What is Talia's opinion about the board's proposal?
Listen to a Speaker Support an Opinion · ELPAC Grades 11–12 listening. The correct answer, and the reasoning behind it.
An extended conversation in which one classmate argues for an opinion, followed by four questions.
Listen to the conversation between Oscar and Talia. Then answer the questions.
Paying the Interns
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Oscar: Talia, did you read the board's proposal? Every senior would finish a semester of internship to graduate.
Talia: I read it twice. I am for the internship and against the way it is written.
Oscar: What is wrong with it? Most high school internships are unpaid. That is normal.
Talia: Normal is not the same as fair. Almost a third of the seniors here work after school, and most of them because the money is needed at home. If you tell that student to give up fifteen hours a week of paid work for an unpaid placement, you have not added a graduation requirement. You have added a bill.
Oscar: The district would tell you it cannot afford a stipend for every senior.
Talia: That is a real limit, and I will not pretend the money is sitting in a drawer. But some employers here already pay their interns. Start the requirement with those placements and widen it as more partners come in.
Oscar: So a smaller program, but everyone in it gets paid.
Talia: Smaller and honest, not large and unequal. A requirement only some students can afford to meet is not a requirement for everyone.
The question
Choose the best answer.
What is Talia's opinion about the board's proposal?
- An internship should not be required of seniors unless the placement pays them.Correct answer
- Internships are valuable enough that the board should require two semesters.
- Seniors should be allowed to count their after-school jobs as the internship.
- The proposal should be dropped, because seniors already work too many hours.
Why “An internship should not be required of seniors unless the placement pays them.” is correct
This checks whether a listener can separate a speaker's position from the part of the proposal she agrees with. Talia says plainly that she is for the internship and against how it is written, and her objection is to requiring unpaid work. Students who hear only the objection often conclude she opposes internships altogether, which is the misreading the wrong answers are built on.
Why the other answers are wrong
- Internships are valuable enough that the board should require two semesters. — She never asks for more internship time; her argument is about how the existing semester would be paid.
- Seniors should be allowed to count their after-school jobs as the internship. — Existing jobs come up as what students would have to give up, not as a substitute for the placement.
- The proposal should be dropped, because seniors already work too many hours. — She supports the internship itself and proposes a smaller paid version, not dropping it.
Practice more of this
More listening practice for Grades 11–12, or see the ELPAC practice test for grades 11–12. For other grades, see free ELPAC practice tests by grade.
This is an independent study resource. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the California Department of Education or the official ELPAC program. All questions here are original practice material written to match the published task formats.