Read the following article from a website.
Nova Scotia is considering a plan that would let grocery stores and corner shops sell beer and wine for the first time. The idea was first raised by a group of small grocers last spring. Today alcohol is sold only in about one hundred provincial liquor stores and a handful of private shops. A committee of the legislature is taking public comments this winter, and the government has said it will not make a decision before the summer.
Cordelia Ostergaard, a retail analyst, says the change is smaller than it sounds. “People already drive across town to buy a bottle of wine for dinner,” Ostergaard said. “Letting a careful grocer sell it next to the bread is not a revolution. Most adults just want one fewer trip in the car.” She points to places that capped the number of stores in each neighbourhood and saw no rise in teen drinking, and she wants every till to record a digital age check.
Augustine Prowse, an emergency physician in Halifax, strongly disagrees. “Every extra place to buy alcohol turns a weekend errand into an everyday habit,” Prowse said. “My emergency room sees the result on Saturday nights.” He also warns about where the new stores would open. “If the new licences cluster in poorer neighbourhoods, the treatment beds there will be overwhelmed within a year,” he said.
Ruthanne Oakes, who runs licensing for the Halifax region, says the plan forgets about the people who enforce the rules. “We have four inspectors for more than six hundred licensed businesses,” Oakes said. “Add hundreds of corner stores and nobody will ever check them. That is not a threat. It is simple arithmetic.” She would support a limited plan if the province paid for more inspectors first. Jerome Pelham, a community worker in north Dartmouth, says neighbours need a phone line where they can report noise and litter. “People should not have to call the police because a store is selling to teenagers,” Pelham said. “Give them a number they can actually reach,” he added.
Using the drop-down menu (▾), choose the best option according to the information given on the website.
Paragraph one mainly gives 2..
Augustine Prowse warns that new licences in poorer neighbourhoods would lead to 3..
According to Oakes, adding hundreds of corner stores 4..
The reporter presents the plan as 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: selling beer and wine in more stores
Why this is correct: Nova Scotia is considering letting grocery stores and corner shops sell beer and wine. Each speaker reacts to that plan.
Passage Reference: a plan that would let grocery stores and corner shops sell beer and wine for the first time
Tips: Decide what single change every speaker is reacting to. The best choice states that change without judging it.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a rise in teen drinking across the province: Ostergaard says places with store caps saw no rise in teen drinking. It is a detail, not the topic.
- new opening hours for provincial liquor stores: Liquor store hours are not discussed in the article.
- a shortage of staff at liquor stores: Nobody talks about staff at the liquor stores.
Correct Answer: the plan and the people who first raised it
Passage Reference: The idea was first raised by a group of small grocers last spring.
Why this is correct: “Paragraph one” describes the plan for grocery stores and corner shops. It also says a group of small grocers first raised the idea.
Tips: Go over the lines of “Paragraph one” and name their purpose in your own words. Choose the option that matches that purpose, not a detail found later.
Why the other options are wrong:
- an analyst’s view that the change is small: Ostergaard says this, but she is quoted after “Paragraph one”.
- a doctor’s warning about his emergency room: Prowse talks about his emergency room later in the article, not in “Paragraph one”.
- the cost of hiring more licence inspectors: Oakes wants more inspectors, but no one gives a cost, and she is not in “Paragraph one”.
Correct Answer: local treatment centres running out of room
Passage Reference: If the new licences cluster in poorer neighbourhoods, the treatment beds there will be overwhelmed within a year
Why this is correct: Prowse says that if the licences cluster in poorer neighbourhoods, the treatment beds there will be overwhelmed within a year.
Tips: Find the sentence where Prowse gives the same condition as the item line, and read the rest of it. Drop any option that another speaker says.
Why the other options are wrong:
- teenagers buying alcohol at corner stores: Pelham talks about stores selling to teenagers. Prowse does not predict this.
- shops that no inspector ever visits: Oakes warns that nobody will check the stores. This is her point, not Prowse’s.
- fewer trips across town by car: Ostergaard says adults want one fewer trip. Prowse never talks about car trips.
Correct Answer: would be more than her staff could inspect
Passage Reference: Add hundreds of corner stores and nobody will ever check them.
Why this is correct: Oakes says her office has very few inspectors for the businesses it covers. If many more stores are added, nobody will ever visit them.
Tips: Read Oakes’s quoted sentences closely. Test each option against her words, and rule out any idea that belongs to another speaker or to no one.
Why the other options are wrong:
- would raise teen drinking in the province: Oakes does not talk about teen drinking. Ostergaard says capped places saw no rise.
- would bring more noise and litter to streets: Pelham talks about noise and litter. Oakes talks about inspections.
- would save most adults a trip in the car: Ostergaard says this. Oakes does not talk about trips.
Correct Answer: a change that people see very differently
Passage Reference: Cordelia Ostergaard, a retail analyst, says the change is smaller than it sounds. ... Augustine Prowse, an emergency physician in Halifax, strongly disagrees.
Why this is correct: In the reporter’s own words, Ostergaard says the change is smaller than it sounds, and Prowse strongly disagrees. So people see it very differently.
Tips: Look past the quotes to the sentences the reporter writes alone. Check each option against what those sentences say.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a mistake the province should drop: The reporter only reports views and never says the plan should be dropped.
- a fix that shoppers have long wanted: Ostergaard says adults want fewer trips, but the reporter does not take her side.
- a joke that few people take seriously: A committee is taking public comments, and four people give serious views. Nothing treats the plan as a joke.
Correct Answer: about one hundred
Passage Reference: Today alcohol is sold only in about one hundred provincial liquor stores
Why this is correct: Today alcohol is sold only in about one hundred provincial liquor stores and a few private shops.
Tips: The commenter needs the number of liquor stores. Several numbers appear, so check what each one counts.
Why the other options are wrong:
- about seventy: The number in the article is bigger.
- about two hundred: The province has about half this many.
- about three hundred: The province has far fewer liquor stores than this.
Correct Answer: a digital age check
Passage Reference: she wants every till to record a digital age check
Why this is correct: Ostergaard wants every till to record a digital age check.
Tips: The commenter means the retail analyst. Find what she wants recorded each time someone buys alcohol.
Why the other options are wrong:
- the buyer’s address: Addresses are not mentioned in the article.
- the time of each sale: Ostergaard does not ask tills to record the time.
- the buyer’s full name: Names of buyers are not mentioned in the article.
Correct Answer: Saturday nights
Passage Reference: My emergency room sees the result on Saturday nights.
Why this is correct: Prowse says his emergency room sees the result on Saturday nights.
Tips: The commenter means the emergency doctor. Find when he says his hospital sees the harm.
Why the other options are wrong:
- Friday nights: Prowse names Saturday, not Friday.
- long weekends: Prowse does not mention long weekends.
- holiday evenings: Holidays are not mentioned in the article.
Correct Answer: winter
Passage Reference: A committee of the legislature is taking public comments this winter
Why this is correct: The article says a committee of the legislature is taking public comments this winter.
Tips: The commenter is talking about the committee’s schedule. Find when the article says the public can send in their views.
Why the other options are wrong:
- autumn: Autumn is not mentioned in the article.
- early spring: Last spring is when the grocers first raised the idea, not when comments are taken.
- late fall: The article never mentions the fall.
Correct Answer: the summer
Passage Reference: the government has said it will not make a decision before the summer
Why this is correct: The government has said it will not make a decision before the summer.
Tips: Several times of year appear in the article. Pick the one tied to the government’s decision, not to the comment period or to when the idea began.
Why the other options are wrong:
- the new year: The new year is not mentioned in the article.
- the spring: Last spring is when the grocers first raised the idea. It is not when the government will decide.
- the fall: Fall is not mentioned in the article.
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