Read the following article from a website.
Canada’s negotiators will head to the next round of talks on a global plastics treaty in the spring, and a public consultation in Ucluelet last week showed how hard their job will be. The federal environment department asked residents of the West Coast town whether Canada should push for firm limits on how much new plastic is made each year, or start with softer rules on recycling and design. The community hall was full for the evening, with about 120 people in the seats.
Professor Ewart Thorne, who studies ocean life at a university in Victoria, told the crowd that recycling rules alone will not be enough. “Every summer, volunteers here pull more plastic off the beaches than the year before,” he said. “As long as new plastic stays cheap, companies have no reason to design anything better. A firm cap is the only signal they will listen to.” Thorne believes the change does not need to be sudden. “We could phase it in over ten years, so nobody is caught by surprise,” he added.
Graciela Soto, who runs a company in Nanaimo that makes packaging for fresh fish and meat, says she fears that a sudden cap could do real harm. “Our plastic wrap keeps food safe on long trips across the country,” Soto said. “If it disappears before something else is ready, more food will spoil on the road, and grocery prices will go up for everyone.” Soto would rather see rules that require more recycled material in packaging first.
Dmitri Szymanski, who advises a union at two plastics plants in Ontario, says the workers there are not against a treaty. “My members simply want to know what happens to their jobs,” he said. “Put a retraining fund in place before the treaty is signed, and you will have their support.” Councillor Maeve Tierney, who represents a fishing village near Tofino, wants proof that any deal is working. “We need a public report every year showing how much new plastic was made,” Tierney said. “Without numbers, a promise is just a promise,” she added.
Using the drop-down menu (▾), choose the best option according to the information given on the website.
The reporter presents the decision as 2..
Maeve Tierney would likely say that trust in a plastics deal 3..
Ewart Thorne believes that a firm cap would lead to 4..
Paragraph four mainly sets out 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 debate over limiting how much new plastic is made
Why this is correct: The consultation asked whether Canada should push for firm limits on new plastic. Every speaker gives a view on that question.
Passage Reference: whether Canada should push for firm limits on how much new plastic is made each year
Tips: Pick the subject that every quoted speaker keeps returning to, and drop any option the article mentions only in passing.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a plan to rebuild a hall in a coastal town: The community hall is only where the meeting took place. Nobody plans to rebuild it.
- a program that pays volunteers to clean beaches: Thorne mentions beach volunteers as an example. No paid program is described.
- a new factory that makes food packaging: Soto already runs a packaging company. The article does not describe a new factory.
Correct Answer: a hard choice for Canada’s negotiators
Passage Reference: a public consultation in Ucluelet last week showed how hard their job will be
Why this is correct: The reporter says the consultation in Ucluelet showed how hard the negotiators’ job will be. So the choice is presented as a difficult one.
Tips: Read the sentences that sit outside quotation marks. Then test each option against what those sentences say, leaving the speakers’ quotes aside.
Why the other options are wrong:
- an easy win for the packaging industry: The reporter never says any industry will win.
- a matter already settled by the town: The town only gave views. Nothing was settled there.
- a waste of the federal government’s time: The reporter treats the question seriously.
Correct Answer: has to be earned with clear results
Passage Reference: Without numbers, a promise is just a promise
Why this is correct: Tierney wants a public report every year on how much new plastic was made. She says that without numbers, a promise is just a promise.
Tips: Go over what Tierney says, word by word. Keep only the option that Tierney’s own lines lead to, and drop ideas from other speakers.
Why the other options are wrong:
- comes from signing it as soon as possible: Tierney does not ask for speed. She asks for proof.
- depends on how many countries sign it: Tierney never talks about how many countries sign.
- depends mostly on what fishers think of it: Tierney represents a fishing village, but she asks only for yearly figures.
Correct Answer: makers working harder on better designs
Passage Reference: As long as new plastic stays cheap, companies have no reason to design anything better.
Why this is correct: Thorne says companies have no reason to design anything better while new plastic stays cheap. A firm cap is the signal they will listen to.
Tips: Read what Thorne tells the crowd. Keep the outcome Thorne himself expects, and cross out any that someone else predicts or nobody predicts.
Why the other options are wrong:
- families paying more for food: Higher food prices are Soto’s fear, not Thorne’s.
- fewer people cleaning the beaches: Thorne mentions beach volunteers, but he never says fewer people would clean.
- factories closing within a year: Thorne wants the cap phased in so that nobody is caught by surprise.
Correct Answer: calls for job help and public reports
Passage Reference: Put a retraining fund in place before the treaty is signed, and you will have their support.
Why this is correct: Paragraph four gives Szymanski’s call for a retraining fund for plant workers and Tierney’s call for a yearly public report.
Tips: Go over “Paragraph four” once more and ask what job it does in the story. Pick the option that names that job, not something from another part.
Why the other options are wrong:
- the case for a firm cap on new production: The case for a firm cap belongs to Thorne, not to paragraph four.
- one business owner’s worries about a quick cap: Soto’s worries about a sudden cap come before paragraph four.
- how the meeting in the hall was run: The meeting itself is described at the start of the article.
Correct Answer: about 120
Passage Reference: The community hall was full for the evening, with about 120 people in the seats.
Why this is correct: The article says about 120 people filled the community hall.
Tips: You need the size of the crowd. Find where the article describes the meeting night.
Why the other options are wrong:
- about 40: The crowd in the article was much bigger than 40.
- about 80: This number is not in the article. The crowd was larger.
- about 200: This number is not in the article. The crowd was smaller.
Correct Answer: ten years
Passage Reference: We could phase it in over ten years, so nobody is caught by surprise
Why this is correct: Thorne says the cap could be phased in over ten years, so the full limit would take ten years to arrive.
Tips: The commenter means the ocean scientist. Find how slowly he says the limit could start.
Why the other options are wrong:
- two years: Two years is not in the article. Thorne wants a slower change than that.
- five years: Five years is not in the article.
- twenty years: Twenty years is not in the article. Thorne’s period is shorter.
Correct Answer: Nanaimo
Passage Reference: Graciela Soto, who runs a company in Nanaimo that makes packaging for fresh fish and meat
Why this is correct: Soto runs a company in Nanaimo that makes packaging for fresh fish and meat.
Tips: Several places are named in the article. Check which one belongs to the packaging maker’s business.
Why the other options are wrong:
- Victoria: Victoria is where Thorne’s university is, not Soto’s company.
- Tofino: Tofino is near Tierney’s fishing village. Soto’s company is somewhere else.
- Kamloops: Kamloops is not mentioned in the article.
Correct Answer: recycled
Passage Reference: Soto would rather see rules that require more recycled material in packaging first.
Why this is correct: Soto would rather see rules that require more recycled material in packaging first.
Tips: The commenter is describing the packaging maker’s preferred first step. Find what kind of material she wants rules about.
Why the other options are wrong:
- plant-based: Soto does not mention plant-based material.
- Canadian-made: Soto does not say where the material should come from.
- compostable: Compostable material is not mentioned in the article.
Correct Answer: two
Passage Reference: Dmitri Szymanski, who advises a union at two plastics plants in Ontario
Why this is correct: Szymanski advises a union at two plastics plants in Ontario.
Tips: Here you need a count of workplaces. Find how the article introduces the union adviser.
Why the other options are wrong:
- three: The article gives a smaller number of plants.
- four: Four is not in the article.
- six: Six is not in the article. The number of plants is smaller.
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