What evidence does Imani give that the school throws away a lot of food?
Listen to a Speaker Support an Opinion · ELPAC Grades 6–8 listening. The correct answer, and the reasoning behind it.
An extended conversation in which one classmate argues for an opinion, followed by four questions.
Listen to the conversation between Grant and Imani. Then answer the questions.
Compost in the Cafeteria
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Grant: Imani, I heard you're going to the student council meeting to talk about composting in the cafeteria.
Imani: I am. I think we should put compost bins next to the trash cans at lunch.
Grant: Why? Isn't the food going to rot anyway?
Imani: It rots either way, but where it rots matters. Buried in a landfill, food breaks down without air and gives off methane, a gas that traps heat in the atmosphere. In a compost bin, it turns into soil.
Grant: Okay, but who's going to deal with the bins? The custodians already have enough work.
Imani: That's the strongest argument against it, and I'm not going to pretend it isn't. So in my plan, the environmental club empties the bins and carries them to the school garden every afternoon. No extra work for the custodians.
Grant: Does the garden even need that much compost?
Imani: Our garden teacher buys bags of soil every spring. And when our club weighed the food thrown away at lunch for one week, it came to more than two hundred pounds. We are paying for soil while we throw away what makes it.
Grant: Fine. You've convinced me. Mostly.
The question
Choose the best answer.
What evidence does Imani give that the school throws away a lot of food?
- Her club weighed a week of lunch food waste and found more than two hundred pounds.Correct answer
- The custodians told her that the trash cans are always full.
- The garden teacher buys bags of soil every spring.
- Food in a landfill gives off a gas that traps heat.
Why “Her club weighed a week of lunch food waste and found more than two hundred pounds.” is correct
This asks students to match a piece of evidence to the specific claim it supports. Imani backs up the amount of waste with a measurement: her club weighed the food thrown away at lunch for a week, and it came to more than two hundred pounds. The other true statements in the conversation support different points, which is what makes this harder than a plain detail question.
Why the other answers are wrong
- The custodians told her that the trash cans are always full. — The custodians come up only as Grant's worry about extra work; they never report anything.
- The garden teacher buys bags of soil every spring. — The soil purchases show that the garden needs compost, not how much food is wasted.
- Food in a landfill gives off a gas that traps heat. — Methane is her reason why it matters where food rots, not evidence about how much is thrown away.
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.