According to the presentation, what makes light pollution different from smoke or plastic?
Listen to an Oral Presentation · ELPAC Grades 6–8 listening. The correct answer, and the reasoning behind it.
A presentation on an academic topic, followed by three or four questions.
Listen to Priyanka give her presentation to the class. Then answer the questions.
Light Pollution
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Show transcript
Priyanka: Good morning. My name is Priyanka, and my presentation is about light pollution.
Priyanka: About eighty percent of people in the United States now live somewhere the Milky Way cannot be seen at night. The cause is not one enormous light. It is thousands of ordinary ones, on parking lots and porches and signs, that throw their light upward instead of down.
Priyanka: The effects reach well past astronomy. Migrating birds navigate by the night sky, and a brightly lit city can pull a whole flock miles off its route. Sea turtle hatchlings crawl toward the brightest horizon, which for millions of years was the ocean.
Priyanka: Here is the encouraging part. Unlike smoke or plastic, this pollution disappears the moment the light is switched off or pointed down. A shielded fixture can fix a whole street in one night.
The question
Choose the best answer.
According to the presentation, what makes light pollution different from smoke or plastic?
- It affects only people who study the stars.
- It comes from a small number of very bright sources.
- It cannot be measured accurately.
- It stops as soon as the lights are switched off or aimed downward.Correct answer
Why “It stops as soon as the lights are switched off or aimed downward.” is correct
This is a supporting-detail question built on a comparison, which is a common move in academic talks. Priyanka names smoke and plastic only to set up a contrast: unlike those, this pollution 'disappears the moment the light is switched off or pointed down'. Listening for the word 'unlike' tells a student that a difference is about to be stated and is worth holding on to.
Why the other answers are wrong
- It affects only people who study the stars. — She says directly that the effects reach well past astronomy, and gives birds and sea turtles as examples.
- It comes from a small number of very bright sources. — She rules this out: the cause is not one enormous light but thousands of ordinary ones.
- It cannot be measured accurately. — Measurement never comes up; she cites a figure for how many people cannot see the Milky Way.
Practice more of this
More listening practice for Grades 6–8, or see the ELPAC practice test for grades 6–8. 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.