How a Cooperative Shares Its Decisions
About this practice test
A worker-owned grocery warehouse explains how it distributes decisions among small teams, elected circles, and a monthly forum, using discussion and unresolved-objection procedures to balance speed with legitimacy.
What you’ll practice
Finding detail
Locate specific information and evidence.
Interpreting ideas
Connect main points and inferences.
Evaluating arguments
Assess claims, evidence, and limitations.
What to expect:
8 questions with explanations to review after submission.
Study the questions and tasks
Work through the material below, or start the interactive practice above to complete an attempt. Try the exercises before opening any answer or transcript sections, then use them to review your work.
- Practice level
- B2. Try this level if you can follow the instructions and understand most of the language; choose an earlier level if you need more support.
- Question formats
- Multiple choice
How to approach this practice
Read the passage for its main idea, then return to the relevant sentence or paragraph for each question. Base answers on the passage.
How a Cooperative Shares Its Decisions
When people hear the word cooperative, they often imagine endless meetings. At North Dock Supplies, a worker-owned grocery warehouse on the edge of the city, the aim is not to vote on every small matter. The team shares power, but it also protects time. A shelf can be moved without a formal meeting, yet a change that affects pay, safety, or the budget has to be discussed openly. That rule grew out of an early mistake: in the first year, staff spent half an afternoon debating a broken kettle. Now the cooperative uses three levels of decision-making. Daily tasks stay with small teams, which can reorder stock, swap shifts, or call a repairer when the fix is cheap and obvious. Larger choices go to a weekly circle made up of elected members from each department. The monthly forum is reserved for issues that could alter the whole business, such as a new supplier, a loan, or a change in opening hours. In this way, the group avoids asking everyone to study every detail, while still keeping important choices public. Before a topic reaches the forum, the person who raises it writes a one-page note: what the problem is, who is affected, and what options have already been tried. Other members then give two rounds of feedback. In the first round they only ask for facts that are missing. In the second they name risks and suggest amendments. A proposal does not need a majority to pass. Instead, it can go ahead when no serious unresolved objection remains, because the cooperative believes that silence after discussion is not the same as consent. The system sounds slower than a manager's quick decision, and sometimes it is. When the warehouse wanted to change delivery times, the issue touched transport companies, school runs, and one supplier's narrow window. It took six weeks to settle on a plan, and several people felt impatient. Even so, the long discussion helped them notice that one early option would have pushed the hardest shift onto the same small group each week. For the cooperative, that is the point: a slow decision may prevent a faster conflict later. At the same time, the method only works when members accept responsibility for the whole business. New hires spend their first two months shadowing a mentor and learning how to judge whether a concern is personal, practical, or shared. After that, they may bring proposals of their own. The cooperative also asks speakers to explain not just what they want, but why another group should care. If people come only to protect their own department, meetings become tense and defensive. If they come prepared to listen, the room usually becomes calmer and clearer. The managers are not pretending that this model makes everyone happy. It does something narrower and, in the long run, more useful: it makes reasons visible. People can disagree and still leave with a fair sense of why the final choice went one way rather than another. That is why North Dock talks about trading speed for legitimacy. A cooperative does not survive by avoiding conflict altogether; it survives by deciding which conflicts need the whole room and which can be handled by the people closest to the work.
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Question 1 · Multiple choice
Choose all the correct answers.
Choose TWO statements that the passage supports about the cooperative’s overall approach.
Return to the passage, recording or visual- It keeps minor operational choices with small teams.
- It votes on every routine task so that everyone stays involved.
- It allows one broken item to halt the whole business.
- It reserves formal discussion for matters that could affect pay, safety, or the budget.
Check answers and explanations
- Answer
- It keeps minor operational choices with small teams.; It reserves formal discussion for matters that could affect pay, safety, or the budget.
The passage says that small teams handle routine operational choices, while matters affecting pay, safety, or the budget must be discussed openly. It does not say that every routine task is voted on or that the kettle dispute stopped the business.
the aim is not to vote on every small matter
a change that affects pay, safety, or the budget has to be discussed openly
It keeps minor operational choices with small teams.: This matches the description of daily tasks staying with small teams.
It votes on every routine task so that everyone stays involved.: The passage says the opposite: not every small matter is voted on.
It allows one broken item to halt the whole business.: The broken kettle example shows the opposite: the cooperative learned not to overdo discussion of small issues.
It reserves formal discussion for matters that could affect pay, safety, or the budget.: This is directly stated in the first paragraph.
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Question 2 · Multiple choice
Choose all the correct answers.
Choose TWO statements about what happens before a proposal reaches the monthly forum.
Return to the passage, recording or visual- Other members first ask for missing facts and later identify risks.
- Only the finance team can submit the note.
- The proposal is sent straight to a majority vote.
- The person proposing a change writes a one-page note.
Check answers and explanations
- Answer
- Other members first ask for missing facts and later identify risks.; The person proposing a change writes a one-page note.
Before a proposal reaches the forum, the writer says it is written up in a one-page note and discussed in two rounds of feedback. It is not sent straight to a vote, and only managers are not mentioned as the exclusive gatekeepers.
the person who raises it writes a one-page note
Other members then give two rounds of feedback
Other members first ask for missing facts and later identify risks.: This matches the two feedback rounds described in the passage.
Only the finance team can submit the note.: No such restriction appears in the passage.
The proposal is sent straight to a majority vote.: The passage says the cooperative avoids a simple majority rule.
The person proposing a change writes a one-page note.: This is explicitly stated as the first step.
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Question 3 · Multiple choice
Choose all the correct answers.
Choose TWO statements about how a proposal is approved.
Return to the passage, recording or visual- Silence in the room is treated as the same as consent.
- It can pass without a majority vote.
- It can go ahead when no serious unresolved objection remains.
- It passes as soon as the first objection is heard.
Check answers and explanations
- Answer
- It can pass without a majority vote.; It can go ahead when no serious unresolved objection remains.
A proposal can pass without a majority if objections have been resolved, because the cooperative uses no-unresolved-objection logic. The passage also says silence after discussion is not treated as consent in a simple voting sense, so the last option is wrong.
A proposal does not need a majority to pass
it can go ahead when no serious unresolved objection remains
Silence in the room is treated as the same as consent.: The passage says silence after discussion is not the same as consent.
It can pass without a majority vote.: Correct; the passage explicitly rejects majority rule as the requirement.
It can go ahead when no serious unresolved objection remains.: This is the approval rule given in the passage.
It passes as soon as the first objection is heard.: The passage requires objections to be resolved, not merely heard.
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Question 4 · Multiple choice
Choose all the correct answers.
Choose TWO statements about the advantages and drawbacks of the cooperative’s method.
Return to the passage, recording or visual- The method can be slower than a manager's quick decision.
- The method always makes urgent matters easier to handle.
- It removes the need for compromise.
- It can help the group avoid a later conflict.
Check answers and explanations
- Answer
- The method can be slower than a manager's quick decision.; It can help the group avoid a later conflict.
The passage admits the system can be slower than a manager's quick decision, but argues that this slowness can prevent later conflict. It also suggests the method helps people notice problems that a fast decision might miss, so the other options are unsupported.
The system sounds slower than a manager's quick decision, and sometimes it is
a slow decision may prevent a faster conflict later
The method can be slower than a manager's quick decision.: This is directly stated.
The method always makes urgent matters easier to handle.: The passage says it can be slower, so this is too strong.
It removes the need for compromise.: The passage does not say compromise disappears; instead, people still need to weigh concerns.
It can help the group avoid a later conflict.: This matches the writer's stated point about the value of slow decisions.
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Question 5 · Multiple choice
Choose all the correct answers.
Choose TWO statements about the delivery-time example.
Return to the passage, recording or visual- Everyone agreed immediately because the plan was simple.
- The change depended partly on outside timetables, not just internal preference.
- The warehouse decided to keep the old delivery times forever.
- The issue took six weeks to settle.
Check answers and explanations
- Answer
- The change depended partly on outside timetables, not just internal preference.; The issue took six weeks to settle.
The delivery-time example took six weeks and depended on outside constraints as well as internal preferences. The passage does not say everyone agreed immediately or that the old times were kept forever.
It took six weeks to settle on a plan
the issue touched transport companies, school runs, and one supplier's narrow window
Everyone agreed immediately because the plan was simple.: The passage says the opposite: it took six weeks and people felt impatient.
The change depended partly on outside timetables, not just internal preference.: The transport companies, school runs, and supplier window all show outside constraints.
The warehouse decided to keep the old delivery times forever.: No such decision is described.
The issue took six weeks to settle.: This is stated directly in the example.
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Question 6 · Multiple choice
Choose all the correct answers.
Choose TWO statements about what the cooperative expects from new members.
Return to the passage, recording or visual- New hires are expected to lead the monthly forum immediately.
- After that period, they may bring proposals of their own.
- The cooperative ignores whether a concern is shared or personal.
- New hires shadow a mentor for two months.
Check answers and explanations
- Answer
- After that period, they may bring proposals of their own.; New hires shadow a mentor for two months.
New hires shadow a mentor for two months and may then bring proposals of their own. The passage also says the cooperative expects speakers to think about shared responsibility, so the other options distort the point.
New hires spend their first two months shadowing a mentor
After that, they may bring proposals of their own
New hires are expected to lead the monthly forum immediately.: The passage gives a two-month learning period, not immediate leadership.
After that period, they may bring proposals of their own.: This is also directly stated.
The cooperative ignores whether a concern is shared or personal.: The passage says members learn to judge whether a concern is personal, practical, or shared.
New hires shadow a mentor for two months.: This is exactly what the passage says.
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Question 7 · Multiple choice
Choose all the correct answers.
Choose TWO statements that reflect the writer’s view of the cooperative.
Return to the passage, recording or visual- The writer suggests the model makes reasons visible.
- The writer claims conflict should be avoided altogether.
- The writer thinks the model is mainly about making everyone happy.
- The writer sees the model as more useful than it first appears.
Check answers and explanations
- Answer
- The writer suggests the model makes reasons visible.; The writer sees the model as more useful than it first appears.
The writer is positive but qualified: the model is not about making everyone happy, yet it is useful because it makes reasons visible. The writer does not suggest the cooperative is only about comfort or that conflict should be eliminated entirely.
It does something narrower and, in the long run, more useful: it makes reasons visible
That is why North Dock talks about trading speed for legitimacy
The writer suggests the model makes reasons visible.: This is stated directly in the final paragraph.
The writer claims conflict should be avoided altogether.: The passage says the cooperative survives by deciding which conflicts need the whole room, not by avoiding conflict completely.
The writer thinks the model is mainly about making everyone happy.: The passage explicitly says the model does not make everyone happy.
The writer sees the model as more useful than it first appears.: This fits the writer's qualified but positive stance.
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Question 8 · Multiple choice
Choose all the correct answers.
Choose TWO statements about why the cooperative does not rely on majority vote alone.
Return to the passage, recording or visual- A simple majority is not enough if serious objections remain unresolved.
- The cooperative wants disagreement to stay hidden.
- Majority voting is used for every decision because it is fastest.
- Majority voting could leave important objections unresolved.
Check answers and explanations
- Answer
- A simple majority is not enough if serious objections remain unresolved.; Majority voting could leave important objections unresolved.
The passage says majority vote is not enough because a proposal should not pass while serious objections remain unresolved. It also shows that the process is built to resolve disagreement rather than simply count heads, so the two correct choices focus on unresolved objections and the limits of majority rule.
A proposal does not need a majority to pass
it can go ahead when no serious unresolved objection remains
A simple majority is not enough if serious objections remain unresolved.: This is directly supported by the passage's approval rule.
The cooperative wants disagreement to stay hidden.: The opposite is true: the process is meant to make reasons visible.
Majority voting is used for every decision because it is fastest.: The passage says the cooperative does not need a majority to pass a proposal.
Majority voting could leave important objections unresolved.: This is the reason the passage gives for not using majority rule alone.
What to review next
Find the words that support each answer. For a mistake, compare the question with the evidence and identify the detail or inference you missed.
A focused practice result shows how you did on these tasks. Use several activities across skills to decide what to study next; one practice score does not certify an overall CEFR level.
Before you practise: a worked example
Look for evidence in the text. Separate what the writer says from what you already know about the topic.
The library normally closes at six, but on Fridays it stays open until eight. When does it close on Friday?
The answer is eight. But introduces an exception to the normal closing time, so the first time mentioned is not the answer.
This teaching example is separate from the scored questions. After your test, compare any mistakes with the explanation and revisit the topic before trying again.