Why does Xiomara decide not to go by Mara?
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.
Say It Right
On her first day at Riverside Elementary, Xiomara waited for Mr. Patterson to call her name. When he got to her, he stopped and squinted at his list. “Zy... Zy-o-mara?” he tried. A few kids giggled. Xiomara’s cheeks grew warm, and she just nodded.
That night, she told her mother what had happened. “Everyone says it wrong,” she said. “Maybe I should just tell people to call me Mara.”
Her mother put down the dish she was drying. “Your name belongs to you,” she said. “Your great-grandmother had it, too. But people can’t learn to say it if no one shows them how.”
Xiomara thought about that. Then she took out a marker and a card. On the front, she wrote her name in big letters. Under it, she wrote: see-oh-MAH-rah. She drew a small star over MAH, so people would know which part to say the loudest.
The next morning, she taped the card to the front of her desk. Mr. Patterson stopped beside it and read it slowly. “See-oh-MAH-rah,” he said. “That’s a beautiful name. Thank you for teaching me.”
By the end of the week, even the kids who had giggled were saying it right.
The question
Choose the best answer.
Why does Xiomara decide not to go by Mara?
- Mr. Patterson says he likes the name Mara.
- She wants to keep her name and teach others to say it.Correct answer
- Her mother tells her that nicknames are not allowed at all.
- The other kids ask her to use her full name.
Why “She wants to keep her name and teach others to say it.” is correct
The story does not state her decision in one sentence. The student has to infer it from her mother's words, "Your name belongs to you" and "people can't learn to say it if no one shows them," and from what Xiomara does next: she makes a card to teach people. Each wrong choice gives a character words they never say.
Why the other answers are wrong
- Mr. Patterson says he likes the name Mara. — Mr. Patterson never hears the name Mara.
- Her mother tells her that nicknames are not allowed at all. — Her mother never says that; she says people need someone to show them.
- The other kids ask her to use her full name. — The kids giggle at first; they do not ask her anything.
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.