Which word should replace the underlined word? “Last summer my family [drive] to Big Bend National Park and camped there for three nights.”
Use Standard Grammar, Usage, and Spelling to Edit · TELPAS Grades 6–7 writing. The correct answer, and the reasoning behind it.
Reporting category 2: find and fix an error in a short text. On the real test some of these are typed answers or sentence rewrites. Here they are multiple choice so they can be checked.
The question
Read the sentence. The underlined part has an error.
Last summer my family [drive] to Big Bend National Park and camped there for three nights. Which word should replace the underlined word?
- driving
- drives
- droved
- droveCorrect answer
Why “drove” is correct
This tests irregular past tense and keeping verb tense consistent. "Last summer" tells the reader the sentence is in the past, and the second verb, "camped," is already past tense. The past tense of "drive" is the irregular form "drove."
Why the other answers are wrong
- driving — "Driving" needs a helping verb such as "was" and would not match "camped."
- drives — "Drives" is present tense, but "last summer" and "camped" show the sentence is about the past.
- droved — "Drive" is an irregular verb; its past tense is "drove," not "droved."
Practice more of this
More writing 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.