TELPAS Practice

What can the reader infer from this text? “Marisol's brother is secretly baking a cake for her”

Analyze and Evaluate Information and Ideas · TELPAS Grades 10–12 reading. The correct answer, and the reasoning behind it.

Reporting category 3: make inferences, draw conclusions, and think about why the author wrote a text and how it is built.

Read the text. Then answer the question.

From a Short Story

When Marisol came into the kitchen, her little brother quickly closed the oven door and stood in front of it. Flour dusted the counter. A cookbook lay open to a page about tres leches cake, and on the calendar by the refrigerator, today's date was circled in red with her name written underneath.

The question

Choose the best answer.

What can the reader infer from this text?

  • Marisol's brother broke a dish and is trying to hide it.
  • Marisol forgot that today was her brother's birthday.
  • Marisol has come home early to bake a cake for her family.
  • Marisol's brother is secretly baking a cake for her.Correct answer

Why “Marisol's brother is secretly baking a cake for her.” is correct

This asks for an inference from several clues. The brother hides the oven, there is flour and a cake recipe, and today is marked with Marisol's name. None of these says "surprise" or "birthday," but together they point to a cake made for her. Students should be able to name the clues that support their answer.

Why the other answers are wrong

  • Marisol's brother broke a dish and is trying to hide it. — The flour, cookbook, and oven point to baking, not an accident.
  • Marisol forgot that today was her brother's birthday. — Her name, not her brother's, is written under today's date.
  • Marisol has come home early to bake a cake for her family. — She has just walked in; her brother is the one using the oven.

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.