Matching Claims to Evidence in a Transport Report
About this practice test
Match report findings and speakers with evidence from a city night-shuttle trial, including ridership, transport effects, business reactions, data limits and the council’s recommendation.
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:
2 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
- Matching
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.
Matching Claims to Evidence in a Transport Report
Paragraph 1The city transport unit ran a three-week night shuttle in Brookmere after complaints that buses stopped too early for rail passengers. The route linked the station, the hospital gate and the riverfront district, where cafés and a small cinema stayed open late. The report was not trying to prove that a new route would solve every travel problem. It aimed to test whether a short, timed service could fill the gap between the last train and the bus network.
Paragraph 2Ticket checks showed 1,184 boardings over 21 nights. The busiest period came just after the 7:12 p.m. train, and almost sixty per cent of riders began their trip at the station. Many were theatre-goers or late-shift workers carrying rail tickets, not people making their normal commute. As analyst Marta Ivers put it, “The shuttle worked best as a bridge from the station, not as a general town bus.”
Paragraph 3The service changed some travel choices, but only in narrow ways. Taxi dispatcher Ahmed Khan said, “We lost the short hops, not the longer airport runs,” and that matched the report's numbers: evening taxi calls fell on the route, while car traffic to the riverfront dipped only on Fridays. Bike-share use stayed almost flat, which suggested that cyclists were not switching in large numbers. The writers therefore treated the shuttle as a replacement for a few short trips, not for the whole transport mix.
Paragraph 4Local businesses noticed a shift, though the effect was uneven. Samira Bell, who runs a café near the cinema, said, “People who would normally hurry past stayed for coffee.” The cinema manager agreed that more visitors arrived on foot, but a florist two streets away saw little change. Ruth Ellison, who lives beside the steepest stop, was more cautious: “The noise only bothered us when the doors stayed open.” Her complaint was about the pause at the stop, not the shuttle itself.
Paragraph 5The report also warned readers not to read too much into the totals. Two wet evenings reduced walking traffic, and on one night the scanner failed to record several boardings when the driver had to keep the doors open. Leo Grant, one of the drivers, admitted that “on crowded trips, the manual count slipped.” The authors said this did not destroy the trial, but it did mean the figures were best read as a sample rather than a full census.
Paragraph 6On balance, the report was supportive but careful. It recommended that the council keep the route only on Friday and Saturday nights for now, add a shelter at the riverfront stop, and wait until autumn before considering a weekday extension. Ben Clark, a late-shift worker, summed up the value of the service in plain terms: “It saved me from walking the last mile after the 7:12 train.” The report ended by saying that a small, reliable link could matter more than a larger service that ran half empty.
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Question 1 · Matching
Match each item to the correct choice.
Match each finding from the report to the category it best fits. Choose the correct letter A-G.
Return to the passage, recording or visualAnswer choices
- Ridership pattern
- Final recommendation
- Weather impact
- Effect on other transport
- Main user group
- Local business reaction
- Data limitation
Items
- The busiest journeys happened soon after the 7:12 p.m. train.
- Many riders were theatre-goers or late-shift workers carrying rail tickets.
- Taxi calls fell on the route while bike-share use stayed almost flat.
- The café near the cinema saw more passing trade.
- The scanner failed to record several boardings on one night.
- The report said the council should keep the service only on Friday and Saturday nights for now.
Check answers and explanations
- 1. The busiest journeys happened soon after the 7:12 p.m. train.
- Ridership pattern
- 2. Many riders were theatre-goers or late-shift workers carrying rail tickets.
- Main user group
- 3. Taxi calls fell on the route while bike-share use stayed almost flat.
- Effect on other transport
- 4. The café near the cinema saw more passing trade.
- Local business reaction
- 5. The scanner failed to record several boardings on one night.
- Data limitation
- 6. The report said the council should keep the service only on Friday and Saturday nights for now.
- Final recommendation
Match 1: The busiest journeys came just after the 7:12 p.m. train, identifying a ridership pattern. Match 2: Theatre-goers and late-shift workers carrying rail tickets formed an important user group. Match 3: Taxi calls fell while bike-share use stayed almost flat, showing an effect on other transport. Match 4: The café near the cinema gained customers who stayed for coffee, showing a local business reaction. Match 5: The scanner failed to record several boardings, which was a data limitation. Match 6: The report recommended keeping the route on Friday and Saturday nights for now, making this the final recommendation.
The busiest period came just after the 7:12 p.m. train
Many were theatre-goers or late-shift workers carrying rail tickets
the scanner failed to record several boardings
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Question 2 · Matching
Match each item to the correct choice.
Match each person or source to the statement they made. Choose the correct letter A-G.
Return to the passage, recording or visualAnswer choices
- Marta Ivers
- The cinema manager
- Samira Bell
- Leo Grant
- Ahmed Khan
- Ruth Ellison
- Ben Clark
Items
- said the shuttle worked best as a bridge from the station.
- said short taxi trips were lost, not the longer airport runs.
- said people who would normally hurry past stayed for coffee.
- said the noise only bothered residents when the doors stayed open.
- said the manual count slipped on crowded trips.
- said it saved him from walking the last mile after the 7:12 train.
Check answers and explanations
- 1. said the shuttle worked best as a bridge from the station.
- Marta Ivers
- 2. said short taxi trips were lost, not the longer airport runs.
- Ahmed Khan
- 3. said people who would normally hurry past stayed for coffee.
- Samira Bell
- 4. said the noise only bothered residents when the doors stayed open.
- Ruth Ellison
- 5. said the manual count slipped on crowded trips.
- Leo Grant
- 6. said it saved him from walking the last mile after the 7:12 train.
- Ben Clark
Match 1: Marta Ivers said the shuttle worked best as a bridge from the station. Match 2: Ahmed Khan said the service lost short taxi trips, not longer airport runs. Match 3: Samira Bell said people who would normally hurry past stayed for coffee. Match 4: Ruth Ellison said the noise bothered residents when the doors stayed open. Match 5: Leo Grant said the manual count slipped on crowded trips. Match 6: Ben Clark said the shuttle saved him from walking the last mile after the 7:12 train.
The shuttle worked best as a bridge from the station, not as a general town bus
We lost the short hops, not the longer airport runs
on crowded trips, the manual count slipped
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.