According to the article, why are horned lizards harder to find today?
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 Texas Horned Lizard
The Texas horned lizard is a small, flat lizard with sharp horns on its head and short spines along its back and sides. Many people call it a “horny toad,” but it is not a toad at all. It is a reptile, and it is the official state reptile of Texas.
Horned lizards live in dry, open places with sandy or rocky ground. Their main food is harvester ants. One horned lizard can eat dozens of ants in a single day.
This lizard has some surprising ways to stay safe. Its brown and gray colors help it blend in with the ground, so a hungry hawk may fly right past it. If an enemy comes close, the lizard can puff up its body so it looks bigger and is harder to swallow. When it is in real danger, it can even squirt a thin stream of blood from the corners of its eyes. The blood tastes bad to coyotes and dogs.
Today, horned lizards are harder to find in many parts of Texas than they were years ago. Scientists think there are several reasons. Some of the land where the lizards once lived is now covered by roads and buildings, and in many areas there are fewer harvester ants for them to eat. In Texas, it is against the law to take a horned lizard from the wild or to keep one as a pet.
The question
Choose the best answer.
According to the article, why are horned lizards harder to find today?
- Too many people are keeping them as pets.
- They have lost homes and some of their food.Correct answer
- Hawks and coyotes are hunting more of them.
- They now spend the whole year hiding underground.
Why “They have lost homes and some of their food.” is correct
This tests locating reasons the author gives. Paragraph 4 names two: land covered by roads and buildings, and fewer harvester ants. The correct choice puts both into one sentence. The pet choice catches students who notice the word "pet" in the paragraph without reading what it says.
Why the other answers are wrong
- Too many people are keeping them as pets. — The article says keeping one as a pet is against the law; it does not name pets as a cause.
- Hawks and coyotes are hunting more of them. — The article names land and ants as reasons, not more hunting by other animals.
- They now spend the whole year hiding underground. — Nothing in the article says the lizards stay underground.
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.