TELPAS Practice

What does depend on mean in this sentence?

Understand Words and Language Structures · TELPAS Grades 4–5 reading. The correct answer, and the reasoning behind it.

Reporting category 1: work out what words and phrases mean from context, and understand how sentences and word forms work.

Read the text. Then answer the question.

The Rio Grande

The Rio Grande is one of the longest rivers in North America. It begins high in the mountains of Colorado, where melting snow runs into it. From there it flows south through New Mexico. Then it turns southeast and forms the border between Texas and Mexico for more than a thousand miles, until it reaches the Gulf near Brownsville.

In Mexico, people call the same river the Río Bravo. For thousands of years, people have used its water to drink, to grow crops, and to raise animals. Today, cities and farms on both sides of the border still depend on it. In very dry years, the water in some parts of the river gets very low, and people must be careful about how much they use.

The question

Choose the best answer.

Read this sentence. Today, cities and farms on both sides of the border still depend on it. What does depend on mean in this sentence?

  • worry about it
  • travel up and down it by boat
  • need it to live and workCorrect answer
  • stay away from it

Why “need it to live and work” is correct

This tests a phrase that is understood as a unit. The sentence before it lists what people use the water for: drinking, growing crops, and raising animals. "Still depend on it" means they still need it in those ways. Phrasal meanings like this are hard for English learners because the two words together mean more than each word alone.

Why the other answers are wrong

  • worry about it — The paragraph explains how people use the water, not that they worry about it.
  • travel up and down it by boat — Nothing in the paragraph is about traveling on the river.
  • stay away from it — People use the river’s water, so they do not stay away from it.

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.