Read the following article from a website.
Ottawa’s plan to widen national pharmacare has reached a difficult stage: deciding which drugs the public plan should pay for, and who should keep paying for the rest. A federal advisory panel will publish its draft list of covered medicines in the spring. At a public forum in Kingston last week, nearly three hundred people, many of them self-employed workers with no drug plan at all, lined up to speak.
Meenakshi Thornbury, a health economist at a university in Kingston, argues for a wide list that includes drugs for long-term conditions. “When a prescription costs more than about fifty dollars a month, people start skipping doses,” she said. “They save money this month and end up in the emergency room next month.” Thornbury also believes a single public plan would pay less. “One public buyer can bargain prices down in a way that thousands of small plans never could,” she added.
Aldous Sinnott, a benefits consultant who advises employers, warns against moving too fast. “Many workplace plans already pay for expensive specialty drugs that a new public list is unlikely to include for years,” Sinnott said. “If employers drop their plans early, the sickest patients could be left waiting in the gap.” He would have the public plan cover common essential medicines now, while employers keep paying for specialty drugs.
Rosalyn Sheard, who advises provincial health ministers on budgets, says the real question is money between governments. “Provinces will gladly sign on, but only if we know what Ottawa will pay ten years from now, not just next year,” she said. “Hospitals already pay when patients cannot afford their pills. We need a deal that lasts.” Florin Stavely, a graphic designer who pays for his own asthma inhalers, says the debate feels far from his kitchen table. “Every month I decide whether to buy the inhaler or fix the car,” Stavely said. “I do not care which government pays, as long as somebody does.”
Using the drop-down menu (▾), choose the best option according to the information given on the website.
Paragraph three mainly presents 2..
Meenakshi Thornbury’s position would likely be supported by 3..
Aldous Sinnott warns that employers dropping their plans early would lead to 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: which medicines a public drug plan should cover
Why this is correct: The plan has reached the stage of deciding which drugs the public plan should pay for. Every speaker gives a view on that choice.
Passage Reference: deciding which drugs the public plan should pay for, and who should keep paying for the rest
Tips: Read the quotes from Thornbury, Sinnott, Sheard and Stavely and check each option with them. Keep the option the article keeps returning to, and drop any that nobody discusses.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a shortage of asthma inhalers in Kingston: Stavely buys inhalers, but nobody says there is a shortage.
- rising costs in hospital emergency rooms: Emergency rooms appear in Thornbury’s example. They are not the main topic.
- a plan to end all workplace benefits: Sinnott warns that employers might drop plans, but nobody proposes ending them.
Correct Answer: a consultant’s case for starting with a shorter list
Passage Reference: Aldous Sinnott, a benefits consultant who advises employers, warns against moving too fast. ... He would have the public plan cover common essential medicines now, while employers keep paying for specialty drugs.
Why this is correct: “Paragraph three” quotes Sinnott, a benefits consultant. He warns against moving too fast and wants the public plan to cover common medicines first.
Tips: Reread “Paragraph three” and ask yourself what those lines are there to do. The right option describes that purpose, while the others point to other parts of the text.
Why the other options are wrong:
- an economist’s case for covering long-term conditions: Thornbury wants drugs for long-term conditions on the list. She is quoted before “Paragraph three”.
- a designer’s view that it does not matter who pays: Stavely says this, and he is quoted after “Paragraph three”.
- the date the final drug list becomes law: The article mentions only a draft list. Nobody says when a final list becomes law.
Correct Answer: a study showing a single buyer pays less for drugs
Passage Reference: One public buyer can bargain prices down in a way that thousands of small plans never could
Why this is correct: Thornbury argues that one public buyer can bargain prices down better than thousands of small plans. A study showing lower prices for a single buyer would back her case.
Tips: Go over Thornbury’s quotes. Ask which option, if it were true, would back up what she argues, and which would help someone else instead.
Why the other options are wrong:
- proof that workplace plans already pay for rare drugs: This fits Sinnott, who says workplace plans already cover costly specialty drugs. It does not help Thornbury’s case for a wide public list.
- a promise of federal money for the next ten years: Sheard wants to know what Ottawa will pay in ten years. Thornbury does not talk about this.
- a survey of workers who do not care who pays: This fits Stavely’s view. Thornbury argues for one public plan, so who pays matters to her.
Correct Answer: very ill people going without cover for a while
Passage Reference: If employers drop their plans early, the sickest patients could be left waiting in the gap.
Why this is correct: Sinnott warns that if employers drop their plans early, the sickest patients could be left waiting in the gap. They would have no cover until the public list catches up.
Tips: Look only at Sinnott’s words and the line the reporter writes about him. Pick what he says would follow, not something another person says.
Why the other options are wrong:
- provinces refusing to sign on to the plan: Sheard talks about what provinces need before they sign on. Sinnott does not link this to employers.
- drug prices going up across the country: Thornbury says one public buyer would lower prices. Sinnott does not predict higher prices.
- more workers joining employer drug plans: Sinnott fears employers will drop their plans, which means fewer people in them, not more.
Correct Answer: a regional newspaper for local readers
Passage Reference: At a public forum in Kingston last week
Why this is correct: The article reports a public forum held in Kingston and quotes a local economist and local residents. A news site for that area would print it.
Tips: Consider what kind of text this is and who it reports on. Ask where a piece like this would be printed without any changes.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a medical journal for drug researchers: Thornbury is an economist, but the article reports opinions, not research results.
- a guide to choosing a workplace benefit plan: Sinnott advises employers, but the article gives no advice on picking a plan.
- a magazine about graphic design: Stavely is a designer, but the article is about drug coverage, not design.
Correct Answer: three hundred
Passage Reference: nearly three hundred people, many of them self-employed workers with no drug plan at all, lined up to speak
Why this is correct: Nearly three hundred people lined up to speak at the forum in Kingston.
Tips: Here you need a number of people. Make sure you do not take a number that describes money instead.
Why the other options are wrong:
- two hundred: The crowd in the article was bigger than two hundred.
- four hundred: Four hundred is not in the article. The crowd was smaller.
- five hundred: Five hundred is not in the article. The crowd was smaller.
Correct Answer: the spring
Passage Reference: A federal advisory panel will publish its draft list of covered medicines in the spring.
Why this is correct: The federal advisory panel will publish its draft list of covered medicines in the spring.
Tips: You need a season. Find when the federal panel will make its draft public.
Why the other options are wrong:
- the summer: Summer is not mentioned in the article.
- the fall: Fall is not mentioned in the article.
- the winter: Winter is not mentioned in the article.
Correct Answer: fifty dollars
Passage Reference: When a prescription costs more than about fifty dollars a month, people start skipping doses
Why this is correct: Thornbury says that when a prescription costs more than about fifty dollars a month, people start skipping doses.
Tips: The commenter is repeating the economist’s warning about skipped doses. Find the monthly amount she gives.
Why the other options are wrong:
- twenty dollars: The amount in the article is higher than this.
- one hundred dollars: One hundred dollars is not in the article. The amount is lower.
- two hundred dollars: Two hundred dollars is not in the article.
Correct Answer: pills
Passage Reference: Hospitals already pay when patients cannot afford their pills.
Why this is correct: Sheard says hospitals already pay when patients cannot afford their pills.
Tips: The commenter means the person who advises on budgets. Find what she says patients cannot afford.
Why the other options are wrong:
- inhalers: Inhalers are what Stavely buys. Sheard uses a more general word.
- insulin: Insulin is not mentioned in the article.
- eye drops: Eye drops are not mentioned in the article.
Correct Answer: car
Passage Reference: Every month I decide whether to buy the inhaler or fix the car
Why this is correct: Stavely says that every month he decides whether to buy the inhaler or fix the car.
Tips: Find the designer’s monthly choice. Check what he has to give up to buy his medicine.
Why the other options are wrong:
- roof: Stavely does not mention a roof.
- furnace: A furnace is not mentioned in the article.
- phone: A phone is not mentioned in the article.
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