Which sentence is the best summary of the article? (The Bats of Congress Avenue Bridge)
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 Bats of Congress Avenue Bridge
On summer evenings, crowds of people gather near the Congress Avenue Bridge in downtown Austin. They are not waiting for a parade or a concert. They are waiting for bats.
Up to one and a half million Mexican free-tailed bats live in narrow cracks under the bridge during the warm months. It is the largest bat colony living in a city anywhere in North America. In the winter, most of the bats fly south to Mexico.
At sunset, the bats begin to pour out from under the bridge. They fly out in long, dark ribbons that twist across the sky, and the stream of bats can keep going for many minutes.
The bats are leaving to hunt. Mexican free-tailed bats eat insects, including moths that damage farm crops. In one night, the colony can eat thousands of pounds of insects.
Not everyone was happy when the bats first moved in. After the bridge was rebuilt, the bats found the new cracks underneath and began living there. Many people in Austin were afraid and wanted the bats gone. Bat scientists explained that the bats would not hurt people who left them alone, and that they helped the city by eating pests. Over time, people’s feelings changed. Today, the bats are one of the most famous sights in Austin.
The question
Choose the best answer.
Which sentence is the best summary of the article?
- Bats are dangerous animals that people in Austin should stay away from.
- Many bats live under an Austin bridge, and people have come to value them.Correct answer
- The bridge in Austin was rebuilt so that bats could live under it.
- Mexican free-tailed bats live in Austin all year long.
Why “Many bats live under an Austin bridge, and people have come to value them.” is correct
This tests choosing a summary that covers the whole text. The article describes the bat colony, why the bats come out, and how people changed from fearing the bats to treating them as a famous sight. The correct summary includes both the bats and the change in people’s feelings. Each wrong choice gets a fact wrong.
Why the other answers are wrong
- Bats are dangerous animals that people in Austin should stay away from. — The article says the bats do not hurt people who leave them alone.
- The bridge in Austin was rebuilt so that bats could live under it. — The bats found the cracks after the bridge was rebuilt; it was not built for them.
- Mexican free-tailed bats live in Austin all year long. — Most of the bats fly to Mexico for the winter.
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.