What does Amara mean when she says, “The fine is not teaching anyone to be responsible. It is just keeping them out”?
Listen to a Speaker Support an Opinion · ELPAC Grades 9–10 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 Devin and Amara. Then answer the questions.
Overdue Fines
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Devin: Amara, I saw your name on the petition to end overdue fines at the city library. If nobody pays anything for keeping a book late, why would anyone bring books back?
Amara: That was my first reaction too. But the fine is not what gets most books back. What gets them back is that you cannot borrow anything else until you return what you have.
Devin: The fines still bring in money, though.
Amara: Less than you would think. The library’s own budget report says the fines bring in about what it costs to collect them, once you count the staff time, the notices and the payment system.
Devin: Then who is it hurting?
Amara: Kids, mostly. When a card owes more than ten dollars, it gets blocked, and hundreds of the blocked cards in our city belong to students. A kid who lost a book in fourth grade can still be locked out in ninth. The fine is not teaching anyone to be responsible. It is just keeping them out.
The question
Choose the best answer.
What does Amara mean when she says, “The fine is not teaching anyone to be responsible. It is just keeping them out”?
- Students should be taught to pay their fines on time.
- Fines mostly shut young people out of the library without changing how they behave.Correct answer
- The library should hire more staff to teach students about responsibility.
- Students who lose books should be banned from the library.
Why “Fines mostly shut young people out of the library without changing how they behave.” is correct
This tests interpreting a speaker's conclusion, which sums up her strongest point. Amara has just described students whose cards stay blocked for years over an old fine, and her last two sentences say the fine does not achieve its stated purpose and does real harm instead. The word 'just' carries the meaning: keeping students out is the only thing the fine accomplishes.
Why the other answers are wrong
- Students should be taught to pay their fines on time. — Amara argues for ending the fines, not for teaching students to pay them.
- The library should hire more staff to teach students about responsibility. — She never suggests hiring staff; the staff she mentions are part of the cost of collecting fines.
- Students who lose books should be banned from the library. — Banning students is the effect she objects to, not something she proposes.
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.