According to Sofia, when is tule fog most likely to form?

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 Sofia give her presentation to the class. Then answer the questions.

Tule Fog

Listen to Tule Fog0:57

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Show transcript

Sofia: Good morning. My presentation is about tule fog, the thick fog that fills California's Central Valley in winter.

Sofia: Tule fog is named after the tule, a tall reed that grows in the valley's wetlands. It forms on calm, clear winter nights, especially after rain has soaked the ground. As the night goes on, the ground loses heat, and the air just above it cools until its moisture turns into tiny droplets of water.

Sofia: Because the mountains around the valley hold the cold air in place, the fog can sit there for days. In the thickest tule fog, drivers may be able to see only a few car lengths ahead, which is why it has caused serious highway crashes.

Sofia: So tule fog is not just bad weather. It is the valley's shape, its wet soil and its long winter nights working together. And once you understand how it forms, you can predict when it will be dangerous.

The question

Choose the best answer.

According to Sofia, when is tule fog most likely to form?

On windy afternoons in late summer
On calm, clear winter nights after rain has soaked the groundCorrect answer
On cloudy mornings when the ground is warm
On days when smoke from fires fills the valley

Why “On calm, clear winter nights after rain has soaked the ground” is correct

This is a supporting-detail question about conditions, and Sofia lists them in one sentence: "It forms on calm, clear winter nights, especially after rain has soaked the ground." Each wrong answer changes one condition — wind instead of calm, summer instead of winter, warm ground instead of cooling ground — so the student has to check every part.

Why the other answers are wrong

On windy afternoons in late summer — She describes calm winter nights, the opposite of windy summer afternoons.
On cloudy mornings when the ground is warm — Fog forms as the ground loses heat at night, not when it is warm.
On days when smoke from fires fills the valley — Smoke is never mentioned; the fog is made of tiny droplets of water.

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.