ostrowski is trying to ease fears about 2..
Paragraph three mainly gives 3..
Rainer Pohl warns that building on quiet side streets with rare buses would lead to 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 rule to allow more homes on each lot
Why this is correct: Council will vote on a rule allowing up to four homes on almost any residential lot. The speakers all react to that rule.
Passage Reference: a rule that would allow up to four homes on almost any residential lot, without a public hearing for each project
Tips: Ask what council will vote on in December. The best answer describes that vote in plain words.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a new park for a busy neighbourhood: No park is mentioned in the article.
- a tax on houses left empty: No tax is proposed in the article.
- a plan to widen roads in Fernwood: Fernwood is mentioned, but nobody plans to widen roads.
Correct Answer: buildings growing much taller or wider
Passage Reference: The height limits and the space around each house would stay exactly where they are
Why this is correct: Ostrowski says the rule is about process, not size. She points out that the height limits and the space around each house would stay the same.
Tips: Go through Ostrowski’s quotes carefully. Choose the option her words point to most clearly, and drop what other speakers say.
Why the other options are wrong:
- rents that tenants cannot pay: Rents are Opoku’s concern. Ostrowski does not talk about them.
- old pipes under the streets: Pargeter raises the pipes. Ostrowski does not answer that point.
- extra cars on quiet side streets: Pohl warns about cars. Ostrowski says nothing about traffic.
Correct Answer: the concerns of a residents’ leader and a tenants’ lawyer
Passage Reference: He would accept duplexes now, but he wants fourplexes approved only after the pipes are checked street by street.
Why this is correct: Paragraph three gives Pargeter’s worry about the pipes and Opoku’s worry about rents. He leads a residents’ association, and she works with tenants.
Tips: Read “Paragraph three” closely and describe its job in your own words. Then compare that description with each option.
Why the other options are wrong:
- the case made by a city planner: Ostrowski, the city planner, makes her case in paragraph two.
- the views of a planner who works on buses: Pohl, the transit planner, speaks in paragraph four.
- the history of housing rules in the city: The article gives no history of housing rules.
Correct Answer: each new household adding a car
Passage Reference: If you build them on quiet side streets with one bus an hour, every new family will buy a second car
Why this is correct: Pohl talks about quiet streets with one bus an hour. He says every new family there will buy a second car.
Tips: Find what Pohl predicts in his own quotes. Keep the option that matches, and reject any that belongs to someone else.
Why the other options are wrong:
- faster bus service on side streets: Pohl does not say the buses would improve. He wants homes where buses already run often.
- lower rents near the bus routes: Nobody links rents to bus routes in the article.
- more strain on old sewer pipes: This is Pargeter’s concern, not Pohl’s.
Correct Answer: many back new housing, but most want conditions first
Passage Reference: Transit and housing have to be planned together.
Why this is correct: Most speakers accept new homes in some form. Pargeter wants the pipes checked first, Opoku wants one cheaper unit, and Pohl wants the homes near good bus service.
Tips: Read Ostrowski, Pargeter, Opoku and Pohl again. The right option must be true of the article as a whole, after every quote.
Why the other options are wrong:
- the old pipes cannot take any new homes at all: Pargeter only asks for the pipes to be checked. He would accept duplexes now.
- council has already passed the change: Council has not voted yet. The vote is still to come.
- tenants support the change, but planners oppose it: Ostrowski and Pohl are planners, and neither opposes new homes.
Correct Answer: three thousand
Passage Reference: the change could add about three thousand homes over the next decade
Why this is correct: City staff say the change could add about three thousand homes over the next decade.
Tips: The commenter needs the number of homes staff expect. Do not confuse it with the number of people at the hearing.
Why the other options are wrong:
- two thousand: Staff expect a little more than this.
- four thousand: Staff expect a little less than this.
- five thousand: Staff expect far fewer homes than this.
Correct Answer: pre-approved building plans
Passage Reference: She wants the city to publish a set of free, pre-approved building plans that any owner could use.
Why this is correct: Ostrowski wants the city to publish a set of free, pre-approved building plans that any owner could use.
Tips: The commenter means the city planner. Find what she hopes owners will be given for free.
Why the other options are wrong:
- lists of trusted builders: Ostrowski does not mention lists of builders.
- step-by-step permit guides: Permit guides are not mentioned in the article.
- free design booklets: Design booklets are not mentioned in the article.
Correct Answer: half as many
Passage Reference: Our sewer pipes were laid when these streets had half as many people
Why this is correct: Pargeter says the sewer pipes were laid when the streets had half as many people.
Tips: The commenter means the residents’ president. Find how he compares the streets then and now.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a third as many: Pargeter gives a bigger share than this.
- a quarter as many: Pargeter gives a bigger share than this.
- two thirds as many: Pargeter gives a smaller share than this.
Correct Answer: fifteen years
Passage Reference: She wants one unit in each fourplex to rent below the local average for at least fifteen years.
Why this is correct: Opoku wants one unit in each fourplex to rent below the local average for at least fifteen years.
Tips: The commenter means the tenant lawyer. Find how long she wants the lower rent to last.
Why the other options are wrong:
- ten years: Opoku asks for a longer time than this.
- twenty years: Opoku asks for a shorter time than this.
- thirty years: Opoku asks for a much shorter time than this.
Correct Answer: ten minutes
Passage Reference: Put them where the buses already run every ten minutes
Why this is correct: Pohl wants the new homes where the buses already run every ten minutes.
Tips: The commenter’s bus matches the transit planner’s idea of good service. Find how often he says those buses run.
Why the other options are wrong:
- eight minutes: Pohl does not say this. Pohl’s figure is longer.
- twelve minutes: Pohl does not say this. Pohl’s figure is shorter.
- twenty minutes: Pohl does not say this. Pohl’s figure is shorter.
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