Read the following article from a website.
Winnipeg wants to replace its diesel buses with battery-electric ones over the next ten years, but rebuilding the city’s four bus garages may cost more than the buses themselves. Council will vote in June on a schedule that decides which garage, and which neighbourhood, goes first. More than two hundred residents filled a community centre on Tuesday to hear the plan and ask questions.
Nasrin Rahman, who directs the city’s clean fleet plan, wants to start with the garages that serve the busiest routes. “Every weekday at five in the morning, dozens of diesel engines warm up at once beside people’s bedrooms,” she said. “Our air monitors near two garages show pollution jumping every time the shifts change.” Rahman also wants the full ten-year schedule made public, “so every neighbourhood knows when its turn is coming.” She says the two busiest garages could be rebuilt within four years.
Jaroslaw Rekowski, a budget analyst with the city, supports the goal but warns against moving too fast. “If we pour everything into chargers in one year, something else gets cut, and it is usually the Sunday and late-night service,” Rekowski said. “The people who ride at those hours often have no other way to get to work.” He would spread the cost evenly over the decade and keep every route running while the work is done.
Halyna Rusnak, an engineer with the power utility, says the electrical side of the plan gets far too little attention. “Every battery bus in one garage, plugged in at night, draws about as much power as a small town,” she said. “If the city orders buses before we upgrade the local substation, they will sit in the yard with nowhere to charge,” Rusnak added. Euan Quinlan, a mechanic and union steward, worries about winter. “Batteries lose range in deep cold, so on the worst days of January we will need spare buses on the road,” he said. “My crews also need paid training before the new buses arrive. Nobody should learn battery repair from a video,” Quinlan said.
Using the drop-down menu (▾), choose the best option according to the information given on the website.
Jaroslaw Rekowski warns that spending everything on chargers in one year would lead to 2..
At present, Nasrin Rahman sees 3..
Each of the people quoted seems to agree that the new buses 4..
This article would most likely be published in 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 plan to switch city buses to battery power
Why this is correct: Winnipeg wants to replace its diesel buses with battery-electric ones. All four speakers talk about how to do that.
Passage Reference: Winnipeg wants to replace its diesel buses with battery-electric ones over the next ten years
Tips: Some options take a worry from one speaker and treat it as the whole story. The topic is the change that all four speakers are reacting to.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a proposal to cut late-night bus routes: Late-night service comes up only in Rekowski’s warning. Nobody proposes cutting it.
- a strike by transit mechanics over pay: Quinlan asks for training, but no strike over pay is mentioned.
- a new power plant for the city: Rusnak talks about upgrading a substation, not building a power plant.
Correct Answer: cuts to Sunday and late-night service
Passage Reference: If we pour everything into chargers in one year, something else gets cut, and it is usually the Sunday and late-night service
Why this is correct: Rekowski says that if the city pours everything into chargers in one year, something else gets cut. It is usually the Sunday and late-night service.
Tips: Find the sentence where Rekowski gives the same condition as the item line, and read it to the end. Drop any outcome that another speaker names.
Why the other options are wrong:
- higher fares for every rider: Nobody in the article talks about fares.
- buses with nowhere to charge at night: Rusnak warns about this if the substation is not upgraded. Rekowski does not.
- spare buses needed in deep cold: Quinlan talks about cold weather. Rekowski talks about the budget.
Correct Answer: pollution rising whenever shifts change
Passage Reference: Our air monitors near two garages show pollution jumping every time the shifts change.
Why this is correct: Rahman says the city’s air monitors near two garages show pollution jumping every time the shifts change.
Tips: Read every line about Rahman, hers and the reporter’s. Test each option against those lines, and rule out any that belongs to someone else.
Why the other options are wrong:
- buses losing range on cold days: Quinlan says batteries lose range in deep cold. Rahman does not.
- a substation that cannot charge the buses: Rusnak talks about the substation. Rahman does not.
- riders who depend on late-night trips: Rekowski talks about people who ride at night. Rahman does not.
Correct Answer: should come with careful planning
Passage Reference: so every neighbourhood knows when its turn is coming ... supports the goal but warns against moving too fast ... If the city orders buses before we upgrade the local substation, they will sit in the yard with nowhere to charge ... on the worst days of January we will need spare buses on the road
Why this is correct: Rahman wants the schedule public, and Rekowski warns against moving too fast. Rusnak wants the substation upgraded first, and Quinlan wants spare buses for January.
Tips: Check each option against Rahman, Rekowski, Rusnak and Quinlan one at a time. Accept it only if each person’s own words show it.
Why the other options are wrong:
- should be run by a private company: Nobody talks about who should run the buses.
- should be bought from a local factory: Nobody says where the buses should be made.
- should carry fewer seats than diesel buses: Nobody talks about the number of seats on the buses.
Correct Answer: a news site in the city
Passage Reference: Council will vote in June on a schedule that decides which garage, and which neighbourhood, goes first.
Why this is correct: It reports a Winnipeg council vote and what city staff and workers think. A local news site would print it.
Tips: Think about the article as a whole. Then ask which of these places would print this text just as it is.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a car dealer’s sales flyer: Nothing is for sale here. It reports a debate about city buses.
- a guide to repairing electric cars: Quinlan mentions battery repair, but the article gives no repair steps.
- a national weather report for farmers: Cold weather comes up once. The article is about one city’s bus plan.
Correct Answer: two hundred
Passage Reference: More than two hundred residents filled a community centre on Tuesday
Why this is correct: More than two hundred residents filled a community centre on Tuesday to hear the plan.
Tips: The commenter went to a meeting. Find how many residents the article says came.
Why the other options are wrong:
- fifty: The article gives a much bigger crowd than fifty.
- five hundred: The article says more than two hundred, not five hundred.
- a thousand: A thousand is not the figure the article gives for the meeting.
Correct Answer: five in the morning
Passage Reference: Every weekday at five in the morning, dozens of diesel engines warm up at once beside people’s bedrooms
Why this is correct: Rahman says that every weekday at five in the morning, dozens of diesel engines warm up at once.
Tips: Several hours are possible here. Find the exact time the fleet director says the diesel motors start.
Why the other options are wrong:
- four in the morning: Rahman gives a later hour than four.
- six in the morning: Rahman gives an earlier hour than six.
- seven in the morning: Seven is not the hour Rahman gives. Her hour is earlier.
Correct Answer: four years
Passage Reference: She says the two busiest garages could be rebuilt within four years.
Why this is correct: Rahman says the two busiest garages could be rebuilt within four years.
Tips: Two lengths of time appear in the article. Decide which one belongs to the busiest garages only.
Why the other options are wrong:
- one year: One year is Rekowski’s example of moving too fast, not Rahman’s timeline for the garages.
- two years: Rahman gives a longer time than two years.
- three years: Rahman gives a longer time than this.
Correct Answer: evenly over the decade
Passage Reference: He would spread the cost evenly over the decade and keep every route running while the work is done.
Why this is correct: Rekowski would spread the cost evenly over the decade instead of paying for everything at once.
Tips: The analyst both warns against one way of paying and recommends another. Make sure you take the way he recommends, not the way he criticizes.
Why the other options are wrong:
- over a single year: Spending everything in one year is what Rekowski warns against.
- between the city and province: Rekowski says nothing about sharing costs with the province.
- across two budgets: Rekowski does not mention two budgets.
Correct Answer: paid training
Passage Reference: My crews also need paid training before the new buses arrive.
Why this is correct: Quinlan says his crews need paid training before the new buses arrive.
Tips: The commenter is repeating the mechanic’s request. Find what he says his crews need ahead of the arrival of the fleet.
Why the other options are wrong:
- special tools: Quinlan does not ask for tools.
- safety gear: Safety gear is not mentioned in the article.
- more mechanics: Quinlan does not ask for more mechanics.
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