What does the word enforce mean?
Understand Words and Language Structures · TELPAS Grades 6–7 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.
Juneteenth
On January 1, 1863, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. It declared that enslaved people in the states fighting against the United States were free. In Texas, however, the order changed very little at first. Few Union soldiers were in Texas to enforce it, and many enslaved people never heard about it.
The war ended in the spring of 1865. On June 19, 1865, in the port city of Galveston, Union General Gordon Granger announced an order stating that all enslaved people in Texas were free. The news came about two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation.
The next year, freed people in Texas began celebrating June 19 as a day of freedom. They called it Juneteenth, a blend of the words June and nineteenth. Early celebrations included prayer, speeches, music, and large outdoor meals. Some communities raised money to buy land where they could gather for the celebrations, such as Emancipation Park in Houston.
As families moved from Texas to other states, they took the holiday with them. In 1980, Texas became the first state to make Juneteenth an official state holiday. In 2021, it became a federal holiday celebrated across the United States.
Today, Juneteenth is marked with parades, festivals, and family gatherings. For many people, it is also a day to learn about history and to remember that freedom did not reach everyone at the same time.
The question
Choose the best answer.
Read this sentence from paragraph 1. "Few Union soldiers were in Texas to enforce it, and many enslaved people never heard about it." What does the word enforce mean?
- make sure people obeyCorrect answer
- read out loud
- argue against
- write down on paper
Why “make sure people obey” is correct
This is a vocabulary-in-context item. The sentence says the order changed very little because there were few soldiers to enforce it, so enforcing must be something soldiers do to make an order take effect. Students who know the word "force" inside it have an extra clue.
Why the other answers are wrong
- read out loud — Announcing the order was not the issue; soldiers were needed to make people follow it.
- argue against — Union soldiers supported the order, so they would not argue against it.
- write down on paper — The order had already been written; the problem was that no one was there to carry it out.
Practice more of this
More reading 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.