What lesson does Ana learn in the story?
Analyze and Evaluate Information and Ideas · TELPAS Grade 2 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 story. Then answer the questions.
Tamales with Abuela
It was the day before Christmas. Ana and her abuela stood in the kitchen. A big bowl of masa sat on the table.
Abuela showed Ana how to spread the masa on a corn husk. Ana's first one was too fat. Her next one was too thin.
"Keep trying," said Abuela. Ana tried again and again. By lunch, her tamales looked just like Abuela's.
That night, the whole family ate tamales. "Ana made these," Abuela said proudly.
The question
Choose the best answer.
What lesson does Ana learn in the story?
- Cooking is only for grown-ups.
- Big meals take a long time to eat.
- It is best to do things alone.
- If you keep trying, you get better.Correct answer
Why “If you keep trying, you get better.” is correct
Ana's first tamales are too fat and too thin, Abuela says "Keep trying," and by lunch Ana's look just right. The lesson is never written out, so the student has to see the pattern in what happens. Finding the lesson of a story is part of the analyze category.
Why the other answers are wrong
- Cooking is only for grown-ups. — Ana is a child, and she learns to make tamales well.
- Big meals take a long time to eat. — The story is about making tamales, not about how long it takes to eat them.
- It is best to do things alone. — Ana learns with her abuela's help, not by herself.
Practice more of this
More reading practice for Grade 2, or see the TELPAS practice test for 2nd 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.