TELPAS Practice

In Step 2, what does the word scales mean?

Understand Words and Language Structures · TELPAS Grade 3 reading. The correct answer, and the reasoning behind it.

Reporting category 1: work out what words and phrases mean from context, and understand how sentences and word forms work.

Read the directions. Then answer the questions.

How to Make a Pinecone Bird Feeder

In winter, it can be hard for birds to find enough seeds and bugs to eat. You can help them by making a simple bird feeder.

You need: a large pinecone, a piece of string, peanut butter, a spoon, and a plate of birdseed.

Step 1: Tie the string around the top of the pinecone. Make a loop so you can hang it.

Step 2: Use the spoon to spread peanut butter all over the pinecone. Push it into the spaces between the scales.

Step 3: Roll the pinecone in the birdseed until it is covered.

Step 4: Hang your feeder from a tree branch that you can see from a window.

Step 5: Be patient. It may take a few days for the birds to find their new food.

The question

Choose the best answer.

In Step 2, what does the word scales mean?

  • Tools that tell you how much something weighs
  • The stiff parts that stick out of a pineconeCorrect answer
  • The thin, flat pieces that cover a fish
  • Musical notes sung in order

Why “The stiff parts that stick out of a pinecone” is correct

This tests choosing the right meaning of a word that has several. The sentence talks about pushing peanut butter into “the spaces between the scales” of the pinecone, so here scales are the parts that stick out of it. Students who know only the weighing or fish meaning need to use the sentence to pick the right one.

Why the other answers are wrong

  • Tools that tell you how much something weighs — Scales can mean tools for weighing, but you cannot spread peanut butter between the parts of a pinecone with them.
  • The thin, flat pieces that cover a fish — Fish have scales too, but there is no fish in these directions.
  • Musical notes sung in order — A musical scale has nothing to do with a pinecone.

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.