What does Grandma Rosa bring out to help Mateo?
Basic Understanding of a Variety of Texts · TELPAS Grades 4–5 reading. The correct answer, and the reasoning behind it.
Reporting category 2: find the main idea and key details, and follow what happens in stories and informational texts.
Read the passage. Then answer the questions.
The Pecan Harvest
Every November, the pecan tree in Grandma Rosa’s backyard dropped its nuts all over the grass. And every November, Grandma Rosa handed Mateo a bucket.
“Fill it to the top,” she said, “and we will have enough for pies at Thanksgiving.”
Mateo groaned. Picking up pecans was tedious work. He had to bend down again and again, and each nut made only a tiny click when it landed in the bucket. After ten minutes, the bottom of the bucket was barely covered.
Then Grandma Rosa came out of the shed with an old wire tool on a long handle. She rolled it across the grass, and the pecans popped up inside the wire basket. “Your grandfather made this,” she said. “He hated bending down too.”
Mateo laughed and took the handle. He rolled it back and forth under the tree, and soon the bucket was half full. Grandma Rosa sat on the porch step and told him about the year Grandpa had tried to sell pecans at the farmers market and had eaten more than he sold.
By the time the sun went down, the bucket was full. Mateo’s back did not hurt at all, and he knew three new stories about a grandfather he had never met.
“Same time next year?” Grandma Rosa asked.
“Same time next year,” Mateo said, and he meant it.
The question
Choose the best answer.
What does Grandma Rosa bring out to help Mateo?
- A bigger bucket so Mateo can hold more pecans
- A pecan pie from the year before
- A chair so that Mateo can rest
- A tool that picks up pecans when it rollsCorrect answer
Why “A tool that picks up pecans when it rolls” is correct
This tests a key detail in a story. Paragraph 4 says she brings "an old wire tool on a long handle" and rolls it across the grass so the pecans pop up into its basket. The correct answer describes that tool in different words, so the student has to understand the paragraph, not just match a phrase.
Why the other answers are wrong
- A bigger bucket so Mateo can hold more pecans — Mateo keeps the same bucket all afternoon.
- A pecan pie from the year before — The pies are for Thanksgiving, after the pecans are picked.
- A chair so that Mateo can rest — Grandma Rosa sits on the porch step herself; she does not bring Mateo a chair.
Practice more of this
More reading 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.