How have Eli's feelings about fishing changed by the end of the story?
Analyze and Evaluate Information and Ideas · TELPAS Grades 4–5 reading. The correct answer, and the reasoning behind it.
Reporting category 3: make inferences, draw conclusions, and think about why the author wrote a text and how it is built.
Read the passage. Then answer the questions.
Waiting for a Bite
Eli had been sitting on the dock for almost an hour, and his fishing line had not moved once. “This is boring,” he said. “The fish must all be asleep.”
Aunt Linda smiled and handed him a granola bar. “Fishing isn’t only about catching fish,” she said. “Look around.”
Eli sighed, but he looked. A white egret stood perfectly still in the shallow water. Three turtles sat in a row on a log, warming their shells in the sun. Far out on the lake, a fish jumped and left a ring of ripples.
Soon Eli began to notice more. A dragonfly landed on the tip of his fishing pole. A breeze made the reeds whisper. He was so busy watching that he almost forgot about his line.
Then his pole bent. “Aunt Linda!” he shouted. He reeled in slowly, the way she had shown him, until a small sunfish flopped onto the dock, its sides shining green and orange.
Eli looked at the fish for a long moment. It was too small to keep. Aunt Linda helped him slip the hook out, and Eli lowered the sunfish back into the water. It flicked its tail and was gone.
“Well,” said Aunt Linda, “is fishing still boring?”
Eli shook his head. “Can we come back next Saturday?”
The question
Choose the best answer.
How have Eli's feelings about fishing changed by the end of the story?
- He is bored and wants to go home.
- He enjoys it and wants to come back.Correct answer
- He is upset that the fish swam away.
- He is tired and wants to take a nap.
Why “He enjoys it and wants to come back.” is correct
The student has to compare the beginning and the end. At first Eli says fishing is boring. At the end he shakes his head when asked if it is still boring and asks to come back next Saturday. The change is shown through what he says and does, not named directly.
Why the other answers are wrong
- He is bored and wants to go home. — This is how Eli feels at the start, not the end.
- He is upset that the fish swam away. — Eli chooses to let the fish go; nothing shows he is upset.
- He is tired and wants to take a nap. — Nothing in the story says he is tired.
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.