What is the main reason Valeria wrote this letter?
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 letter. Then answer the questions.
A Letter to Tía Rosa
Dear Tía Rosa,
Thank you for the journal you sent for my birthday. The cover is green, my favorite color, and it has a tiny lock and key.
I write in my journal every night before bed. Last night, I wrote about our class trip to the aquarium. I touched a starfish in the touch tank. It felt rough, like the bottom of a shoe!
Mom says that when you visit us in July, I can read you some pages. But not the pages about my little brother. Those are secret!
Love, Valeria
The question
Choose the best answer.
What is the main reason Valeria wrote this letter?
- To ask Tía Rosa to visit in July
- To thank Tía Rosa for the journalCorrect answer
- To tell secrets about her little brother
- To explain how a lock and key work
Why “To thank Tía Rosa for the journal” is correct
This is an author’s purpose question about a letter. Valeria opens with “Thank you for the journal,” and the rest of the letter tells how she uses it. The thank-you is the reason for writing; the other parts support it.
Why the other answers are wrong
- To ask Tía Rosa to visit in July — The visit is already planned; Valeria mentions it but does not ask for it.
- To tell secrets about her little brother — She says those pages are secret, so she is not sharing them.
- To explain how a lock and key work — The lock and key are only a detail about the journal.
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.