Why do a few prairie dogs stand up and look around while the others eat?
Analyze and Evaluate Information and Ideas · TELPAS Grade 3 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.
Prairie Dogs
Prairie dogs are not really dogs. They are small, furry animals in the squirrel family. They got their name because the sound they make is a little like a dog’s bark.
Prairie dogs live in grasslands, including parts of West Texas. They dig tunnels and rooms under the ground. Many prairie dog families live close together, and their big group of tunnels is called a town.
Prairie dogs spend much of the day eating grass and other plants. While most of the group eats, a few prairie dogs stand up on their back legs and look around. If one of them sees a hawk or a coyote, it barks loudly. Then all the prairie dogs dive into their holes.
When two prairie dogs from the same family meet, they touch their mouths together. It looks a little like a kiss.
The question
Choose the best answer.
Why do a few prairie dogs stand up and look around while the others eat?
- To watch for dangerCorrect answer
- To find more grass
- To get warm in the sun
- To greet their family
Why “To watch for danger” is correct
This asks the student to work out the purpose of an action. Paragraph 3 says that if a watcher sees a hawk or a coyote, it barks and all the prairie dogs dive into their holes. The passage does not use the words danger or safe, so the student has to put the action and its result together.
Why the other answers are wrong
- To find more grass — The ones standing up are looking around, not eating.
- To get warm in the sun — The sun is not mentioned in the passage.
- To greet their family — Greeting is described in paragraph 4 and is done by touching mouths, not standing up.
Practice more of this
More reading 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.