What is the author's main purpose in this article? (Open the Library After School)

Analyze and Evaluate Information and Ideas · TELPAS Grades 8–9 reading. The correct answer, and the reasoning behind it.

Reporting category 3: make inferences, draw conclusions, and think about why the author wrote a text and how it is built.

Read the article from a school newspaper. Then answer the questions.

Open the Library After School

Every afternoon at 3:45, the doors of the Eastwood Middle School library are locked, and every afternoon a few dozen students end up sitting on the floor of the front hallway, waiting for rides. Some of them are trying to finish homework on their phones. Some are not doing anything at all.

I am one of those students. My mother works until 5:30, and the city bus does not stop near my neighborhood. I am not asking for special treatment. I am asking for a quiet place to work during the hour and a half that I am already at school.

The library has the tables, the computers, and the books. What it does not have is staff after 3:45. Our librarian, Ms. Nwosu, already works a full day, and it would not be fair to ask her to stay later for free. But other schools in our district have solved this problem. At one, teachers take turns watching the library one afternoon a month and earn a small extra payment. At another, parent volunteers sign up for afternoon shifts.

Opening the library after school would not only help students who are waiting for rides. Students without a computer at home could type their essays. Students who need a quiet place to study could find one. Even students who just want to read would have somewhere better to go than a hallway floor.

I hope the principal and the PTA will agree to a one-semester trial. If nobody uses the library, the school can lock the doors at 3:45 again. I think they will be surprised.

Valeria Ramírez, Grade 8

The question

Choose the best answer.

What is the author's main purpose in this article?

To persuade school leaders to open the library after schoolCorrect answer
To describe what students do while waiting for rides
To complain about the work the librarian does
To explain how other schools in the district pay their teachers

Why “To persuade school leaders to open the library after school” is correct

This question asks about author's purpose. The article states a problem, gives reasons, answers an objection and ends with a request to the principal and PTA, which is the shape of a persuasive text. The wrong answers describe parts of the article rather than its overall goal.

Why the other answers are wrong

To describe what students do while waiting for rides — She describes this, but only to support her request.
To complain about the work the librarian does — She defends the librarian and says it would not be fair to ask her to work for free.
To explain how other schools in the district pay their teachers — Other schools are mentioned as examples, not as the main topic.

Practice more of this

More reading 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.