TELPAS Practice

What does Uncle Dante tell Jayla to do?

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.

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.

What does Uncle Dante tell Jayla to do?

  • Pull the rope harder until Chester moves
  • Let Chester rest for the whole week before the show
  • Practice in the show arena instead of the barn
  • Walk beside Chester and give him feed for good stepsCorrect answer

Why “Walk beside Chester and give him feed for good steps” is correct

This is a key-detail question. Uncle Dante's advice is stated directly in paragraph 3: walk beside the goat with a cup of feed and give him a bite after a few good steps. The student needs to find the paragraph where Dante speaks and match his words to the answer.

Why the other answers are wrong

  • Pull the rope harder until Chester moves — Dante says the opposite: "Pulling won’t work."
  • Let Chester rest for the whole week before the show — Dante never tells Jayla to stop practicing; she practices every night that week.
  • Practice in the show arena instead of the barn — Jayla keeps practicing around the barn; the arena is only where the show takes place.

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.