The Changed Saturday Bus Announcement
You are a third-year junior high school student in Kagoshima. On Friday afternoon, your English teacher reads this announcement over the school speakers about Saturday's English camp: 'The 8:15 city bus has been canceled because of road work near the main gate. Please meet at the north gate at 8:25. The 8:40 bus will leave from the north gate and go directly to the camp. Do not bring your textbook. Bring your notebook and a pencil. If it rains, wait under the roof at the north gate. Do not wait at the main gate.' Your friend Misaki missed the announcement. She plans to arrive at the main gate at 8:35, carrying her textbook and a notebook, and she will not bring a raincoat. The weather report says it will be sunny all day. The original handout you received last week said: meet at 8:00 at the main gate, take the 8:15 bus, and bring a textbook.
1. What should Misaki do about the meeting place and bus? Explain using two details from the announcement.
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Reasoning: The announcement replaces the old handout. It gives a new gate, a new meeting time, and a new bus time. The main gate is linked to road work and the canceled 8:15 bus, so Misaki should not go there.
Answer: She should go to the north gate and be there by 8:25. She should take the 8:40 bus from the north gate. The 8:15 bus is canceled, and students are told not to wait at the main gate.
2. Which items should Misaki bring, and which should she leave at home? Why?
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Reasoning: The announcement directly changes the item list: textbook out, notebook and pencil in. The rain instruction does not apply because the forecast is sunny, so a raincoat is not required by the announcement.
Answer: She should bring her notebook and a pencil. She should leave her textbook at home because the announcement says not to bring it. A raincoat is not necessary for this sunny day, though the announcement explains where to wait if rain happens.
3. Misaki says, 'I'll just wait at the main gate; the bus will see me.' What is wrong with this plan?
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Reasoning: The bus does not leave from the main gate. The announcement says the 8:15 bus is canceled and the 8:40 bus leaves from the north gate. Waiting at the main gate therefore means waiting in the wrong place for a bus that will not come there.
Answer: Her plan is unsafe and likely to make her miss the camp. She would be at the main gate at 8:35 while the correct bus leaves the north gate at 8:40. Road work is also near the main gate, which is another reason the school moved the meeting point.