What does the word replica 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.
The Texas State Capitol
In downtown Austin stands one of the largest state capitol buildings in the United States. The Texas State Capitol is where lawmakers meet to make the state’s laws. The governor of Texas also has an office there.
The building was finished in 1888. Its walls are made of pinkish-red granite, a very hard kind of stone. The granite came from a hill near the town of Marble Falls, about fifty miles away. Workers cut huge blocks of stone, and trains carried them to Austin.
The Capitol has a tall, round dome on top. Many Texans like to point out that their Capitol is even taller than the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. On top of the dome stands a statue of a woman called the Goddess of Liberty. She holds a star high in one hand.
After almost one hundred years of wind, rain, and hot sun, the old statue was cracked and worn. In the 1980s, a helicopter lifted it off the dome. Later, a helicopter set a new statue in its place. The new statue is a replica of the old one. It looks just like the original, but it is made of a metal that holds up better in bad weather. The original statue is now kept inside a museum in Austin.
Today, visitors can take free tours of the Capitol. They can stand under the dome, look straight up, and see a giant star in the middle of the ceiling.
The question
Choose the best answer.
Read these sentences from paragraph 4. The new statue is a replica of the old one. It looks just like the original, but it is made of a metal that holds up better in bad weather. What does the word replica mean?
- a statue that is broken
- a building with a dome
- a museum that shows old things
- a copy of somethingCorrect answer
Why “a copy of something” is correct
This tests using a context clue in the next sentence. The new statue "looks just like the original," which tells the reader that a replica is a copy made to match something else. Encourage students to read the sentence after an unknown word, because authors often explain a hard word there.
Why the other answers are wrong
- a statue that is broken — The old statue was cracked, but the replica is the new one that replaced it.
- a building with a dome — The dome is part of the Capitol; the word describes the statue on top of it.
- a museum that shows old things — The original statue is kept in a museum, but the word replica refers to the new statue.
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.