What is this passage mostly about? (The Desert Tortoise)
Read an Informational Passage · ELPAC Grade 2 reading. The correct answer, and the reasoning behind it.
A longer factual text, with questions about the main idea, supporting details and vocabulary.
Read the passage. Then answer the questions.
The Desert Tortoise
The desert tortoise lives in the hot, dry deserts of California. It is our state reptile.
A desert tortoise does not need to drink very often. It gets most of its water from the plants and flowers it eats. After a rain, it may drink from a puddle and keep the water in its body for months.
The desert is very hot in summer. To stay cool, a tortoise digs a burrow. A burrow is a hole in the ground. The tortoise rests in its burrow during the hottest part of the day.
In winter, the desert gets cold. The tortoise goes deep into its burrow and sleeps until spring.
The question
Choose the best answer.
What is this passage mostly about?
- How the desert tortoise lives in a hot, dry placeCorrect answer
- Why deserts are cold in winter
- How to take care of a pet tortoise
- What plants grow in the desert
Why “How the desert tortoise lives in a hot, dry place” is correct
A main-idea question asks what the whole passage is about, not one paragraph. Each paragraph here explains one way the tortoise copes with the desert: water, heat, and cold. Ask your child to say what each paragraph is about in a few words, then find the answer that covers all of them.
Why the other answers are wrong
- Why deserts are cold in winter — Cold winters are in the last paragraph only, and the point is how the tortoise copes with them.
- How to take care of a pet tortoise — The passage is about wild tortoises in the desert. Pets are never mentioned.
- What plants grow in the desert — Plants are mentioned once, as the tortoise's food. They are not the topic.
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.