According to Mr. Collins, what causes thunder?
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.
Lightning and Thunder
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Mr. Collins: Have you ever noticed that during a storm, you see the lightning first and hear the thunder later? They actually happen at the same moment. Lightning heats the air around it so quickly that the air expands with a boom. That boom is thunder.
Mr. Collins: So why don't we notice them together? Because light travels much, much faster than sound. The flash reaches your eyes almost instantly, but the sound takes about five seconds to travel one mile.
Mr. Collins: That gives you a way to estimate how far away the lightning is. When you see a flash, count the seconds until you hear the thunder. Then divide by five. If you count ten seconds, the lightning was about two miles away.
Mr. Collins: One more thing. If you can hear thunder at all, you're close enough for lightning to reach you. So remember the rule. When thunder roars, go indoors.
The question
Choose the best answer.
According to Mr. Collins, what causes thunder?
- Clouds bump into each other high in the sky.
- Light hits the ground.
- Rain falls very hard.
- Lightning heats the air very quickly.Correct answer
Why “Lightning heats the air very quickly.” is correct
This is a cause-and-effect detail. Mr. Collins says lightning heats the air "so quickly that the air expands with a boom. That boom is thunder." The wrong answer about clouds is a common belief, so students must listen for what the teacher actually said.
Why the other answers are wrong
- Clouds bump into each other high in the sky. — This is a common belief, but the lesson does not say it.
- Light hits the ground. — He talks about light reaching our eyes, not the ground.
- Rain falls very hard. — Rain is never mentioned.
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.