How does planting milkweed help the monarchs?
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 passage. Then answer the questions.
Monarch Butterflies
Monarch butterflies are orange and black. Every year, many monarchs fly through Texas.
Monarchs lay tiny eggs on a plant called milkweed. When a caterpillar hatches, it eats the milkweed leaves. Milkweed is the only plant monarch caterpillars eat. Without it, they cannot grow.
That is why some schools in Texas plant milkweed in their gardens. They want to help the monarchs.
The question
Choose the best answer.
How does planting milkweed help the monarchs?
- It gives the caterpillars food.Correct answer
- It makes the butterflies orange.
- It keeps the butterflies warm.
- It helps them fly faster.
Why “It gives the caterpillars food.” is correct
The passage says schools plant milkweed to help the monarchs, but does not say how. The student must connect this to an earlier sentence: milkweed is the only plant the caterpillars eat. Linking ideas from two parts of a passage is part of the analyze category.
Why the other answers are wrong
- It makes the butterflies orange. — Monarchs are already orange. Milkweed does not change their color.
- It keeps the butterflies warm. — The passage says nothing about keeping warm.
- It helps them fly faster. — The passage says nothing about how fast they fly.
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.