Why does Ms. Farrell say the draft makes the dispute look as if it began this spring?
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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Show transcript
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.
Why does Ms. Farrell say the draft makes the dispute look as if it began this spring?
- Hector states in his introduction that the dispute is new.
- Sources from one week show only that moment, not the decades behind it.Correct answer
- The articles Hector chose were all written by the same reporter.
- Hector did not include the dates of his sources in the paper.
Why “Sources from one week show only that moment, not the decades behind it.” is correct
This is the hardest item in the set, because the reasoning is implied rather than spelled out. Ms. Farrell moves straight from 'you have one week of coverage' to 'your paper argues that the dispute began this spring', leaving the student to supply the link: evidence drawn from one week can only describe that week. The correction that follows, that the dispute dates to the nineteen twenties, confirms it.
Why the other answers are wrong
- Hector states in his introduction that the dispute is new. — Nothing is quoted from Hector's introduction; the impression comes from his sources, not a claim he makes.
- The articles Hector chose were all written by the same reporter. — She says the articles come from the same week, not from the same writer.
- Hector did not include the dates of his sources in the paper. — Missing dates are never raised, and she clearly knows when the articles were published.
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.
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