How does a dandelion seed travel?
Basic Understanding of Spoken English · TELPAS Grade 3 listening. The correct answer, and the reasoning behind it.
Reporting category 2: understand the main points and important details of spoken stories and informational passages, about everyday life and school subjects.
Listen to the teacher talk about science. Then answer the questions.
How Seeds Travel
Press play to listen. You can pause, rewind, and replay as often as you like.
Show transcript
Mr. Turner: Plants cannot walk, but their seeds can still travel. Here are three ways that seeds move.
Mr. Turner: Some seeds are very light. A dandelion seed has soft, fluffy hairs, so the wind can carry it far away.
Mr. Turner: Some seeds have tiny hooks. When a dog runs through the grass, these seeds stick to its fur. Later, they fall off in a new spot.
Mr. Turner: Other seeds are inside fruit, like berries. A bird eats the berries and flies away. Later, the seeds come out of the bird in a new place.
Mr. Turner: If every seed fell under its plant, the new plants would be crowded. A new place gives them more room to grow.
The question
Choose the best answer.
How does a dandelion seed travel?
- The wind carries it.Correct answer
- It sticks to a dog’s fur.
- A bird eats it.
- It rolls down a hill.
Why “The wind carries it.” is correct
This is a detail question. The teacher says a dandelion seed has soft, fluffy hairs, “so the wind can carry it far away.” Each wrong answer is a different way of traveling from the same lesson, so the student must match the dandelion to the right one.
Why the other answers are wrong
- It sticks to a dog’s fur. — Sticking to fur is how seeds with tiny hooks travel.
- A bird eats it. — Birds eat the seeds that are inside berries.
- It rolls down a hill. — Rolling is not one of the ways the teacher describes.
Practice more of this
More listening practice for Grade 3, or see the TELPAS practice test for 3rd 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.