What is the lesson mostly about? (Monarchs on the Move)
Basic Understanding of Spoken English · TELPAS Grades 6–7 listening. The correct answer, and the reasoning behind it.
Reporting category 2: understand the main points and important details of spoken stories and informational passages, about everyday life and school subjects.
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Monarchs on the Move
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Ms. Nelson: Every fall, millions of monarch butterflies fly south across North America. Many of them pass right through Texas on their way to the mountains of central Mexico, where they spend the winter resting together in the forests. Some of them travel more than two thousand miles.
Ms. Nelson: Here's the amazing part: no single butterfly makes the whole round trip. The monarchs that fly south in the fall live for several months. But in the spring, as they head north again, they lay eggs and then die. Their children and grandchildren finish the journey.
Ms. Nelson: Monarch caterpillars can eat only one kind of plant, and that plant is milkweed. A monarch lays its eggs only on milkweed, so without it, there are no new butterflies. In many places, milkweed has been cleared away to make room for roads and buildings. That is why, next week, our class is going to plant a milkweed garden next to the cafeteria.
The question
Choose the best answer.
What is the lesson mostly about?
- How to plant a garden next to a school
- Why the forests of central Mexico are cold in winter
- How monarchs migrate and why they need milkweedCorrect answer
- What monarch caterpillars look like
Why “How monarchs migrate and why they need milkweed” is correct
This asks for the main idea of an informational talk. The first two parts describe the monarchs' long trip and how several generations complete it, and the third explains that they depend on milkweed. The correct choice covers both. Each wrong choice is a detail mentioned once or not explained at all.
Why the other answers are wrong
- How to plant a garden next to a school — The garden is mentioned only at the very end.
- Why the forests of central Mexico are cold in winter — Mexico is where monarchs spend the winter, but the weather there is not explained.
- What monarch caterpillars look like — Caterpillars are mentioned only to say what they eat.
Practice more of this
More listening practice for Grades 6–7, or see the TELPAS practice test for 6th and 7th 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.