Question

Costa Rica has one of the highest levels in Latin America of people with the ability to understand printed texts and to mark letters, words, and symbols on paper. Education in Costa Rica is free up through high school. It is divided into three stages: pre-school, elementary-middle, and high school, which ends at 17 years old.

In Nicaragua, students can start school at three years old and end at 18. However, many parents have to withdraw their children from school because of financial difficulties and a lack of jobs. Parents find it hard to spend their low income on transportation, uniforms, school materials, and books when they have difficulty affording food.

Based on the reading, what is a difference between the education in Costa Rica and Nicaragua?

The rate of students who can read
The school completion age
The cost of mandatory education
The high price of school supplies

Answer 1

Based on the reading, the differences between the education in Costa Rica and Nicaragua are the following:

The rate of students who can read  in Costa Rica is different from Nicaragua.

The school completion age  in Nicaragua is at 18 while Costa Rica students end their studies at the age of 17 years old.

The cost of mandatory education  in Nicaragua is different from free education offered by Costa Rica

The high price of school supplies in Nicaragua  forces parents to withdraw their students, something that does not happen in Costa Rica.

Answer 2

The correct answer is D) the high price of school supplies.

Based on the reading, the difference between education in Costa Rica and Nicaragua is "the high price of school supplies."

We can find the key to answering this question in the following part of the text: "However, many parents have to withdraw their children from school because of financial difficulties and a lack of jobs. Parents find it hard to spend their low income on transportation, uniforms, school materials, and books when they have difficulty affording food."

The reason is that the economy in Central American countries such as Nicaragua, El Salvador or Honduras is so low, that most of the people live in poverty, have to take their children out of school to work in the farm fields or other activities, or in many cases, they decide to leave their countries to migrate to the United States.