What is the main point of the presentation? (The Otter and the Forest)
Listen to an Oral Presentation · ELPAC Grades 9–10 listening. The correct answer, and the reasoning behind it.
A presentation on an academic topic, followed by three or four questions.
Listen to the student presentation. Then answer the questions.
The Otter and the Forest
Press play to listen. You can pause, rewind, and replay as often as you like.
Show transcript
Good morning. My presentation is about one of the smallest marine mammals on the California coast, the sea otter, and why scientists call it a keystone species.
A keystone species is one whose effect on its surroundings is much larger than its numbers would suggest. Take it away, and the whole system changes shape.
Sea otters eat sea urchins, which are small, spiny animals that feed on kelp. Kelp is a giant seaweed that grows in underwater forests, and those forests shelter hundreds of kinds of fish and other animals.
When otters were hunted for their fur in the eighteen hundreds, they disappeared from most of the coast. With no otters to eat them, the urchins multiplied. They chewed through the bases of the kelp, and in many places the forests were replaced by bare rock covered in urchins. Divers call these places urchin barrens.
A small group of otters survived along the Big Sur coast. Once they were protected, they slowly spread. In the stretches of coast the otters reached, the kelp grew back. In stretches they did not reach, many barrens remain.
So when people ask why it matters to protect one small animal, my answer is that we are not really protecting one animal. We are protecting the forest it keeps standing.
The question
Choose the best answer.
What is the main point of the presentation?
- Sea otters keep kelp forests healthy by eating urchins, so protecting otters protects the whole forest.Correct answer
- Sea otters were hunted for their fur in the eighteen hundreds.
- Divers should help remove sea urchins from the California coast.
- Kelp is the fastest-growing plant in the ocean.
Why “Sea otters keep kelp forests healthy by eating urchins, so protecting otters protects the whole forest.” is correct
A main-point question asks which idea the whole talk exists to support. The speaker defines a keystone species, shows the chain from otters to urchins to kelp, gives the history as evidence, and ends by saying protecting the otter means protecting the forest. Only choice a connects the otter to the forest, which is the point of every part of the talk.
Why the other answers are wrong
- Sea otters were hunted for their fur in the eighteen hundreds. — The fur hunting is historical evidence inside the talk, not its main point.
- Divers should help remove sea urchins from the California coast. — Divers are mentioned only because they named the urchin barrens; the speaker never asks anyone to remove urchins.
- Kelp is the fastest-growing plant in the ocean. — The speaker never compares kelp's growth with that of other plants.
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.