Why is a day added to the calendar about every four years?
Basic Understanding of Spoken English · TELPAS Grades 8–9 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.
Listen to the lesson.
Why We Have Leap Years
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Show transcript
Mr. Mitchell: Here's a question for you. Why does February sometimes have twenty-nine days? It comes down to how long it takes Earth to travel around the Sun.
Mr. Mitchell: We say a year is three hundred sixty-five days, but the real number is closer to three hundred sixty-five and a quarter. That extra quarter of a day doesn't sound like much, but it adds up. After four years, it's almost a whole day.
Mr. Mitchell: If we ignored it, the calendar would slowly drift away from the seasons. Over hundreds of years, the months would move out of their usual seasons. So about every four years, we add one day, February twenty-ninth, to keep the calendar in line with Earth. That's a leap year.
The question
Choose the best answer.
Why is a day added to the calendar about every four years?
- To make February as long as other months
- To give students an extra day of school
- Because Earth is moving more slowly
- To keep the calendar matched with the seasonsCorrect answer
Why “To keep the calendar matched with the seasons” is correct
This question checks the main point of a short lesson. Mr. Mitchell says that without the extra day, the calendar would "drift away from the seasons." The leap day keeps the calendar in line with Earth's trip around the Sun.
Why the other answers are wrong
- To make February as long as other months — February is still shorter than the other months, even in a leap year.
- To give students an extra day of school — School is not mentioned.
- Because Earth is moving more slowly — The lesson does not say Earth's speed changes.
Practice more of this
More listening practice for Grades 8–9, or see the TELPAS practice test for 8th and 9th 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.