What happened on April 14, 1935?
Basic Understanding of Spoken English · TELPAS Grades 10–12 listening. The correct answer, and the reasoning behind it.
Reporting category 2: understand the main points and important details of spoken stories and informational passages, about everyday life and school subjects.
Listen to part of a lecture in a history class. Then answer the questions.
A History Lecture
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Show transcript
Dr. Whitfield: Today we're looking at the Dust Bowl, which hit the southern Great Plains, including the Texas Panhandle, during the 1930s.
Dr. Whitfield: In the years before, farmers had plowed up millions of acres of native grassland to plant wheat. Those grasses had deep roots that held the soil in place, even during dry years. When a long drought arrived in the early 1930s, the crops died, and there was nothing left to hold the soil down.
Dr. Whitfield: The wind did the rest. Huge dust storms carried topsoil for hundreds of miles. The worst day, April 14, 1935, became known as Black Sunday, when a wall of dust turned the afternoon dark.
Dr. Whitfield: So the Dust Bowl was not only a natural disaster. The drought was natural, but the damage was much worse because of how the land had been used. That's why the federal government created the Soil Conservation Service in 1935, to teach farmers methods like planting rows of trees as windbreaks and plowing along the shape of the land. Keep that idea in mind: human choices can turn a hard situation into a disaster.
The question
Choose the best answer.
What happened on April 14, 1935?
- The Soil Conservation Service opened its first office.
- A long drought finally ended in the Panhandle.
- A huge wall of dust turned the afternoon dark.Correct answer
- Farmers began plowing the native grassland.
Why “A huge wall of dust turned the afternoon dark.” is correct
This is a detail question about a specific date. The speaker names April 14, 1935 as Black Sunday and describes 'a wall of dust' that 'turned the afternoon dark'. A student who only remembers '1935' may confuse it with the year the Soil Conservation Service was created.
Why the other answers are wrong
- The Soil Conservation Service opened its first office. — The Service was created in 1935, but the lecture links the date April 14 to Black Sunday.
- A long drought finally ended in the Panhandle. — The lecture does not say when the drought ended.
- Farmers began plowing the native grassland. — The plowing happened in the years before the drought.
Practice more of this
More listening practice for Grades 10–12, or see the TELPAS practice test for 10th–12th grade.
This is an independent study resource. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the Texas Education Agency or the official TELPAS program. All questions here are original practice material written to match the published test design.