According to the teacher, what is special about the monarchs that fly south in the fall?
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 lesson in a biology class. Then answer the questions.
A Biology Lesson
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Mr. Morales: Every fall, millions of monarch butterflies fly from the northern United States and Canada to a small area of mountain forests in central Mexico. Because of where it sits on the map, Texas is on the main route for many of them, both on the way south in October and on the way back north in the spring.
Mr. Morales: What surprises most people is that no single butterfly makes the whole round trip. The monarchs that fly south in the fall are a special generation. They can live up to eight months, while summer monarchs live only a few weeks. They spend the winter crowded together on trees in Mexico, and in early spring they start north and lay their eggs in Texas.
Mr. Morales: Those eggs become butterflies that live only a few weeks, so it takes several short generations to reach the northern states again. The monarchs that arrive in Canada in summer may be the great-grandchildren of the ones that left.
Mr. Morales: Here's the important part. Monarch caterpillars can eat only one kind of plant: milkweed. If the butterflies coming north can't find milkweed in Texas to lay their eggs on, the whole journey north is in trouble. That's why planting native milkweed, even in a school garden, really helps.
The question
Choose the best answer.
According to the teacher, what is special about the monarchs that fly south in the fall?
- They live for months instead of only a few weeks.Correct answer
- They are the only monarchs that eat milkweed.
- They fly all the way north again the next summer.
- They lay their eggs in Mexico before winter.
Why “They live for months instead of only a few weeks.” is correct
This is a detail question about a contrast the teacher states directly. He calls the fall monarchs 'a special generation' that can live up to eight months, while summer monarchs live only a few weeks. Listening for comparison words like 'while' helps students find the key difference.
Why the other answers are wrong
- They are the only monarchs that eat milkweed. — All monarch caterpillars eat only milkweed; the teacher does not limit this to one generation.
- They fly all the way north again the next summer. — The teacher says no single butterfly makes the whole round trip; later generations reach the north.
- They lay their eggs in Mexico before winter. — They spend the winter in Mexico and lay their eggs in Texas in the spring.
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.