The Economist Reading Challenge Week 3: Article 2

A. There appears to be a relationship between the size of the a house and the political affiliation of that house’s owner.
Wrong: We can not infer all home owners supported conservative party and poor people supported labour party. It happens that conservative party home ownership at key point in winning the elections. But we can’t infer that size of house varies with political affiliation.

B. The rust belt has shifted its political affiliation to Tory.
Wrong: I can not make sense out of the context that rust belt has shifted its political affiliation to Tory? But toey seems to be people.

, which are sometimes compared to the American rustbelt, are only half the story of Mr Johnson’s new domain.
Similar areas in the Midlands and the North—where mines and factories have been replaced by business parks, light industry and Amazon delivery hubs—swung Tory in the decade that followed.

C. Colliery workers often aligned with conservative views.
Wrong: Not often aligned , they only voted in 2017.

The south-east of Northumberland was coal country, and voted Labour. Although Pegswood’s own colliery closed in 1968, mining remained the main source of local employment until the early 1990s. But in local elections in 2017 the Conservatives took control of the county council.


D. Taylor Wimpey provided the most reasonable explanation for the latest shift in voting alignment.
Wrong: Taylor W is builder but he didn’t provide explanation

The north and the Midlands have accounted for a rising share of housing investment over the past two decades, with big builders such as Barratt, Persimmon and Taylor Wimpey responsible for much of the work.

E. Blyth Valley has seen a growth in home development
Seems correct:


At the general election two years later, as well as taking Blyth Valley, which encompasses Cramlington, they cut Labour’s majority from over 10,000 to under 900 in Wansbeck, which encompasses Pegswood
The drive from Pegswood to Cramlington, a nearby village, passes seven developments, complete and in progress, advertised by yellow signs at each roundabout.



We need to find something that labour party can do but conservative party may not be able to do so.

Both parties are hunting for big ideas that will allow them to hold (or win back) these seats. They include “levelling up” the British economy, delivering the opportunities of post-Brexit “global Britain” and unleashing a culture war over statues and flags.


A. Pointing out the barriers to home ownership in Cramlington and similar places in Britain.

Correct: The Conservative Party has long believed its success lies in home ownership.If labour party can point out barriers to homeownership, it may help labour party to win some seats.
Bring negative barriers to home ownership wil be negatively impact

B. Addressing the change in voter demographics in places such as Cramlington and Red Wall region.
Wrong: What change? Change to house development is good . Not mentioned

C. Increasing the spending on the education that many of the residents depend on.
Wrong: Conservative party has already supported such sceheme, so how labour party can regain .

D. Providing reduction on cost of petrol and making commuting easier.
Not correct: it is already in progress. How labour party can regain seat in such a situation? seems hard
All this helps explain why fuel duty has been frozen for a decade, to the dismay of environmental campaigners and Treasury officials.

E. “Levelling up” the British economy.
Not correct: Both the parties are supporting this idea,How only labour party can win ?




a. It is a term used to describe a set of constituencies in England which historically tended to support the Labour Party.
Not correct:
Boris Johnson flipped four dozen more seats across Wales, the Midlands and the north of England, granting him a big majority and unbuckling the Labour Party from its former heartlands
Some of the areas have been mentioned but we can not infer that Red wall is classified based on historically supported which party.


b. It is a synonym for towns comprising of working-class residents personified by Jeremy Corbyn.
Wrong as per the context given:
Red wall left behind” by a metropolitan elite, personified by Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn.

c. It is home to many office workers, many of whom have been working from home during the pandemic.
Not correct

Mr Johnson recently angered office workers by suggesting they have been slacking while working from home during the pandemic, but many residents in Cramlington share that suspicion
But does it mean all red wall has such home owners, we can not infer this information

d. It has the greatest share of homeowners and car commuters in England and Wales.
Correct: from the text below it can be seen that Red wall has greater share of home owners and car commuters

The constituencies that make up the “Red Wall” are poorer than the rest of Britain, and as elsewhere, productivity and wage growth have been weak. But money goes a lot further here: these seats have some of the lowest housing costs in the country, and a greater share of home owners (see chart).
“Red Wall” are more likely to commute by car than anywhere else in Britain


e. Many of the residents of the “Red Wall” supported Brexit.
Wrong: Some of the areas are mentioned that supported Breexit. But can we infer all Red wall areas supported Breexit? It can not be infer 100%

Hi guys

Thank you for your participation! I have turned off the competition mode and the submissions are closed now. The winner will be announced on Monday at around 8am Pacific Time.

Good Luck

Good job on putting all that effort into this long passage!

As there seems to be some debate as to the right answers, below are a few explanations.

Q1:

The answer is (E) because the passage specifically describes the many developments in that area and also implies that many of these are new.

(A) is not mentioned.

(B) is a classic misattribution: the “rust belt” is in the US whereas the Tories are in England. Not that rust belt and “Red Wall” are not the same!

(C) is wrong because, according to the passage, these workers traditionally voted Labour.

(D) is wrong because Taylor Wimpey is described as a builder, not someone who tried to explain anything. Be careful to read exactly what the answer statement says!


Q2:

(E) is the only possible option, and is correct, though weak, because both parties agree that “levelling up” the economy is what needs to be done. Thus, if the Labour manage to do this better than the Conservatives, they will have a chance to win back their seats. Note that the question does not ask which*will* help, but rather which *could* help.


(A) is wrong because it is difficult to find homes in London/the center but the text does not imply that it is hard to do so in the “Red Wall” area.

(B) is quite simply not discussed.

(C) is wrong because the passage implies that education has already been taken care of. So even though it is important to “Red Wall” residents, there is no reason to suppose that putting even more into it is possible or beneficial. (Especially in comparison with (E) which we are explicitly told is beneficial)

(D) is wrong because petrol is described as cheap and not a problem.


Q3:

(A) is correct: the “Red Wall” refers to the areas that, in a recent election, flipped over to Conservative even though in the past they mostly voted Labour. The use of phrases such as “former heartland” and “the so called ‘Red Wall’ they comprise” makes this explicit.


(B) is wrong because Jeremy Corbyn personifies the *elites*, not the “Red Wall” residents.

(C) is wrong because the assertion that many have been working from home is not supported by (and is even mildly contradicted) by the passage.

(D) is wrong because, though both the text and the charts support the “greatest share of commuters”, they do not support the *greatest* share of homeowners but only a large (relative) share. This can be seen explicitly in the chart (which is, admittedly, more relevant to IR than to RC).

(E) is wrong because it is not supported: though it seems reasonable (and is perhaps true), the text does not actually give us the information to assume this. Be careful to answer only what is supported by the text.