Read this sentence from paragraph 2. Chester was stubborn. What does the word stubborn mean?
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 passage. Then answer the questions.
Chester and the Lead Rope
For three months, Jayla had practiced with her goat, Chester, every evening after school. The county livestock show was only one week away, and Chester still did not like to walk on a lead rope.
Chester was stubborn. When Jayla pulled the rope, he planted all four hooves in the dirt and refused to move. When she pulled harder, he sat down like a dog.
“Pulling won’t work,” said her uncle Dante, who had shown goats when he was her age. “A goat pushes against whatever pushes him. Walk beside him with a little cup of feed, and give him a bite each time he takes a few good steps.”
Jayla tried it. On the first night, Chester walked three steps. On the second night, he walked ten. By the end of the week, he trotted next to her all the way around the barn, with his ears up and his nose close to the cup.
On the day of the show, the arena was loud and crowded. Chester stopped once and stared at the people in the stands. Jayla did not pull. She waited quietly until he was ready, and then they walked on together.
Chester won a third-place ribbon. That night, Jayla pinned it to the barn door. “Next year,” she told him, scratching his chin, “we’re going for first.”
The question
Choose the best answer.
Read this sentence from paragraph 2. Chester was stubborn. What does the word stubborn mean?
- gentle and calm
- not willing to do what others wantCorrect answer
- very hungry all the time
- afraid of loud places
Why “not willing to do what others want” is correct
This tests working out a word from the sentences around it. Right after "Chester was stubborn," the author shows what that looks like: he plants his hooves, refuses to move, and sits down when pulled harder. A student who reads on past the word can see that stubborn means not willing to do what someone else wants.
Why the other answers are wrong
- gentle and calm — Chester refuses to move and sits down, which is not gentle or calm behavior.
- very hungry all the time — Chester likes the feed later, but paragraph 2 is about refusing to walk, not hunger.
- afraid of loud places — Chester stares at the crowd at the show, but that happens later and is not what paragraph 2 describes.
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.