Global Friends Day: Choosing Workshops Around a Family Commitment
Kenji is a second-year student at a high school in Nagoya. His school will hold Global Friends Day on Saturday. He has a part-time job at a bakery from 1:00 p.m., so he must leave school by 12:20. His bus from school to the bakery takes 25 minutes, and he needs 10 minutes to change. He can arrive at school at 9:45 because his morning piano lesson ends at 9:15 and the trip takes 30 minutes. He wants to attend one workshop about food and one about speaking English with visitors. He also promised his teacher to collect the attendance sheet from the office before the closing meeting; the office opens at 12:00 and closes at 12:30.
Schedule: 9:30–10:15 Opening and quiz (gym) 10:30–11:10 A Food waste (Room 201) / B Homestay manners (Room 203) / C English conversation with guests (Room 205) 11:20–12:00 D Recycling craft (Room 201) / E School life in Australia (Room 203) / F Cooking local food (Room 205) 12:10–12:30 Closing meeting (gym)
1. Which two workshops should Kenji choose? Explain how the times and his goals decide the answer.
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The only workshop that matches Kenji's speaking goal is C, and it runs 10:30–11:10. His food options are A (10:30–11:10) and F (11:20–12:00). A and C overlap, so he cannot take both A and C. The feasible pair is therefore C and F: speaking first, then food. His 9:45 arrival is early enough for the 10:30 start. B, D, and E do not match his two stated goals, and choosing A would force him to give up the speaking workshop.
2. Can Kenji collect the attendance sheet and attend the closing meeting without being late for work? Show the time calculation.
Read the worked answer
F ends at 12:00, and the office opens at 12:00, so he can go straight to the office and collect the sheet at about 12:00–12:05. The closing meeting starts at 12:10. He can attend the first ten minutes and leave at 12:20. Travel is 25 minutes plus 10 minutes to change, so he reaches the bakery at 12:55, five minutes before his 1:00 shift. This works only if the office has no queue and the sheet is ready; if either fails, he should ask a classmate to collect it or tell his teacher in advance. He should also sit near the door and leave quietly.
3. Suppose the piano lesson is cancelled and Kenji can arrive at 9:20. Does his workshop pair change? Why or why not?
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No. Arriving at 9:20 would let him attend the opening and quiz, but it would not remove the 10:30 clash between A and C. His goals still require one speaking workshop (only C) and one food workshop (A or F). Since A is at the same time as C, the pair remains C and F. Extra time changes what he can do before 10:30, not the workshop structure. He might use the extra time to check the room locations or eat a snack, but the answer to the workshop choice stays the same.