The Notice With Three Conditions and One Deadline
Reading Section, a notice on a city library website. "Volunteer English Reading Day. We are looking for 30 volunteers to read English picture books to children on Saturday mornings in June. Applicants must be high school students or older. All volunteers must attend one two-hour training session, either May 11 or May 18, 10:00–12:00. Volunteers must be available for at least three Saturday mornings in June. Please bring a photo ID to the training. Applications are due May 8. Students who live in the city will be given preference." Yuki is 16, lives in the next city, has a school trip on May 11, is free every Saturday in June except June 15, and has 20 minutes to decide whether to apply before the site closes at 21:00.
1. Is Yuki eligible? Work through each condition and identify the one thing she must actually check before the site closes.
Read the worked answer
She is eligible, and the thing she must check is the date - today's date, not June.
Going condition by condition:
- "High school students or older" - she is 16, so yes.
- Training on May 11 or May 18 - the school trip blocks May 11, but May 18 works. "Either" means one is enough.
- Three Saturday mornings in June - June has at least four Saturdays and only one is blocked, so she can still reach three. The condition is "at least three," not "all."
- Live in the city - she does not, but such students "will be given preference." Preference is a tiebreaker, not a bar.
- Photo ID - she must bring it to the training; treat this as required.
The real risk is the deadline. Applications are due May 8 and the site closes in 20 minutes. Nothing in the notice requires her to resolve June 15 before applying.
2. Explain how the wording of the notice signals different levels of requirement, using its own examples.
Read the worked answer
Modals carry the requirement level, and this notice uses several different ones.
| Wording | Strength | What it means for Yuki |
|---|---|---|
| "must be high school students or older" | required | she meets it |
| "must attend one ... either May 11 or May 18" | required, with a choice | she must pick May 18 |
| "must be available for at least three" | required, with a minimum | three is enough; four is not needed |
| "will be given preference" | advantage only | not living in the city does not disqualify her |
| "Please bring a photo ID" | expected | treat as required - no ID, no training |
Method: circle every modal and semi-modal (must, have to, should, may, can, will be given preference, please) before touching the questions. Then ask of each: is this a door that is closed, a door that is open, or a door that is merely easier to walk through?
Most wrong answers in notice questions come from treating "preference" as "must," or "at least three" as "all."
3. Yuki is unsure about the June 15 conflict. What is the correct reasoning and the correct action?
Read the worked answer
Apply now and flag the conflict - do not self-reject.
Reasoning:
- Every stated requirement is met or can be met: age, one training date, three Saturdays, photo ID.
- June 15 is a scheduling detail, not an eligibility rule. The notice asks for three Saturdays, and she has more than three free.
- The deadline is the only irreversible constraint. Missing May 8 cannot be fixed later; a June 15 conflict can be discussed with the organiser in May.
Action: submit the form, write "available all Saturdays in June except June 15" in the notes field, and email the coordinator the same day to ask whether that is acceptable. If the answer is no, she has lost nothing. If she waits to be certain, she may lose the place entirely.
Transferable rule for notice questions: rank the constraints by whether they can still be changed. Deadlines and documents first, schedules second, preferences last.