According to the agreement, why are chemical sprays not allowed?
Basic Understanding of a Variety of Texts · TELPAS Grades 10–12 reading. The correct answer, and the reasoning behind it.
Reporting category 2: find the main idea and key details, and follow what happens in stories and informational texts.
Read the agreement. Then answer the questions.
Community Garden Plot Agreement
Elm Street Community Garden: Plot Agreement
Thank you for renting a plot at the Elm Street Community Garden. Plots are rented for one growing season, from March 1 to November 30. Please read these rules before you sign.
1. Keep your plot planted and weeded. A plot that is overgrown with weeds, or left unplanted for more than three weeks, will receive a written warning.
2. Water only on your assigned days, which are posted on the tool shed door. Turn off the hose when you finish. Water is shared by all gardeners.
3. Use only organic fertilizers and pest controls. Chemical sprays can drift onto neighboring plots and harm other gardeners' crops.
4. Return all shared tools to the shed by sunset.
5. Attend at least two of the four garden workdays during the season. Workday dates are listed on the back of this agreement.
Gardeners who receive two written warnings in one season will forfeit their plot. The plot will be offered to the next person on the waiting list, and the rental fee will not be refunded.
Questions? Leave a note in the box on the tool shed, or talk to the garden coordinator on any Saturday morning.
The question
Choose the best answer.
According to the agreement, why are chemical sprays not allowed?
- They can drift onto other plots and harm crops.Correct answer
- They use up the water that all gardeners share.
- They cost too much money for most gardeners.
- They have to be locked in the tool shed at night.
Why “They can drift onto other plots and harm crops.” is correct
This is a detail question. Rule 3 gives the rule and its reason in the next sentence: "Chemical sprays can drift onto neighboring plots and harm other gardeners' crops." The wrong answers borrow words from the other rules.
Why the other answers are wrong
- They use up the water that all gardeners share. — Shared water is part of rule 2, not rule 3.
- They cost too much money for most gardeners. — The cost of sprays is never mentioned.
- They have to be locked in the tool shed at night. — Rule 4 is about returning tools to the shed, not storing sprays.
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.