Based on the passage, which fall weather would most likely give a maple the brightest red leaves?

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 passage. Then answer the questions.

Why Leaves Change Color

In much of Texas, fall arrives quietly. But in a few places, such as Lost Maples State Natural Area in the Hill Country, hillsides of maple trees turn red, orange, and gold each autumn, and visitors drive for hours to see them. Why do leaves change color at all?

The answer begins with green. Leaves are green because they are full of chlorophyll, a substance that captures energy from sunlight. Plants use that energy to make food from water and carbon dioxide, a process called photosynthesis. During spring and summer, a tree keeps making new chlorophyll, so its leaves stay green.

Green is not the only color in a leaf, though. Many leaves also contain yellow and orange substances called carotenoids, the same kind of substance that makes carrots orange. All summer, the strong green of the chlorophyll hides them.

As fall approaches, the nights grow longer, and in many trees cooler temperatures add to the signal. The tree stops making new chlorophyll and begins to prepare for winter. As the green fades, the yellows and oranges that were there all along finally show through.

Reds and purples work differently. In some trees, including many maples, the leaves make new substances in the fall, called anthocyanins. Sunny days and cool nights that stay above freezing tend to make the reds brighter. That is one reason the colors can change from year to year, even on the same tree.

Eventually, the tree seals off each leaf where its stem meets the branch, and the leaf falls. The tree rests through the winter and grows new green leaves in the spring.

The question

Choose the best answer.

Based on the passage, which fall weather would most likely give a maple the brightest red leaves?

  • Cloudy days and warm nights
  • Sunny days and cool nights above freezingCorrect answer
  • Sunny days and nights below freezing
  • Cloudy, rainy days and nights below freezing

Why “Sunny days and cool nights above freezing” is correct

This question asks students to apply information to a new case. Paragraph 5 gives two conditions together: sunny days and cool nights that stay above freezing. The second wrong answer gets only one of the two right, so careful reading of "above freezing" matters.

Why the other answers are wrong

  • Cloudy days and warm nights — The passage says sunny days and cool nights make reds brighter.
  • Sunny days and nights below freezing — The passage says nights that stay "above freezing."
  • Cloudy, rainy days and nights below freezing — This is the opposite of both conditions in paragraph 5.

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.