Okay, so my literacy test is on Monday. By far my greatest weakness is comprehension. I've been using The Teachers Skills' Tests for Dummies (UK Edition) to help, but I'm worried that it's actually hindering me - or that my grasp of the topic is much worse than I suspected! A couple of practice exercises are provided in the book, including the type of question i dread the most: decide whether a statement is 'supported', 'implied', 'implicitly contradicted' or 'contradicted' by the passage excerpted. One statement given is, 'Schools should consider using teaching assistants to fulfil the role of teachers'. The answer given by the book reads: 'The article says nothing on this topic', but 'you can [...] say that the article implicitly contradicts this view'. However, in the passage I have found this bit: 'schools need to be clear on the fact that teaching assistants are not substitutes for teachers'. Now, to me, this explicitly contradicts the statement; isn't 'fulfil[ling] the roles of teachers' the same as saying 'substitut[ed] for teachers'? Is the book wrong, or at least a tad obscure?
Further question. 'From the list below select the two options closest in meaning to the following phrase as it appears in the context of the passage you have read'. The phrase is: 'There is a positive effect on pupils’ progress where teaching assistants are effectively trained to deliver specific support programmes.' I picked: 'Giving teaching assistants specific roles is likely to improve their effectiveness' and 'Pupils’ learning is better when teaching assistants are better trained', and felt pretty secure in these. But then the answer given is: 'Teaching assistants’ work is most effective when targeting specific interventions' and 'Specific support programmes have the greatest impact on pupil learning'! I hadn't even considered these. Please can somebody tell me why the latter are correct, or why my choices aren't?
I would be very grateful indeed for any pointers on this dastardly subject!