Read the following article from a website.
British Columbia is preparing rules that would let home insurers set prices house by house, based on each home’s wildfire risk. Today most insurers charge similar rates across whole regions. In some forested areas near Kelowna, owners say their renewal notices have already doubled, and the province expects to publish the final rules in the spring. Insurers, town councils, lenders and firefighters have all sent in their views.
Daphne Okeke, an insurance economist, says honest prices protect homes faster than any public campaign. “A price that matches the real risk tells owners exactly what to fix,” Okeke said. “Nobody likes a higher bill, but a vague bill helps nobody. When owners see that a cedar roof adds hundreds of dollars a year, they replace it.” She also wants the public hazard maps updated every year, so owners can see why their price changed.
Mayor Gunther Pavlik of a lakeside town near Kelowna sees a different danger. “Most of our residents are retired and live on fixed incomes,” Pavlik said. “If prices jump overnight, they will sell. And when homes stop selling, the taxes that pay for our volunteer firefighters disappear.” He says he could live with modest increases spread over several years. Yolanda Ostler, who oversees mortgage lending for a credit union, says she worries about the banks. “If nobody stands behind the insurers, banks will quietly stop lending in the riskiest areas,” Ostler said. “Then nobody can buy or sell a home there at all.” She supports pricing by risk only after the province sets up a temporary safety net for insurers.
Sten Ohman, the regional fire chief, says the debate is missing the most important part. “Prices alone will not make a single home safer,” Ohman said. “Most of the houses we lost last summer had dry brush right up against the walls. Give owners grants to clear brush and replace roofs. Then give a safer home its discount within a month of inspection,” he added.
Using the drop-down menu (▾), choose the best option according to the information given on the website.
Overall, the article suggests that 2..
This article was most likely written for 3..
Gunther Pavlik fears that prices jumping overnight would lead to 4..
Most likely, Sten Ohman has 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: pricing home coverage by each house’s fire risk
Why this is correct: The province is preparing rules that let insurers set prices house by house, based on wildfire risk. All four speakers react to those rules.
Passage Reference: British Columbia is preparing rules that would let home insurers set prices house by house, based on each home’s wildfire risk.
Tips: Check each option against what Okeke, Pavlik, Ostler and Ohman say. Choose the option that each of them has something to say about.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a plan to build homes away from forests: Nobody plans where new homes should be built.
- a new volunteer fire department: Pavlik’s town already has volunteer firefighters. No new department is planned.
- lower property taxes for lakeside towns: Pavlik talks about taxes for firefighters, but no tax cut is proposed.
Correct Answer: the change touches far more than what owners pay
Passage Reference: Insurers, town councils, lenders and firefighters have all sent in their views. ... the taxes that pay for our volunteer firefighters disappear ... banks will quietly stop lending in the riskiest areas
Why this is correct: Pavlik links prices to town taxes, Ostler to bank lending, and Ohman to safer homes. Insurers, councils, lenders and firefighters all sent views.
Tips: Look across the quotes from Okeke, Pavlik, Ostler and Ohman. The right option describes the whole report, so drop any that only one person or nobody says.
Why the other options are wrong:
- owners near Kelowna will pay less next season: Owners say their renewal notices have gone up, not down.
- the province has dropped its new rules: The province expects to publish the final rules in the spring.
- insurers already charge each house a different price: Today most insurers charge similar rates across whole regions.
Correct Answer: people who own homes in the province
Passage Reference: British Columbia is preparing rules that would let home insurers set prices house by house
Why this is correct: It explains rules that would change what owners in British Columbia pay for home insurance. Those owners are its readers.
Tips: Look at the article as a whole. Then decide which of these readers would find this text useful exactly as it is.
Why the other options are wrong:
- firefighters learning to fight forest fires: Ohman is a fire chief, but the article gives no lessons on fighting fires.
- buyers looking at homes in other countries: Every home in the report is near Kelowna, in British Columbia.
- students in a course on insurance maths: It reports views on new rules and does not teach how prices are worked out.
Correct Answer: less money for the town’s volunteer firefighters
Passage Reference: If prices jump overnight, they will sell. And when homes stop selling, the taxes that pay for our volunteer firefighters disappear.
Why this is correct: Pavlik says that if prices jump overnight, residents will sell. When homes stop selling, the taxes that pay for volunteer firefighters disappear.
Tips: Read Pavlik’s quotes from start to end. Keep the outcome he names himself, and set aside any that comes from another speaker.
Why the other options are wrong:
- banks refusing loans in the riskiest areas: Ostler warns about banks. Pavlik talks about his town’s taxes.
- owners replacing their cedar roofs: Okeke says owners replace roofs when they see the price. Pavlik does not.
- more dry brush right beside houses: Ohman talks about dry brush. Pavlik does not link prices to brush.
Correct Answer: looked closely at homes lost to fire
Passage Reference: Most of the houses we lost last summer had dry brush right up against the walls.
Why this is correct: Ohman says most of the houses lost last summer had dry brush right up against the walls. He could only know this by looking at them.
Tips: Read every line about Ohman, his own and the reporter’s. Keep the option those lines show, and drop any they never back up.
Why the other options are wrong:
- worked for an insurance company: Okeke studies insurance. Nothing says Ohman ever worked for an insurer.
- helped write the new pricing rules: The province is preparing the rules. Ohman says the debate misses something.
- lent money to buyers near Kelowna: Ostler oversees lending. Ohman does not talk about loans.
Correct Answer: doubled
Passage Reference: owners say their renewal notices have already doubled
Why this is correct: Owners near Kelowna say their renewal notices have already doubled.
Tips: The commenter repeats what owners near the city say. Find how much their notices have changed.
Why the other options are wrong:
- tripled: The article gives a smaller rise than this.
- quadrupled: The article gives a much smaller rise than this.
- halved: The article says prices went up, not down.
Correct Answer: every year
Passage Reference: She also wants the public hazard maps updated every year
Why this is correct: Okeke wants the public hazard maps updated every year, so owners can see why their price changed.
Tips: Look at what the economist asks for. Find how often she wants the maps changed.
Why the other options are wrong:
- every two years: Okeke asks for updates more often than this.
- every five years: Okeke asks for updates more often than this.
- every ten years: Okeke asks for updates much more often than this.
Correct Answer: fixed incomes
Passage Reference: Most of our residents are retired and live on fixed incomes
Why this is correct: Pavlik says most of his town’s residents are retired and live on fixed incomes.
Tips: This blank is about the mayor’s residents. Find how he describes them, and check the words he uses.
Why the other options are wrong:
- low incomes: Pavlik says fixed incomes, which means income that does not rise. Pavlik does not say the incomes are low.
- single incomes: The article does not talk about households with one income.
- seasonal incomes: Seasonal work is not mentioned in the article.
Correct Answer: a temporary safety net
Passage Reference: She supports pricing by risk only after the province sets up a temporary safety net for insurers.
Why this is correct: Ostler supports pricing by risk only after the province sets up a temporary safety net for insurers.
Tips: Ostler is the credit union official. The sentence that follows her quotes tells you what she wants in place first, so take the gap words from it.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a price freeze: Ostler does not ask for prices to be frozen. Ostler accepts pricing by risk under one condition.
- new hazard maps: Updated maps are what Okeke wants, not Ostler.
- a new fire station: No new fire station is mentioned in the article.
Correct Answer: a month
Passage Reference: Then give a safer home its discount within a month of inspection
Why this is correct: Ohman wants a safer home to get its discount within a month of inspection.
Tips: The commenter means the fire chief. Find how quickly he wants the discount to follow an inspection.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a week: Ohman gives a longer time than this.
- two weeks: Ohman gives a longer time than this.
- ten days: Ohman gives a longer time than this.
The rest of this explanation is for members. Sign in free to read why the other options are wrong, key words and tips.
Sign in to read the full explanation