Free NES 519 Teaching Assistant Practice Questions

The answer is C. In- is a prefix meaning not. The root oper means work and -able means capable of, so the three parts together give not capable of working.

• A is wrong: The root carries the idea of work, which is what the machine could not do rather than the fact that it could not.
• B is wrong: -able says capable of, which on its own would point the meaning the opposite way.
• D is wrong: Counting syllables says nothing about what any part of a word means.

The answer is D. Hours, prices and routes are facts a reader needs in order to act. Nothing in the list argues a case or tells a story.

• A is wrong: Persuasion needs a claim and a reason; a timetable offers neither.
• B is wrong: There is no story, character or humor in a list of practical details.
• C is wrong: Stating a price is not the same as objecting to it.

The answer is C. Checking the sky and taking an umbrella point together to rain. An inference has to be supported by what is on the page, not merely possible.

• A is wrong: Nothing in the sentence says anything about time or lateness.
• B is wrong: A coat suggests cool weather without saying how she feels about it.
• D is wrong: Where she is going is never mentioned or hinted at.

The answer is B. An introductory clause takes a comma at its end, and nowhere else. The comma marks where the opening clause stops and the main sentence starts.

• A is wrong: The comma has landed inside the main clause and cuts the subject off from its verb.
• C is wrong: A semicolon joins two complete sentences, and the opening clause cannot stand alone.
• D is wrong: This comma splits the opening clause in the middle, leaving the verb stranded.

The answer is A. The subject is box, which is singular, so the verb is is. The words between the subject and the verb do not change it.

• B is wrong: Pencils is the nearest noun but it is not the subject, so it does not set the verb.
• C is wrong: This is the plural form in the past tense and the subject is still singular.
• D is wrong: Have is the plural form; a singular subject takes has.

The answer is D. 28 divided by 4 is 7. Checking backward, 7 groups of 4 is 28 students.

• A is wrong: Six groups of four hold only 24 students, leaving 4 without a group.
• B is wrong: Eight groups of four would need 32 students, which is more than the class has.
• C is wrong: Fourteen is the answer to dividing by 2 rather than by 4.

The answer is C. Taking 7 from both sides leaves x on its own and gives 5. Checking: 5 plus 7 is 12.

• A is wrong: Four plus 7 is 11, one short of the total given.
• B is wrong: Nineteen comes from adding the two numbers instead of subtracting.
• D is wrong: Eighty-four comes from multiplying them, which the equation does not ask for.

The answer is B. There are 12 inches in a foot, so 3 feet is 3 times 12, which is 36 inches.

• A is wrong: Twelve inches is one foot rather than three.
• C is wrong: Twenty-four inches is two feet.
• D is wrong: Forty-eight inches is four feet.

The answer is A. A short silence gives the reader time to use what they know. Jumping in removes the practice the moment was for.

• B is wrong: Supplying the word ends the attempt before the student has made one.
• C is wrong: Skipping loses the word and often the sense of the sentence with it.
• D is wrong: Handing it to somebody else takes the work away and can embarrass the reader.

The answer is A. Reporting on progress is the teacher's responsibility. Referring the parent on is not unhelpful; it sends them to the person who can answer properly.

• B is wrong: Your observations are part of a fuller picture only the teacher holds.
• C is wrong: A reassurance you cannot support may be untrue and will be remembered as official.
• D is wrong: A child's work and records are not yours to hand over in a corridor.