Which word or phrase best completes the text? (From a Science Article)
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 text. Then answer the question.
From a Science Article
Over many years, farmers along the river cleared away the trees that once grew on its banks to make room for more fields. ______, the soil along the banks washed away more easily during floods, and the river water grew muddier.
The question
Choose the best answer.
Which word or phrase best completes the text?
- However
- As a resultCorrect answer
- For example
- In contrast
Why “As a result” is correct
This tests transitions that show how ideas are related. Clearing trees from the banks came first, and loose soil and muddy water followed, so the relationship is cause and effect. Ask the student to name the relationship before choosing a transition.
Why the other answers are wrong
- However — "However" signals a contrast, but the second sentence describes an effect of the first.
- For example — The washed-away soil is not an example of clearing trees; it is a result.
- In contrast — The two sentences do not describe opposite things.
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.