ELPAC Practice

What does this sentence show?

Read a Literary Passage · ELPAC Grades 3–5 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 passage. Then answer the questions.

Drawing Words

On her first day at Rosewood Elementary, Farida knew only a few English words. When the teacher spoke, the sentences rushed past her like cars on a freeway. Farida held her pencil tightly and stared at her desk.

At recess, a boy named Tomás sat down next to her with a notebook. He did not say much. Instead, he drew a quick picture of a ball and wrote the word ball under it. Then he pointed to the playground.

Every day that week, Tomás drew something new: a slide, a lunch tray, a bus. Farida copied each word into her own notebook and whispered it twice.

On Friday, Farida took the notebook from Tomás and drew a small sun. Under it she wrote a word in Dari, the language her family speaks at home. "Aftab," she said slowly. Tomás tried to say it and got it wrong. Farida laughed for the first time all week, and then she said it again so he could try.

The question

Choose the best answer.

Read this sentence from the passage: "When the teacher spoke, the sentences rushed past her like cars on a freeway." What does this sentence show?

  • The teacher was talking about cars.
  • Farida's classroom was next to a busy freeway.
  • The English words came too fast for Farida to understand.Correct answer
  • The teacher was in a hurry to finish the lesson.

Why “The English words came too fast for Farida to understand.” is correct

This tests understanding a comparison (a simile). The writer compares the teacher's sentences to fast cars to show how they felt to Farida: they went by too quickly for her to catch. Students who read the words literally choose the answers about cars or a freeway, so ask what the two things have in common.

Why the other answers are wrong

  • The teacher was talking about cars. — The cars are part of the comparison, not the subject of the lesson.
  • Farida's classroom was next to a busy freeway. — No freeway is really nearby; the freeway is only in the comparison.
  • The teacher was in a hurry to finish the lesson. — The sentences seem fast to Farida because she knows only a few English words, not because the teacher is rushing.

Practice more of this

More reading practice for Grades 3–5, or see the ELPAC practice test for grades 3–5. 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.