Why does Valeria suggest a one-semester trial?
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. Wilson, 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 Ramirez, Grade 8
The question
Choose the best answer.
Why does Valeria suggest a one-semester trial?
- It makes her request easier for school leaders to accept.Correct answer
- She is not sure students really need the library.
- She will move to a new school after the semester.
- The PTA only plans one semester at a time.
Why “It makes her request easier for school leaders to accept.” is correct
This question asks the student to analyze a persuasive strategy. A trial is a small, low-risk request: if it does not work, the school can go back to the old rule. Offering that option answers a possible objection and makes it easier for leaders to say yes.
Why the other answers are wrong
- She is not sure students really need the library. — She is confident; she says she thinks they "will be surprised."
- She will move to a new school after the semester. — The article does not say she is moving.
- The PTA only plans one semester at a time. — Nothing in the article says how the PTA plans.
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.