How does Tomás help Farida learn English words?
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.
How does Tomás help Farida learn English words?
- He draws pictures and writes the word under each one.Correct answer
- He translates the teacher's words into Dari.
- He gives her a dictionary to take home.
- He asks the teacher to speak more slowly.
Why “He draws pictures and writes the word under each one.” is correct
This is a key-detail question. The passage says Tomás "drew a quick picture of a ball and wrote the word ball under it," and that every day he "drew something new." Matching a picture to a word is the help he gives, and Farida learns by copying the words.
Why the other answers are wrong
- He translates the teacher's words into Dari. — Tomás does not know Dari; he cannot even say "aftab" correctly the first time.
- He gives her a dictionary to take home. — No dictionary is mentioned. Tomás uses a notebook.
- He asks the teacher to speak more slowly. — Tomás never speaks to the teacher in the passage.
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.
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