In this post, we will provide you with reading practice tests and answers to prepare for "APTIS for Teachers".

(35 minutes) 

Part 1: Choose the word (A,B,C) that fits in the gap. The answer to question 0 is an example.

Hey Jennifer, 

I (0) _____ a work meeting tonight.

(1.1) _____ it finishes early, I won’t get home until 8:00pm. 

 

Can we reschedule (1.2) _____ dinner plans?

 

I am sorry (1.3)  _____ cancel last minute.

 

Are you free (1.4) _____ Friday instead?

 

Let (1.5) ________ know!

 

0.	A. have	B. go	C. take
1.1	A. Unless	B. If	C.  When
1.2	A. the	B. your	C. our
1.3	A. I	B. for	C. to
1.4	A. in	B. on	C. at
1.5	A. me	B. I	C. you

 

Part 2: The sentences below are from a history textbook. Order the sentences (B-F) to make a story. The first sentence (A) is an example.

 

Ancient Civilizations

A	When people think of ancient civilizations, they think of the Egyptians.
B	However, they are not the oldest group of people to live on Earth.
C	In fact, they began farming 5000 years before other people.
D	It is true that these people were quite famous for their pyramids and pharaohs.
E	For example, the Mesopotamian civilization existed before the Egyptians.
F	That is probably because they settled between rivers.

 

0.    A.

2.1 ________

2.2 ________

2.3 ________

2.4 ________

2.5 ________

 

The sentences below are from a writing lesson. Order the sentences (B-F) to make a story. The first sentence (B) is an example.

How to write a good body paragraph

A	These could be statistics or a quotation to support your idea.
B	First, you need a topic sentence.
C	This introduces the main idea of the paragraph.
D	Finally, make sure you link your paragraph to the main idea of your essay.
E	In order to do this effectively, you should also give examples.
F	Next, you should explain your ideas in more detail.

 

0. B.

3.1 ________

3.2 ________

3.3 ________

3.4 ________

3.5 ________

 

Part 3: Read the four opinions posted on a teacher’s forum. Then, answer the questions. 

Person A: I think it is important to get with the times. Nowadays, students are totally addicted to their smart phones. Instead of fighting them on it, I asked them how I could engage them better. Students answered a few questions about how they wanted to use social media more productively. So, I started a class hashtag. Students can contribute to discussions using it and add links to justify their points. I monitor it and I see them engaging with it to ask questions about homework as well. I also encourage students to use it to tell me what they like and dislike about the lessons.

Person B: I’ll admit, I doubted technology’s effectiveness in the class. I thought that because I learned without it, it was an unnecessary feature. In fact, I used to make students switch off their phones before entering the room. However, I changed my mind when a fellow teacher showed me a website that she used in class. It allows students to log in with their smartphones in order to play a game as a class. My students love it and it works so well for review lessons and to break up mundane tasks.

 

Person C:  I am a younger teacher, so there is a lot of expectations of me from the senior staff members and management. While they prefer more traditional methods, I have found the greatest success when I use technology in my lesson whether that be showing a video clip, using a slideshow, etc. I don’t think I would be able to teach a lesson without it! After my lesson observation, the principal asked me to lead a staff meeting on how to engage students using multimedia in class. It was an honour to be asked. I know it will be a lot of work, but I would love to help my colleagues out in order to make the students’ learning experience better.

 

Person D: When I began teaching teens, I found I was unable to capture their attention. They were constantly texting, or scrolling through social media during lessons and it was hard to establish rules with them. Even when I forbid them from using their mobile phones in class, I would catch them sneakily using them under their desks. I understand that it is important for teens to keep in touch. Thus, if we are able to get through all the material, I permit them to have a 5-minute break on their devices. I have found this to be quite effective.

 

Which person …

4.1. incorporates social media in their lessons? ________

4.2 was hesitant to use smartphones in class? ________

4.3 learned more about technology from a colleague? ________

4.4 uses technology as a reward? ________

4.5 relies on technology in the classroom? ________

4.6 wants to help teachers adapt? ________

4.7 accepts regular feedback? ________

 

Part 4: Read the text. Match the headings (A-H) to the paragraphs (19-25). The answer to question 0 is an example. There is one heading that you will not use.

 

(0) While everyone experiences stress at different rates or intensity levels, we are no stranger to it. Generally speaking, stress is any physical or emotional reaction to something that frustrates, angers or makes us nervous. Nowadays, people are feeling overwhelmed and exhausted due to long periods of stress as a result of increasing demands in personal and work life. As you read this, you are probably nodding your head in agreement. This well-known phenomenon of prolonged periods of stress is also known as burnout.

 

(5.1) Although burnout exists in every job, the education sector has notoriously high levels of it plaguing its workers. Several studies show that teachers often experience high levels of stress in their day-to-day duties and these are carried over into their personal life. It is important to consider that delivering lessons is only one aspect of the job description. Teachers spend hours and hours of their downtime planning lessons, grading assignments and thinking about how to best help their students. As a result, they often neglect their own needs.

 

(5.2) By not placing a priority on their own wellbeing, there are countless consequences. For starters, educators enduring burnout can be faced with a ‘fight-or-flight’ reaction. The former presents a scenario where the human body physically responds to stress, by increasing adrenaline and energy to tackle what is causing the irritation. The same response occurs in the latter, yet the body decides to flee instead of deal with the stress head-on.  Regardless of the choice that a teacher makes in response to their stressors, they become more vulnerable to common sicknesses, like colds and the flu, as well as more serious ones such as depression or anxiety.

 

(5.3) Thankfully, there are numerous coping mechanisms to aid in the battle against burnout. A proactive approach including managing time and setting goals may be key in alleviating stressful situations altogether. In a busy schedule, it is essential to set aside time for oneself. What’s more is the activities that you participate in during this reserved break. Regular exercise has been proven to do wonders for burnout and you do not even have to go to the gym to reap the rewards. A brisk thirty-minute walk, particularly in nature, has aided many people’s symptoms of stress. Furthermore, yoga and its meditative components are also useful in stress relief.

 

(5.4) Of course, these methods of coping with stress are all easier said than done. Many would argue that it is nearly impossible to disconnect from today’s technological devices and the seemingly never-ending influx of work-related emails and text messages. With that being said, the saying, ‘There’s an app for that’, also extends to solving the problem of burnout. These days, you can find several free apps on your mobile devices or tablets to guide you through mediation. You can watch endless videos on the Internet that play soothing music and give you step-by-step instructions on how to disconnect. Ironic, isn’t it?

 

(5.5) Nevertheless, the pros of decreasing burnout are endless. Lowering your stress levels will help your body achieve an internal balance. By reducing the amount of energy that goes into stressful situations, you will feel more energized. Moreover, regular exercise helps the human body release endorphins which boost one’s mood. A side effect of this includes becoming physically and mentally stronger.

 

(5.6) Additionally, there are several things a teacher could do during the work day to prevent burnout. On break, doing little exercises at your desk can provide some relief to a stressful day. Similarly, distracting yourself with a creative activity, such as an adult colouring book, can help to refocus tension or negative energy. Or, why not extend these activities to your students? Pacing your lessons with less-rigorous and more fun activities can increase a student’s learning by giving them a break from a hectic timetable. After all, some students also experience burnout.

 

(5.7) Having learned about how to identify and combat burnout, what is left to do? It is important to not beat yourself up if you become stressed. Though uncomfortable, stress is a natural and unavoidable part of human life, unlike burnout. Changing your mindset and practicing gratitude will help you feel more positive in the face of adversity, and allow you to make better decisions on how to cope.

 

A.    A New Problem

B.    Going Forward

C.     A 20th Century Approach

D.   A Familiar Feeling

E.    Burnout in Education

F.    Tips for the Classroom Environment

G.    Personal Benefits

H.   How to Relieve Stress

I.     Negative Impacts

 

0.    D

 APTIS For Teachers: Answers To Reading Practice Test #1 

 

Part 1 1.1 A 1.2 C 1.3 C 1.4 B 1.5 A

Part 2 2.1 D 2.2 B 2.3 E 2.4 C 2.5 F 3.1 C 3.2 F 3.3 E 3.4 A 3.5 D

Part 3 4.1 A 4.2 B 4.3 B 4.4 D 4.5 C 4.6 C 4.7 A

Part 4 5.1 E 5.2 I 5.3 H 5.4 C 5.5 G 5.6 F 5.7 B

 

Top Tips For The Reading Test

Below are list of tips that you can use in order to improve your APTIS reading score:

Analyse context: For example, the word ‘arduous’ does not appear in texts very often but look at this sentence.

The children were extremely tired but relieved after their arduous journey.

Arduous comes before ‘journey’, and so it is probably an adjective. The journey made the children tired, and so ‘arduous’ must describe a journey that is tiring. They were ‘relieved’ when it had finished. Therefore, ‘arduous’ must mean tiring and difficult and must be a negative word. 

Be Aware Of Timing: Don’t spend too long on one part. Learn to ‘pace yourself’ by practising the test at home using a timer. Learn the reading skills demonstrated and don’t spend large amounts of time trying to understand the complete text.

Flag the question for later review if not sure: Remember you can always go back to a question and often something will become clearer if you stop concentrating on it for a moment.

Don't leave any blank answers: Check the summary page to see if you have missed any questions. You do not lose marks for incorrect questions and so make sure that you answer everything.

Go back to flagged questions (if you have time): If you have moved on to another question, don’t forget to go back and complete the ones you left. If you still don’t know the answer, guess and move on.

Don’t expect to understand every word: Many of my students have been taught to look up every word they don’t understand in a dictionary. The theory behind this is good, a wide vocabulary is vital to getting a good score in the APTIS test, but worrying about words you don’t understand in the reading exam is one of the worst things you can do. It will slow you down and unknown words rarely prevent you from getting the answer right.

Don’t panic: Some of the questions have to be easy and some have to be extremely difficult so that they assess students from low to high levels. The key is not to panic when trying to answer a difficult one. Nearly all of the APTIS teachers I know have to check the answers to some questions because they are so difficult.

Getting used to difficult passages on a range of topics: Although most English tests do not require specific knowledge of a subject and will not you technical words, some passages can seem difficult. You can make sure that this becomes less of a problem by reading in English more and by reading texts similar in length and style to the ones you would find in the test. Doing this will help your writing as well.

Keywords: Each question will have keywords to help you locate the information in the passage and find the right answer. Sometime they may be obvious like a date. You would then scan the text looking for the date. Often they are in the form of a synonym or similar phrase(sometimes called a ‘parallel phrase’). It might be- ‘Which person dislikes busy places? And there is a phrase ‘John can’t stand crowds’. Therefore, the answer would be John.

Develop your speed reading skills: The test has a strict time limit which will challenge your ability. Remember that you are not reading a book or newspaper but just looking for information. Exam reading is different from reading in detail because you are only trying to answer some questions. Learn how to Skim and Scan texts and not to worry about unknown words. 

Leave difficult questions for the end. If you spend a lot of time on questions that you find difficult, you’ll be wasting valuable exam time. You won’t be able to answer all the easier questions and you’ll lose points! If you don’t know the right answers to some questions, leave them and move on. This way, you can focus on all the questions you do know the answers to. You can return to the difficult questions at the end if you have the time.

Focus: Your focus should be on the text first, then on the questions! Only if you have a good understanding of the text, can you answer the questions precisely and more effectively.

Cross out the wrong answers: If you see an answer that you're sure is wrong, cross it out. This way you won't get confused and save your time.

Don’t start reading the text before looking at the tasks. When you start reading, you should do so with questions in mind. If not, you’ll read the text too often and you simply don’t have time for that. Read the tasks and questions first, before you read the text. Underline the keywords and think about the information you need to find to answer those questions while you’re reading. Skim the text for a minute to get a general idea and then scan for information.

Notice the title of the passage. It often gives you a general idea about the main idea of the text, as will the sub-headings.

Guess the meaning from the context: When a native speaker in any language finds a word they don’t understand, they rarely translate. Usually, they get a general idea from the contest. Firstly, you can ask yourself, do I need to understand this word to answer the question? the answer is usually no, in which case you can ignore it. If the answer is yes, then decide if the word is positive or negative? Finally, look at the context.

Example: He was put in prison for robbery but later exonerated.

The word ‘exonerated’ is quite a specialised word in English and not used much and we don’t know if it is positive or negative. We know someone was put in prison and then we have the word ‘but’ this tells us there was a change to the situation. We can guess that ‘exonerated’ means something like freed or cleared, which it does.

Read, read, read! Reading will increase your vocabulary and help make the more idiomatic expressions and phrases, like dependent prepositions and phrasal verbs, become more instinctive as well as improving your English grammar.

 

APTIS practice reading tests: Practice makes perfect! So practice APTIS reading test as many times you can. If you would like to increase your APTIS reading score by practicing more reading tests then please check the exam library in our website here. There you will find largest simulated APTIS test database. Totally free with no registration (we won't even ask for your email).