Where does a young plant get its food before it has leaves?
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 seeds. Then answer the questions.
From Seed to Sprout
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Show transcript
Mr. Anderson: Today we are going to plant bean seeds. A seed may look like a tiny pebble, but inside it there is a baby plant, waiting for the right time to grow.
Mr. Anderson: A seed needs water, air, and warmth to begin growing. When it gets these things, the seed swells up and its hard coat splits open. The first part to come out is the root. It grows down into the soil to take in water.
Mr. Anderson: Next, a small green shoot pushes up toward the light. Until the plant grows leaves and can make its own food from sunlight, it lives on food that was stored inside the seed.
Mr. Anderson: We will plant two cups of seeds and water them the same way. One cup will sit on our warm, sunny windowsill. The other will go in the refrigerator in the teachers' lounge. Each day, we will check both cups and write down what we see.
The question
Choose the best answer.
Where does a young plant get its food before it has leaves?
- from the dirt around it
- from food stored in the seedCorrect answer
- from the water in the cup
- from the light outside
Why “from food stored in the seed” is correct
The teacher says that until the plant has leaves to make food from sunlight, it lives on food stored inside the seed. The sentence starts with "until," which can be hard for English learners to follow. Many people also believe plants eat soil, so the dirt is a strong trap.
Why the other answers are wrong
- from the dirt around it — The root takes in water from the soil, but the teacher says the food was stored in the seed.
- from the water in the cup — Water helps the seed start growing, but it is not the plant's food here.
- from the light outside — A plant needs leaves to make food from sunlight, and this one has none yet.
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.