Read the following article from a website.
Saint John city council will vote in October on a daily cap for cruise ship visits. On the busiest days last summer, three ships tied up at once and more than eight thousand passengers came ashore before lunch. Lineups for public washrooms stretched down the boardwalk, and buses to the old town were full by nine o’clock. The cap would allow no more than two large ships in port on any one day.
Imre Ostrom, who directs the regional tourism board, supports a cap built around timed arrivals. “Ports that space out arrivals see each visitor spend more, with only a small drop in total visitors,” Ostrom said. “A crowd that cannot find a washroom does not stop to buy anything. Nobody comes back to a town that felt like a crowded airport.” He wants the daily limit tied to what the downtown can handle, from washrooms to buses.
Ione Paxton, a harbour pilot with twenty years on the water, says she thinks first about the channel. “Two big ships trying to turn in our channel on one tide is the moment that keeps me awake,” Paxton said. “Safety should set the schedule, and berth fees should come second. Fog makes it worse. Some mornings we cannot see the far shore.” Chidi Okorie, who leads the downtown business association, doubts that a cap alone will help his members. “When the cruise lines sell their own tours, passengers ride non-stop buses out of town and spend almost nothing on our main street,” Okorie said. “If the city caps ships but not those tours, our shops will be no better off,” he added.
Oonagh Pendergast, a marine biologist, says the harbour’s whales have been left out of the debate. “Whales feed by sound. When three engines run past them at once, they stop feeding and leave,” Pendergast said. She wants quiet hours in the feeding zone, and she wants the ships’ wastewater records checked before the busy season begins.
Using the drop-down menu (▾), choose the best option according to the information given on the website.
The readers this article is most likely written for are 2..
Most likely, Ione Paxton feels 3..
Paragraph two mainly presents 4..
According to Pendergast, the harbour’s whales 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 daily limit on cruise ship visits
Why this is correct: Council will vote on a daily cap for cruise ship visits. All four speakers talk about how that cap should work.
Passage Reference: Saint John city council will vote in October on a daily cap for cruise ship visits.
Tips: Work out what council is being asked to approve. The right choice names it plainly, without the reasons for or against.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a new boardwalk along the harbour: The boardwalk already exists. Nobody plans a new one.
- a ban on whale-watching boats in the bay: Pendergast talks about whales, but nobody wants to ban whale-watching.
- higher bus fares to the old town: Buses are mentioned as crowded, but fares are not discussed.
Correct Answer: people who live and work in the city
Passage Reference: Saint John city council will vote in October on a daily cap for cruise ship visits.
Why this is correct: The article reports a vote by Saint John city council and what local people think about it. People in the city are its readers.
Tips: Think about where a report like this would be read. Keep the readers who would want this exact text, and drop the others.
Why the other options are wrong:
- ship captains learning to steer in fog: Paxton mentions fog, but the article teaches nobody how to steer.
- travellers choosing a cruise holiday: The article reports a council vote. It does not help anyone choose a cruise.
- scientists who study how whales feed: Whales come up in one view only. The article is a local news report.
Correct Answer: most tense when large ships arrive together
Passage Reference: Two big ships trying to turn in our channel on one tide is the moment that keeps me awake
Why this is correct: Paxton says two big ships turning in the channel on one tide is what keeps her awake. That moment makes her most tense.
Tips: Read Paxton’s quoted sentences. Keep the option her words point to, and rule out any that belongs to another speaker or to no one.
Why the other options are wrong:
- glad to see more ships every summer: Paxton talks about danger in the channel. She never says she wants more ships.
- sure that berth fees should come first: Paxton says safety should set the schedule and berth fees should come second.
- upset about the whales in the harbour: Pendergast talks about the whales. Paxton talks about the channel and fog.
Correct Answer: a tourism leader’s case for spacing out arrivals
Passage Reference: supports a cap built around timed arrivals
Why this is correct: “Paragraph two” quotes Ostrom, who directs the tourism board. He supports a cap built around timed arrivals and explains why.
Tips: Go back to “Paragraph two” and decide what job its sentences do. Test each option against that job, not against lines from elsewhere.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a business leader’s doubts about the cap: Okorie doubts the cap, but he is quoted after “Paragraph two”.
- a scientist’s call to protect feeding whales: Pendergast speaks about the whales at the end of the article.
- the crowds and lineups of last summer: The crowds and lineups open the article. They are not the job of “Paragraph two”.
Correct Answer: stop feeding when many engines pass at once
Passage Reference: Whales feed by sound. When three engines run past them at once, they stop feeding and leave
Why this is correct: Pendergast says whales feed by sound. When three engines run past them at once, they stop feeding and leave.
Tips: Stay with Pendergast’s own words. An option only counts if her sentences say it, not someone else’s.
Why the other options are wrong:
- have already left the harbour for good: Pendergast says the whales leave when engines pass. She does not say they are gone for good.
- are safest on the foggy mornings: Paxton talks about fog. Pendergast never links fog to the whales.
- feed close to the cruise ship berths: Pendergast talks about a feeding zone, not the berths.
Correct Answer: eight thousand
Passage Reference: more than eight thousand passengers came ashore before lunch
Why this is correct: On the busiest days, more than eight thousand passengers came ashore before lunch.
Tips: The commenter needs a count of people. Check which number in the article is about passengers.
Why the other options are wrong:
- five thousand: The article gives a figure above eight thousand, so five thousand is far too low.
- six thousand: Six thousand is well below the number the article reports.
- ten thousand: The article says more than eight thousand, and it never gives ten thousand.
Correct Answer: a washroom
Passage Reference: A crowd that cannot find a washroom does not stop to buy anything.
Why this is correct: Ostrom says a crowd that cannot find a washroom does not stop to buy anything.
Tips: The commenter repeats the tourism director’s words. Find what he says a crowd needs before it will shop.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a bench: Benches are not mentioned in the article.
- a bus stop: Buses are mentioned, but Ostrom does not say the crowd cannot find a bus stop.
- a cash machine: Cash machines are not mentioned in the article.
Correct Answer: twenty years
Passage Reference: a harbour pilot with twenty years on the water
Why this is correct: Paxton is a harbour pilot with twenty years on the water.
Tips: The commenter trusts the pilot’s experience. Find how the article describes her time at work.
Why the other options are wrong:
- twelve years: Paxton has worked much longer than this.
- fifteen years: Paxton has worked longer than this.
- twenty-five years: Paxton has worked a little less than this.
Correct Answer: non-stop buses
Passage Reference: passengers ride non-stop buses out of town and spend almost nothing on our main street
Why this is correct: Okorie says passengers on the cruise lines’ tours ride non-stop buses out of town.
Tips: The commenter means the business leader. Find how he says passengers on the cruise lines’ tours leave town.
Why the other options are wrong:
- private vans: Okorie does not mention vans.
- tour trains: Trains are not mentioned in the article.
- rented cars: Rented cars are not mentioned in the article.
Correct Answer: wastewater records
Passage Reference: she wants the ships’ wastewater records checked before the busy season begins
Why this is correct: Pendergast wants the ships’ wastewater records checked before the busy season begins.
Tips: The commenter wants the city to check something before the season. Find the speaker who asks for the same check at the same time of year, and read the exact words used.
Why the other options are wrong:
- fuel records: Fuel is not mentioned in the article.
- safety records: Pendergast does not ask for safety records.
- cargo records: Cargo is not mentioned in the article.
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