What does the last paragraph suggest about Farah?
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 story. Then answer the questions.
The Back Wall
Farah Khan had signed up to volunteer at the Northside Community Pantry because her school required twenty service hours, and the pantry was the only place on the list close enough to walk to. She had pictured herself handing bags of groceries to grateful families. Instead, on her first Saturday, Mr. Lowery sent her to the canned goods.
"Check every date," he said. "Anything expired goes in the gray bin. Sort everything else by kind. Low-sodium goes on the top shelf. People ask for it."
The shelf ran the whole length of the back wall. After an hour, Farah had covered about three feet of it. Green beans, corn, more green beans. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she ignored it, then checked it, then ignored it again. By eleven o'clock she had decided the job was pointless. Nobody would ever know whether the soup was next to the soup.
Near noon, a woman came through the line with two small boys. She stopped at the front table, where Mr. Lowery was helping families choose food, and asked very quietly whether there was anything low in salt. Her mother lived with them now, she explained, and the doctor had been strict about it. Last time, she had stood in the parking lot reading every label.
Mr. Lowery did not go searching. He walked straight to the back wall, to the section Farah had finished, and came back in less than a minute with an armful of cans. Every one was in date, and every one said LOW SODIUM across the front.
The woman read each label anyway, slowly. Then she smiled for the first time since she had walked in.
Farah went back to the shelf. She started where she had stopped, and this time she turned every can so that its label faced the front.
The question
Choose the best answer.
What does the last paragraph suggest about Farah?
- She wants to finish quickly so she can leave early.
- She is worried that Mr. Lowery will check her work.
- She would rather work at the front table with families.
- She now sees that her work matters to the families.Correct answer
Why “She now sees that her work matters to the families.” is correct
This question asks the student to infer a change in a character. Earlier Farah thought the job was pointless; after seeing the woman find what she needed, she goes back and even turns each label to the front. Doing more than she was asked shows she now believes the work helps people.
Why the other answers are wrong
- She wants to finish quickly so she can leave early. — She takes extra care with every can, which is the opposite of rushing.
- She is worried that Mr. Lowery will check her work. — Nothing in the story suggests she is worried about being checked.
- She would rather work at the front table with families. — She goes back to the shelf by choice and does not ask to move.
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.