ELPAC Practice

The story says a truck rumbled past. What does rumbled tell you about the truck?

Read a Literary Passage · ELPAC Grade 2 reading. The correct answer, and the reasoning behind it.

A short story or scene, with questions about characters, events and what words mean in context.

Read the story. Then answer the questions.

The Quiet Shell

Dev found a shell at the beach. It was gray outside and pink inside. He held it to his ear. He heard a soft sound, like wind in a tunnel.

His sister Anya laughed. "That is not the ocean," she said. "It is only the air moving inside."

Dev put the shell in his pocket anyway. At home he set it on the shelf by his bed.

That night the house was loud. A truck rumbled past. A door banged. Dev picked up the shell and held it to his ear. The soft sound came back, and he fell asleep.

The question

Choose the best answer.

The story says a truck rumbled past. What does rumbled tell you about the truck?

  • It stopped in front of the house.
  • It was driving very slowly.
  • It was far away.
  • It made a deep, loud noise.Correct answer

Why “It made a deep, loud noise.” is correct

Literary passages test the meaning of a word from the sentences around it, and 'rumbled' is a good example because the paragraph opens by telling the reader the house was loud. The truck is one of the examples of that loudness. Ask the child what the paragraph says about noise, and then what job the truck is doing in it.

Why the other answers are wrong

  • It stopped in front of the house. — 'Past' tells us the truck kept going. Nothing suggests it stopped.
  • It was driving very slowly. — Speed is not what the word describes, and the story gives no clue about how fast the truck went.
  • It was far away. — A rumble that Dev hears from his bed is close by, and the paragraph is describing a loud house.

Practice more of this

More reading practice for Grade 2, or see the ELPAC practice test for grade 2. 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.