Why does the teacher say milkweed in Texas is so important?
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.
Why does the teacher say milkweed in Texas is so important?
- Monarchs need its leaves to survive the winter in Mexico.
- Monarchs coming north in spring lay their eggs on it.Correct answer
- It is the only plant that grows along the monarchs' route.
- Its flowers help the butterflies find their way to Canada.
Why “Monarchs coming north in spring lay their eggs on it.” is correct
This tests following a chain of reasons in a lecture. The teacher explains that caterpillars eat only milkweed and that the butterflies coming north lay their eggs in Texas, so without milkweed there the next generation cannot grow. The teacher signals this with 'Here's the important part.'
Why the other answers are wrong
- Monarchs need its leaves to survive the winter in Mexico. — The winter is spent on trees in Mexico; milkweed is needed for eggs and caterpillars in the spring.
- It is the only plant that grows along the monarchs' route. — The teacher never says milkweed is the only plant on the route, only that caterpillars eat nothing else.
- Its flowers help the butterflies find their way to Canada. — The teacher does not say anything about flowers or how monarchs find their way.
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.