What problem does Ms. Farrell find in Hector's draft?
Listen to a Classroom Conversation · ELPAC Grades 9–10 listening. The correct answer, and the reasoning behind it.
A multiple-turn conversation between two speakers, followed by three questions.
Listen to the conversation between Ms. Farrell and Hector about his research paper. Then answer the questions.
Sources for the Research Paper
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Ms. Farrell: Hector, I read your draft on the Central Valley water debate. The writing itself is clear, but eight of your nine sources are news articles from the same week.
Hector: I searched the topic and those were the first results that came up.
Ms. Farrell: That is the problem. You have one week of coverage, so your paper argues that the dispute began this spring. It did not. It has been running since the nineteen twenties.
Hector: Should I take the news articles out?
Ms. Farrell: Keep two of them for the current situation. Then go find the history. The water district publishes its own annual reports, and the university library has an oral history collection with interviews from farmers and city engineers.
Hector: I have never used an oral history before.
Ms. Farrell: Come to the library with me during fourth period on Thursday, and I will show you how to search it.
The question
Choose the best answer.
What problem does Ms. Farrell find in Hector's draft?
- Almost all of his sources come from a single week of news coverage.Correct answer
- His writing is unclear in several places.
- He used only one source for the entire paper.
- He wrote about a topic that was not on the assignment list.
Why “Almost all of his sources come from a single week of news coverage.” is correct
This is a stated-detail question, and the detail arrives in the opening line, where students are still settling into the audio. Ms. Farrell praises the writing and then names the fault precisely: eight of nine sources from the same week. Encourage a first listen aimed at the setup sentence, which in classroom conversations almost always states the issue.
Why the other answers are wrong
- His writing is unclear in several places. — She says the writing itself is clear, so this reverses her compliment into a criticism.
- He used only one source for the entire paper. — He has nine sources; the problem is that they cover only one week, not that there is one of them.
- He wrote about a topic that was not on the assignment list. — The topic is never questioned, only the range of evidence behind it.
Practice more of this
More listening practice for Grades 9–10, or see the ELPAC practice test for grades 9–10. 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.