ELPAC listening practice questions for grades 9–10

Ms. Herrera: Jonah, you left me a note about a work permit. Has the store already offered you the job?

Jonah: Yes. They want me to start next Monday, three evenings a week after school.

Ms. Herrera: Then I need two things before I can sign anything. Your parent fills out the top section, and your supervisor fills out the middle section and signs it.

Jonah: I already have my mother's part. Could I bring the supervisor's part to you on Monday morning?

Ms. Herrera: The permit has to be issued before your first shift, not on the day of it. Get the store to fill in their section this week, and I will have the permit ready for you on Friday afternoon.

Dana: Rafael, the voter registration table has been set up for twenty minutes and nobody has stopped.

Rafael: Look at our sign. It says register here, and that is all it says. Nobody walking past knows what they would be registering for.

Dana: So should I make a new one? The markers are still in the club room.

Rafael: Put the age on it. Anyone who turns eighteen before the election can fill out a form today, and most of the seniors have no idea that is allowed.

Dana: I will go write it. Can you stand in front of the table instead of behind it? People walk past a table, but they stop for a person.

Imani: Mr. Cole, do you have a minute? I am applying to a summer research program at the university, and the application asks for a teacher recommendation.

Mr. Cole: I can write one for you. When is it due?

Imani: The application closes on the fifteenth, so about two weeks from now.

Mr. Cole: That is enough time, but I need something from you first. Send me the program description and a short list of what you actually did in chemistry this year. The projects, not the grades.

Imani: Why the projects?

Mr. Cole: Because anyone reading your file can already see your transcript. A letter is only worth sending if it says something the transcript cannot.

Grant: Ms. Herrera, I want to drop chemistry. I keep failing the quizzes, and I think I should just take a study hall instead.

Ms. Herrera: Before we change anything, tell me which quizzes you are failing. All of them, or certain ones?

Grant: Mostly the Monday ones. I work at my cousin’s restaurant on Sunday nights, and I do not get home until after eleven.

Ms. Herrera: Then the class may not be the real problem. If you drop chemistry, you will be a lab science short for most four-year universities. Mr. Cole runs tutoring after school on Thursdays. Go for the next three weeks, and ask your cousin whether your Sunday shift could end earlier. If your scores are still low after that, come back and we will look at your schedule again.

Camila: Jamal, the soccer list is up. I am on junior varsity again. I really thought this was my year for varsity.

Jamal: I know it stings. But think about who is actually going to play on varsity. Coach told us the starting players are almost all seniors this season.

Camila: So I would have spent the season on the bench.

Jamal: Most of it, probably. On junior varsity you will play every minute of every game, and Coach watches those games to decide who moves up next year. That is a lot more time on the field than anyone sitting on the varsity bench is going to get.

Anh: Hi. I would like to reserve a study room for my group for two hours this afternoon.

Mr. Salazar: Study rooms can only be booked one hour at a time. But if nobody has reserved the hour after yours, you can renew it here at the desk when your time is up.

Anh: Is anyone booked after three o’clock?

Mr. Salazar: Room four is open all afternoon. Take it from two to three, and come back to the desk at three to renew it. If you would rather not take the chance, the tables on the second floor are first come, first served, and there is no time limit up there.