Read the following article from a website.
Fruit and vegetable growers want Ottawa to raise the yearly limit on seasonal farm workers before next season. Growers say they were short about five thousand pickers this summer, and some orchards simply left fruit hanging on the trees. A federal committee is holding hearings this month, and several towns that host the crews have asked to be heard before any new number is set.
Hemalatha Reddy, an agricultural economist at a university in Guelph, says the shortage reaches every kitchen. “When apples rot on the branch, families pay for it at the grocery checkout,” she said. “Growers cannot plan a season if they do not know whether their crews will arrive in May or in July.” Reddy wants the limit raised and visas processed within six weeks, “but only for farms that have already booked inspected housing.”
Councillor Fintan Rourke, who represents a small town in the Niagara region, accepts that farms need the help, but he says towns like his carry the costs. “Our clinic has two doctors, and our only bus runs twice a day,” Rourke said. “Bring in four hundred more workers with nowhere to sleep, and they end up crowded into every spare basement in town.” He wants Ottawa to share the cost of any new housing and to tell host towns the numbers by January.
Clotilde Rioux, a public-health nurse in the Okanagan, sees the workers after they arrive. “Every summer I treat workers who share one small trailer between six people, with mould climbing the walls,” she said. “The clinic money has to come before the extra workers do, not two years later,” Rioux added. Ignacio Quiroga, who advises migrant workers, says more visas must come with more rights. “Many of these workers are afraid to report stolen wages, because the boss decides who comes back next year,” Quiroga said. “If they can complain without their names attached, far more of them will speak up. And they need a real chance to stay in Canada for good,” he added.
Using the drop-down menu (▾), choose the best option according to the information given on the website.
The author presents the proposal as 2..
Paragraph three mainly describes 3..
At present, Clotilde Rioux sees 4..
According to Quiroga, many workers keep quiet about stolen wages because 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 proposal to bring in more seasonal farm workers
Why this is correct: Growers want Ottawa to raise the yearly limit on seasonal farm workers. Every speaker reacts to that request.
Passage Reference: Fruit and vegetable growers want Ottawa to raise the yearly limit on seasonal farm workers before next season.
Tips: Each wrong option here twists one detail from a single speaker. Choose the issue that every speaker, from the economist to the adviser, is responding to.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a plan to open new schools in farm towns: Schools are never mentioned. The towns’ worries are about clinics, buses and beds.
- a drop in grocery prices this season: Reddy says shortages make families pay more. No drop in prices is reported.
- a study of fruit rotting in storage: Fruit was left hanging on the trees. The article does not describe any study of storage.
Correct Answer: one that reaches beyond the farms themselves
Passage Reference: several towns that host the crews have asked to be heard before any new number is set
Why this is correct: Outside the quotes, the reporter says several host towns have asked to be heard before any new number is set.
Tips: Read only the reporter’s own sentences, not the quotes. Ask which option they show, and drop any that gives the reporter an opinion.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a simple question of fruit prices: Prices are one point. Towns, housing and workers’ rights also come up.
- a demand the author firmly rejects: The reporter only reports views and never gives an opinion.
- a matter Ottawa has already settled: A federal committee is still holding hearings this month.
Correct Answer: a local councillor’s view of the costs
Passage Reference: accepts that farms need the help, but he says towns like his carry the costs
Why this is correct: “Paragraph three” quotes Rourke, a councillor in a small town. He accepts that farms need help, but says towns like his carry the costs.
Tips: Ask yourself what “Paragraph three” is there to do in the report. Pick the option that names that purpose.
Why the other options are wrong:
- an economist’s case for faster visas: Reddy makes this case before “Paragraph three”.
- an adviser’s call for workers’ rights: Quiroga asks for rights at the end of the article.
- the shortage growers faced this season: The shortage opens the article, before “Paragraph three”.
Correct Answer: workers living in crowded and unhealthy homes
Passage Reference: Every summer I treat workers who share one small trailer between six people, with mould climbing the walls
Why this is correct: Rioux says that every summer she treats workers who share one small trailer, with mould climbing the walls.
Tips: Read every line about Rioux, her own and the reporter’s. Keep the option those lines show, and drop any that another speaker says.
Why the other options are wrong:
- families paying more at the grocery checkout: Reddy talks about grocery prices. Rioux talks about the workers she treats.
- crews arriving late in the summer: Reddy says growers do not know when crews will arrive. Rioux does not.
- workers reporting stolen wages to her: Quiroga says workers are afraid to report stolen wages. Rioux never mentions wages.
Correct Answer: their employer controls whether they come back
Passage Reference: Many of these workers are afraid to report stolen wages, because the boss decides who comes back next year
Why this is correct: Quiroga says many workers are afraid to report stolen wages, because the boss decides who comes back next year.
Tips: Read Quiroga’s quoted sentences. Choose the option that matches one of his sentences, and reject anything he does not say.
Why the other options are wrong:
- they do not speak English well: Quiroga never talks about language.
- they fear losing their housing: Housing comes up in other speakers’ views, not as a reason for silence.
- they plan to stay in Canada for good: Quiroga says workers need a real chance to stay. That is not why they keep quiet.
Correct Answer: five thousand
Passage Reference: Growers say they were short about five thousand pickers this summer
Why this is correct: Growers say they were short about five thousand pickers this summer.
Tips: Find the figure for how many people the growers were missing. Read its size carefully.
Why the other options are wrong:
- five hundred: Growers were missing far more pickers than this.
- fifteen hundred: Fifteen hundred is never mentioned.
- fifty thousand: This is ten times the shortage the growers describe.
Correct Answer: six weeks
Passage Reference: Reddy wants the limit raised and visas processed within six weeks
Why this is correct: Reddy wants visas processed within six weeks.
Tips: The commenter is talking about the economist’s demand for visas. Find the time limit she sets.
Why the other options are wrong:
- two weeks: Reddy gives a longer time than two weeks.
- three weeks: Reddy gives a longer time than this.
- one month: Reddy gives a longer time than this.
Correct Answer: inspected
Passage Reference: but only for farms that have already booked inspected housing.
Why this is correct: Reddy wants workers only for farms that have already booked inspected housing.
Tips: Look at the economist’s condition for farms. Notice the word she uses to describe the housing.
Why the other options are wrong:
- private: Reddy does not ask for private housing.
- heated: Reddy does not mention heating.
- furnished: Reddy says nothing about furniture.
Correct Answer: clinic money
Passage Reference: The clinic money has to come before the extra workers do, not two years later
Why this is correct: Rioux says the clinic money has to come before the extra workers do, not two years later.
Tips: The commenter is repeating the nurse’s condition. Find what she says must be in place ahead of the workers.
Why the other options are wrong:
- hospital beds: Rioux does not ask for hospital beds. The nurse wants funding for the clinic.
- more nurses: Rioux does not ask for extra nurses to be hired.
- medical supplies: Supplies are not mentioned in the article.
Correct Answer: twice
Passage Reference: Our clinic has two doctors, and our only bus runs twice a day
Why this is correct: Rourke says his town’s only bus runs twice a day, to show how little the town has to offer a large crew.
Tips: The councillor describes what his small town can offer a large crew. Find the detail about transport and read the number attached to it.
Why the other options are wrong:
- once: The councillor says the bus runs more often than once a day.
- three times: Three times is not in the article. The councillor gives a smaller number.
- four times: Four hundred is the number of workers the councillor imagines arriving. The bus figure is lower.
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