What is the teacher’s talk mostly about?
Basic Understanding of Spoken English · TELPAS Grades 4–5 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 butterflies. Then answer the questions.
The Monarch Journey
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Ms. Reyes: Today we are going to learn about a long trip that happens right over our heads. Every fall, millions of monarch butterflies fly south across Texas. They are on their way to the mountains of central Mexico, where they spend the winter in the forests.
Ms. Reyes: Some of them travel more than two thousand miles, and each butterfly weighs less than a paper clip. Along the way they stop to rest and to sip nectar from flowers. The nectar is their fuel for the next part of the trip.
Ms. Reyes: In the spring, monarchs head north again. On the way, they lay their eggs on one kind of plant: milkweed. When the caterpillars hatch, milkweed is the only plant they can eat. Without milkweed, there would be no new monarchs.
Ms. Reyes: That is why many schools, parks, and families in Texas are planting milkweed and other flowers. Next week, our class will plant a small butterfly garden by the front office, and every one of you will get to help.
The question
Choose the best answer.
What is the teacher’s talk mostly about?
- How to tell a monarch from other butterflies
- Why the butterfly garden needs more sunlight
- The monarch’s long trip and the plant it needsCorrect answer
- How a caterpillar builds a hard case around itself
Why “The monarch’s long trip and the plant it needs” is correct
This tests the main idea of a short academic talk. Ms. Reyes spends the first half on the trip to Mexico and the second half on why monarchs need milkweed, so a good summary includes both. The wrong choices are about butterflies too, which is what makes this a main-idea question rather than a topic question.
Why the other answers are wrong
- How to tell a monarch from other butterflies — Ms. Reyes never compares monarchs with other butterflies.
- Why the butterfly garden needs more sunlight — She says the class will plant a garden, but says nothing about sunlight.
- How a caterpillar builds a hard case around itself — The talk mentions caterpillars eating milkweed, not how they change into butterflies.
Practice more of this
More listening practice for Grades 4–5, or see the TELPAS practice test for 4th and 5th 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.