Read the following article from a website.
When an ice storm knocked out power across the valley around Tamarack for three days last February, the card machines in every shop went dark, and few customers carried cash. Now a federal finance committee is asking the public whether Canada should create a digital dollar that could work from a phone even without a network signal. The consultation closes in November, and the committee says no decision on building one will come before 2028.
Margit Vanderzee, who runs a bakery on the valley’s main street, kept selling bread during the storm by writing each customer’s name in a notebook. “I trusted people, and almost everyone came back to pay,” she said. “Still, I lost about four hundred dollars that week. A small shop cannot afford that every winter.” Vanderzee says she would gladly try a phone wallet if it kept working through an outage.
Corinna Yamashita, a payments researcher at a university in Halifax, says a digital dollar should be built for everyday spending. “Think of it as a sidewalk that everyone can use, not as a vault,” she explained. “It should handle a coffee or a bus fare offline, and it should deliver government benefit payments on the day they are due.” Evander Wolanski, a risk officer at a large bank, worries about what could happen during a scare. “If these wallets ever paid interest, nervous savers could empty their bank accounts overnight,” Wolanski said. “A wallet that pays nothing, with a firm limit on how much one person can hold, would worry me far less.”
Priyanka Uppal, who advises a federal privacy office, cares less about banks than about the record each payment leaves behind. “Every tap could show where you travel, which clinic you visit and which causes you support,” Uppal warned. “Small payments should be impossible to link to a name. An outside auditor should also check that old records are really deleted.” Wolanski says he agrees with her on one point. “If people believe the government is watching their groceries, they will never use it,” Wolanski added.
Using the drop-down menu (▾), choose the best option according to the information given on the website.
At present, Margit Vanderzee is 2..
All of the people quoted seem to agree that a digital dollar 3..
Paragraph four mainly describes 4..
Priyanka Uppal would likely say that a record of every payment 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: whether Canada should create a digital form of cash
Why this is correct: A federal committee is asking the public whether Canada should create a digital dollar. Every speaker gives a view on that idea.
Passage Reference: a federal finance committee is asking the public whether Canada should create a digital dollar
Tips: Choose the option that covers the whole article rather than one scene from it. If an option matches only one speaker’s story, it is too narrow.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a bakery that lost money during a winter storm: Vanderzee’s bakery is one example. It is not the main subject.
- a plan to bury power lines across a valley: Nobody in the article talks about burying power lines.
- a new savings account that pays high interest: Wolanski talks about interest only as a danger. No new savings account is planned.
Correct Answer: willing to try a new way to pay
Passage Reference: Vanderzee says she would gladly try a phone wallet if it kept working through an outage.
Why this is correct: Vanderzee says she would gladly try a phone wallet if it kept working through an outage. So right now she is open to a new way to pay.
Tips: Gather what the reporter says about Vanderzee and what she says herself. Keep the option those lines show, and reject any they go against.
Why the other options are wrong:
- against any form of digital money: Vanderzee says she would gladly try a phone wallet. She is not against it.
- worried that savers will empty banks: Wolanski worries that savers could empty their bank accounts. Vanderzee does not.
- sure that cash is safest in a storm: Vanderzee never says cash is safest. Few customers carried cash during the storm.
Correct Answer: would have to meet certain conditions
Passage Reference: Vanderzee says she would gladly try a phone wallet if it kept working through an outage. ... It should handle a coffee or a bus fare offline, and it should deliver government benefit payments on the day they are due. ... If people believe the government is watching their groceries, they will never use it ... Small payments should be impossible to link to a name.
Why this is correct: Vanderzee would try it if it works in an outage, and Yamashita says it should work offline. Wolanski says people must not feel watched, and Uppal wants small payments kept anonymous.
Tips: Try each option on Vanderzee, Yamashita, Wolanski and Uppal in turn. It is right only if every one of them shows it in their own words.
Why the other options are wrong:
- should be run by the big banks: Nobody asks for the big banks to run it. Wolanski works at a bank but only sets limits.
- should replace cash and bank cards: Nobody in the article says a digital dollar should replace cash and cards.
- should keep a record of every payment: Uppal wants small payments impossible to link to a name, and Wolanski agrees that people must not feel watched.
Correct Answer: an adviser’s privacy rules and a banker’s partial agreement
Passage Reference: Priyanka Uppal, who advises a federal privacy office, cares less about banks than about the record each payment leaves behind. ... Wolanski says he agrees with her on one point.
Why this is correct: “Paragraph four” quotes Uppal, who wants small payments kept anonymous and old records checked. It ends with Wolanski saying he agrees with her on one point.
Tips: Go back over “Paragraph four” and ask what it contributes to the article. Pick the option that names that, not lines found elsewhere.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a baker’s losses during the ice storm: Vanderzee’s storm losses come before “Paragraph four”.
- a researcher’s picture of money as a sidewalk: Yamashita compares the money to a sidewalk before “Paragraph four”.
- the price of setting up the new wallet: Nobody in the article gives a price for building the wallet.
Correct Answer: would put people’s private lives on display
Passage Reference: Every tap could show where you travel, which clinic you visit and which causes you support
Why this is correct: Uppal warns that every tap could show where you travel, which clinic you visit and which causes you support. So she would say payment records expose private lives.
Tips: Read Uppal’s quotes slowly. Ask which option her words lead to, and drop ideas that belong to other speakers.
Why the other options are wrong:
- would help stop runs on the banks: Wolanski worries about nervous savers. Uppal does not link records to banks.
- should be kept for as long as possible: Uppal wants an auditor to check that old records are really deleted.
- would help shops get through a storm: Vanderzee talks about selling during the storm. Uppal does not.
Correct Answer: three days
Passage Reference: knocked out power across the valley around Tamarack for three days
Why this is correct: The ice storm knocked out power across the valley for three days.
Tips: The commenter is talking about the outage. Find where the article says how long it lasted.
Why the other options are wrong:
- two days: The power was off one day longer than this.
- four days: The power was off one day less than this.
- a week: The power was off for a shorter time than this.
Correct Answer: 2028
Passage Reference: the committee says no decision on building one will come before 2028
Why this is correct: The committee says no decision on building a digital dollar will come before 2028.
Tips: This blank asks for a year, so find when the committee plans to make its choice.
Why the other options are wrong:
- 2029: The article says 2028, not 2029.
- 2030: No decision before 2030 is not what the committee says. It says 2028.
- 2032: The article does not mention 2032.
Correct Answer: notebook
Passage Reference: writing each customer’s name in a notebook
Why this is correct: Vanderzee kept selling bread by writing each customer’s name in a notebook.
Tips: The commenter means the woman who runs the bakery, so find how she kept track of who owed her money.
Why the other options are wrong:
- receipt book: Vanderzee does not mention receipts.
- day planner: Vanderzee does not mention a planner.
- guest book: Vanderzee does not mention a guest book.
Correct Answer: how much one person can hold
Passage Reference: A wallet that pays nothing, with a firm limit on how much one person can hold, would worry me far less.
Why this is correct: Wolanski would worry far less about a wallet with a firm limit on how much one person can hold.
Tips: The commenter is repeating a condition from the risk officer. Find the kind of limit he says would make him less worried.
Why the other options are wrong:
- how many wallets one person can open: Wolanski does not talk about the number of wallets.
- how much one payment can be: Wolanski limits what a person can hold, not the size of one payment.
- how many payments a day are allowed: Wolanski does not limit the number of payments.
Correct Answer: November
Passage Reference: The consultation closes in November
Why this is correct: The article says the consultation closes in November.
Tips: The commenter is talking about the public consultation. Find when the article says it ends.
Why the other options are wrong:
- September: This month is not in the article.
- October: This month is not in the article.
- December: This month is not in the article.
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