Read the following article from a website.
Oil and gas royalties in Alberta have beaten the government’s forecast for a second year in a row, leaving the province with an unexpected 2.4 billion dollars. Officials say it is the largest surplus the province has seen in a generation. A bill before the legislature this spring will decide what happens to the money. One side wants it locked away in a savings fund for future generations, while the other wants it spent now in the Treaty communities and small towns closest to the wells.
Branwen Ulrich, a former deputy finance minister, argues for saving first. “A government that spends every royalty cheque the day it arrives is borrowing from the next slump,” she said. “Prices always fall again. The only question is whether we are ready when they do.” Ulrich wants a fixed share of royalties moved automatically into a fund that cabinet cannot touch.
Osmund Yellowbird, who runs job training programs with Treaty communities near the oil fields, says he thinks that plan forgets the people living there today. “We have abandoned well sites that nobody has cleaned up, and families of nine sharing three-bedroom houses,” Yellowbird said. “Our young people wait two years for a spot in a trades course. Those are not problems for the future. They are problems for this winter.”
Zdenka Zoric, a public budget specialist at a university in Calgary, has drafted a middle route, and she has shared it with both groups. “The law could require a minimum payment into the fund every year and put a fixed share into a separate community account,” Zoric explained. “Then neither side depends on the mood of the next cabinet.” Hartley Vickers, the mayor of a town with more wells than traffic lights, says he sees a local problem. “During every boom, heavy trucks wear out our roads and our water plant runs at full power,” Vickers said. “Yet towns like mine see almost none of the royalty money.”
Using the drop-down menu (▾), choose the best option according to the information given on the website.
Paragraph two mainly gives 2..
Osmund Yellowbird’s view would most likely be supported by 3..
This article shows that 4..
Hartley Vickers expects that another boom would bring about 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: extra money the province did not expect
Why this is correct: Royalties beat the government’s forecast and left an unexpected surplus. The speakers argue about what to do with it.
Passage Reference: Oil and gas royalties in Alberta have beaten the government’s forecast ... Officials say it is the largest surplus the province has seen in a generation.
Tips: A gist option must be true of the entire article, not just one speaker. Check that each person quoted has a view on the option you choose.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a new tax on oil companies in the province: No new tax is proposed in the article.
- a strike by workers at the oil fields: Nobody in the article is on strike.
- a plan to build new roads near Calgary: Vickers talks about worn roads in his town, but no new roads are planned.
Correct Answer: a former official’s case for saving first
Passage Reference: Ulrich wants a fixed share of royalties moved automatically into a fund that cabinet cannot touch.
Why this is correct: Paragraph two belongs to Ulrich, a former deputy finance minister. She wants a fixed share of royalties moved into a fund.
Tips: Read “Paragraph two” slowly and ask what it does for the article. Pick the description that answers that.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a list of problems in Treaty communities: Yellowbird lists those problems in paragraph three.
- a plan to share the money between accounts: Zoric describes her plan in paragraph four.
- a mayor’s complaint about worn-out roads: Vickers talks about his roads in paragraph four.
Correct Answer: a study of old well sites nobody cleaned up
Passage Reference: We have abandoned well sites that nobody has cleaned up ... Those are not problems for the future.
Why this is correct: Yellowbird says nobody has cleaned up the abandoned well sites. A study of those sites would back his call to spend now.
Tips: Reread Yellowbird’s quotes. Would each option help his argument, work against it, or help someone else?
Why the other options are wrong:
- a study showing cabinets often spend royalties too fast: This fits Ulrich’s case for a fund that cabinet cannot touch.
- a poll of people who want lower provincial taxes: Nobody in the article talks about taxes.
- a report that savings funds grow fast over time: This would help the case for saving, which Yellowbird argues against.
Correct Answer: people disagree about saving the money or spending it now
Passage Reference: One side wants it locked away in a savings fund for future generations, while the other wants it spent now
Why this is correct: The reporter says one side wants the money in a savings fund, while the other wants it spent now. The speakers take different sides.
Tips: Compare each option with what Ulrich, Yellowbird, Zoric and Vickers say. Keep the one that is true for the article as a whole.
Why the other options are wrong:
- the province has already spent the surplus: A bill this spring will decide what happens to the money.
- the oil companies want the money for themselves: No oil company is quoted, and nobody says this.
- towns near the wells already get a fair share: Vickers says towns like his see almost none of the royalty money.
Correct Answer: heavy costs for his town with little money back
Passage Reference: During every boom, heavy trucks wear out our roads and our water plant runs at full power ... Yet towns like mine see almost none of the royalty money.
Why this is correct: Vickers says every boom wears out his town’s roads and pushes its water plant hard. Yet towns like his see almost no royalty money.
Tips: Read what Vickers says will happen during a boom. Match an option to his own words, and rule out ideas from other people.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a fund that cabinet is not able to touch: That fund is Ulrich’s idea, not something Vickers predicts.
- shorter waits for places in trades courses: Trades courses come from Yellowbird, and Vickers never mentions them.
- lower house prices in his town: Vickers never talks about house prices. He talks about roads and the water plant.
Correct Answer: a second year
Passage Reference: have beaten the government’s forecast for a second year in a row
Why this is correct: Royalties beat the government’s forecast for a second year in a row.
Tips: The commenter is talking about how long the good news has lasted. Find what the article says about the forecast.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a third year: The article gives a smaller number than this.
- a fifth year: The article gives a smaller number than this.
- a tenth year: The article gives a much smaller number than this.
Correct Answer: 2.4 billion dollars
Passage Reference: leaving the province with an unexpected 2.4 billion dollars
Why this is correct: The article says the province has an unexpected 2.4 billion dollars.
Tips: The commenter is giving the size of the surplus. Check both the digits and the word after them.
Why the other options are wrong:
- 2.4 million dollars: The number is right, but the size word is wrong.
- 24 million dollars: This number is not in the article.
- 24 billion dollars: This is ten times larger than the surplus.
Correct Answer: slump
Passage Reference: A government that spends every royalty cheque the day it arrives is borrowing from the next slump
Why this is correct: Ulrich says a government that spends every royalty cheque the day it arrives is borrowing from the next slump.
Tips: The commenter means the former deputy minister, so find what she says a government that spends at once is borrowing from.
Why the other options are wrong:
- generation: Ulrich mentions future generations, but the borrowing is from the next slump.
- budget: Ulrich does not say the government borrows from a budget.
- boom: Ulrich warns about the bad years that follow a boom, not about the next boom.
Correct Answer: two years
Passage Reference: Our young people wait two years for a spot in a trades course.
Why this is correct: Yellowbird says young people wait two years for a spot in a trades course.
Tips: The commenter means the training director, so find how long he says young people wait.
Why the other options are wrong:
- one year: Yellowbird describes a longer wait.
- eighteen months: Yellowbird describes a longer wait.
- three years: Yellowbird describes a shorter wait.
Correct Answer: traffic lights
Passage Reference: a town with more wells than traffic lights
Why this is correct: Vickers is the mayor of a town with more wells than traffic lights.
Tips: The commenter is repeating how the article describes the mayor’s town. Find that comparison.
Why the other options are wrong:
- people: The article compares the wells with traffic lights, not people.
- houses: The article does not mention houses in the mayor’s town.
- cows: Cows are not mentioned in the article.
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