mean in this sentence?
Understand Words and Language Structures · TELPAS Grades 10–12 reading. The correct answer, and the reasoning behind it.
Reporting category 1: work out what words and phrases mean from context, and understand how sentences and word forms work.
Read the passage. Then answer the questions.
Nothing Is Really Free
Imagine a friend gives you a free ticket to a concert on Saturday night. It seems as if the evening will cost you nothing. An economist would disagree. The ticket is free, but your Saturday night is not.
The reason is scarcity. Time, money, and energy are all limited, so choosing one thing always means giving up something else. Economists call the value of the best option you give up the opportunity cost of a choice. If you would otherwise have worked a five-hour shift and earned sixty dollars, the opportunity cost of the free concert is at least those sixty dollars. If you would have spent the night studying for a chemistry test, the cost might be a better grade.
Opportunity cost explains decisions that seem strange at first. Why might a skilled carpenter pay someone else to paint her house, even if she paints faster? Because every hour she spends painting is an hour she could have spent on carpentry jobs that pay more. Hiring a painter is not laziness; it is a way to avoid an expensive trade-off.
The idea also applies to big decisions, such as whether to go to college. The obvious costs are tuition, books, and fees. A less obvious cost is the wages a student does not earn while attending classes full-time. Economists include those lost wages because they are a real part of what the student gives up. Many studies have found that, on average, people with college degrees earn more over their lifetimes, which is why many people decide the trade is worth it. But looking at the opportunity cost helps a student compare options honestly, such as a two-year technical program, a four-year degree, or working while studying part-time.
None of this means people should calculate the dollar value of every hour. Some of the most important parts of a choice, like time with family or the satisfaction of learning, are hard to measure in money. The point is simply to ask a better question. Instead of asking "How much does this cost?" an economist asks "What am I giving up to get it?"
So go to the concert, if you want to. Just recognize that it was never completely free.
The question
Choose the best answer.
Read this sentence from paragraph 3. "Hiring a painter is not laziness; it is a way to avoid an expensive trade-off." What does "trade-off" mean in this sentence?
- an agreement to exchange one item for another
- a payment made to a worker for finishing a job
- a decision that has no cost or risk at all
- giving up one thing in order to have anotherCorrect answer
Why “giving up one thing in order to have another” is correct
This tests a compound word in context. The carpenter would give up well-paid carpentry hours to paint, which is the kind of exchange of one benefit for another that 'trade-off' describes. The choice about exchanging items uses a related but different meaning of 'trade', which is the trap for this item.
Why the other answers are wrong
- an agreement to exchange one item for another — This is a common everyday meaning of 'trade', but no one is exchanging items in the carpenter example.
- a payment made to a worker for finishing a job — Paying the painter is mentioned, but 'trade-off' refers to what the carpenter would lose by painting.
- a decision that has no cost or risk at all — The whole passage argues that choices always have a cost, so this cannot be the meaning.
Practice more of this
More reading 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.