What does Paula mean when she says, "I bit off more than I can chew this week"?

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.

The question

Choose the best answer.

What does Paula mean when she says, "I bit off more than I can chew this week"?

• AShe agreed to do more than she can handle.Correct answer
• BShe ate too much food at dinner.
• CShe does not like the food her father made.
• DShe has hurt one of her teeth.

Why “She agreed to do more than she can handle.” is correct

This tests an idiom. To "bite off more than you can chew" means to take on too many tasks. The passage gives the clues first (a book report, a science project, and a soccer game all at once), and her father's plan to "see what can wait" shows he understood she is overloaded. Because she says it at dinner, the literal food meaning is especially tempting.

Why the other answers are wrong

• She ate too much food at dinner. — This is the literal meaning of the words; she is talking about her busy week.
• She does not like the food her father made. — Nothing is said about the food tasting bad.
• She has hurt one of her teeth. — The phrase uses biting as a picture, not a real injury.

Practice more of this

More reading practice for Grades 6–7, or see the TELPAS practice test for 6th and 7th grade.