This practice test contains 60 original multiple-choice questions on questioning techniques: types of questions, lower-order and higher-order questions, open and closed questions, convergent and divergent questions, Wait Time I and Wait Time II, probing, redirection, prompting, handling no-response and wrong answers, and questioning sequences, in the style of Pakistani teacher recruitment tests. Each question has one correct answer. Click Show Answer to check your answer and read a short explanation.
Types of Questions
Q1. Which of the following is a lower-order question?
- (A) How would you improve this experimental design?
- (B) What is the chemical symbol for water?
- (C) Justify your choice of method for this investigation
- (D) Design a fair test for this hypothesis
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Answer: B – Recalling a known fact is lower-order; improving, justifying and designing all demand higher-order thinking.
Q2. Which question most clearly asks pupils to evaluate rather than simply recall?
- (A) In which year was this school founded?
- (B) List the three colours shown in the flag on the cover of the textbook
- (C) Which of these two plans would work better for our school fair, and why?
- (D) What is the full name of the author of the passage on page twelve of the textbook?
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Answer: C – Choosing between two plans and giving reasons requires evaluation, while the other options ask only for recall.
Q3. An open question is best described as a question that:
- (A) Can be answered only with yes or no
- (B) Has exactly one correct word as its answer
- (C) Tests only spelling and recall
- (D) Allows varied answers
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Answer: D – Open questions have no single fixed answer, so pupils can respond with different ideas, reasons and examples.
Q4. Which of the following is a closed question?
- (A) Is water a compound: yes or no?
- (B) How might our town change in twenty years?
- (C) What are the advantages and disadvantages of this plan?
- (D) In what different ways could this problem be solved?
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Answer: A – A yes-or-no question has a fixed, narrow answer, while the other questions invite extended and varied responses.
Q5. Which classroom situation best illustrates convergent questioning?
- (A) Pupils invent as many uses for a paperclip as they can
- (B) Pupils discuss how they feel about the ending of a story
- (C) Pupils work out the single missing number that completes a pattern
- (D) Pupils choose any topic they like for a project, with no set answer in mind
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Answer: C – Convergent questioning narrows thinking towards one expected answer, here the single missing number in the pattern.
Q6. Which question is most clearly divergent?
- (A) What is 12 multiplied by 4?
- (B) How many different uses can you think of for a paper clip?
- (C) Which gas do plants absorb from the air?
- (D) Who was the first president of this country, and in which year did he take office?
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Answer: B – Listing many uses invites varied, original answers, while the other questions each have one expected answer.
Q7. A factual question mainly asks pupils to:
- (A) Design a new investigation
- (B) Judge the value of an argument
- (C) Create an original story
- (D) Recall learned information
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Answer: D – Factual questions check remembered knowledge, such as names, dates and definitions, rather than judgement or creation.
Q8. After a pupil says, “Plants need light to grow,” the teacher asks, “Why do you think light matters for a plant?” This follow-up is best described as a:
- (A) Closed recall question
- (B) A probing question
- (C) Rhetorical question
- (D) Question about classroom discipline
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Answer: B – Asking “why” after an answer probes the pupil’s reasoning instead of simply accepting or rejecting the first response.
Q9. A question that suggests its own answer, such as “You agree that this is the best method, don’t you?” is called a:
- (A) Divergent question
- (B) Factual question
- (C) Leading question
- (D) Probing question
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Answer: C – A leading question pushes the pupil towards the answer the teacher wants, so it does not test independent thinking.
Q10. A display question is a question to which:
- (A) The teacher knows the answer
- (B) Nobody in the class knows the answer
- (C) The answer is a matter of personal taste
- (D) Pupils must answer without speaking
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Answer: A – In a display question the teacher knows the answer and uses the question to display or check what pupils know.
Q11. Which of the following is a referential question?
- (A) What is the formula for speed?
- (B) What did you enjoy about the visit?
- (C) Name the largest planet in our solar system
- (D) Is 15 an odd number?
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Answer: B – A referential question asks for information the teacher does not already know, such as a pupil’s experience or opinion.
Q12. Questions beginning with “what,” “when” and “where” most often elicit:
- (A) Original designs
- (B) Judgements about values
- (C) Predictions about the future
- (D) Factual recall
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Answer: D – What, when and where questions usually ask for remembered facts, while how and why questions more often ask for explanations.
Q13. Questions beginning with “how” and “why” are most useful when a teacher wants pupils to:
- (A) Explain reasons and processes
- (B) Answer only with yes or no
- (C) Copy notes from the board
- (D) Repeat the teacher’s words exactly
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Answer: A – How and why questions push pupils to explain, connect ideas and give reasons, which goes beyond simple recall.
Q14. A teacher asks, “What do you think would happen if we doubled the amount of water given to this plant?” This question is best classified as a:
- (A) Factual recall question
- (B) Closed question with one word as its answer
- (C) Predictive, higher-order question
- (D) Rhetorical question needing no answer
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Answer: C – The question asks pupils to predict an outcome and think through a cause, which is higher-order rather than recall.
Q15. Which question best checks understanding rather than memory?
- (A) In which year was this law passed, and by which assembly was it approved?
- (B) Explain why leaves change colour in autumn
- (C) Who wrote this poem?
- (D) List the names of the five rivers
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Answer: B – Explaining why leaves change colour requires understanding a process, while the other questions can be answered by recall alone.
Wait Time
Q16. A teacher who wants to practise Wait Time I should:
- (A) Call on the first pupil to raise a hand the moment she finishes asking the question
- (B) Repeat the question louder if no hand rises at once
- (C) Move on to the next question when the silence lasts two seconds
- (D) Pause silently for a few seconds after asking, before naming a pupil
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Answer: D – Wait Time I is the silent thinking pause after the teacher asks a question and before a pupil is expected to answer.
Q17. After a pupil answers, the teacher waits before commenting so that classmates can react to the answer. This pause is:
- (A) Wait Time I
- (B) The teacher’s planning pause before the next lesson
- (C) Wait Time II
- (D) A revision slot at the end of the lesson
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Answer: C – Wait Time II follows a pupil’s response and gives classmates time to add to, challenge or build on the answer before the teacher judges it.
Q18. Mary Budd Rowe also found that when teachers allowed longer wait time, the teachers themselves tended to:
- (A) Ask fewer questions, with more of them demanding reasoning
- (B) Ask a larger number of quick recall questions in the same lesson
- (C) Give longer explanations between one question and the next
- (D) Call only on pupils who volunteered an answer
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Answer: A – With longer wait time Rowe found teachers asked fewer questions overall, and a greater share of them called for reasoning rather than recall.
Q19. If a teacher regularly allows less than one second of wait time, the most likely result is that:
- (A) Every pupil gets time to think deeply
- (B) Only quick recall pupils answer
- (C) Pupils ask more higher-order questions
- (D) Classroom discussion becomes longer and richer
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Answer: B – A very short pause rewards fast recall and trains other pupils to stay silent, because thinking time is removed.
Q20. For most classroom questions, a suitable Wait Time I is about:
- (A) One to two seconds
- (B) Five to eight seconds
- (C) Eight to ten seconds
- (D) Three to five seconds
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Answer: D – Three to five seconds is the widely recommended range, with more time for higher-order or complex questions.
Q21. A teacher asks a difficult question, waits four seconds, and a pupil gives a partial answer. The best next move is to:
- (A) Correct the pupil at once and move on
- (B) Ask a completely different pupil a new question
- (C) Pause, then probe the answer
- (D) Repeat the same question louder
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Answer: C – A pause after the partial answer, followed by a probe, helps the pupil think further instead of being cut off or replaced.
Q22. A key benefit of Wait Time II is that it:
- (A) Time to reflect or self-correct
- (B) Lets the teacher prepare the next lecture slide
- (C) Punishes slow pupils by making them wait
- (D) Shortens every lesson automatically
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Answer: A – Pausing after a response lets the speaker add detail, correct herself, and lets other pupils consider the answer before judgement.
Q23. A teacher pauses for five seconds after each question, but always calls on the same confident pupil. The main fault in this practice is that she:
- (A) Pauses for too long after simple recall questions, when a shorter pause would do
- (B) Wastes the pause by not distributing questions across the class
- (C) Asks questions that are too difficult for most pupils
- (D) Lets pupils answer in chorus instead of individually
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Answer: B – Thinking time only helps the whole class if questions are spread around; otherwise the same pupil answers while the rest stop trying.
Q24. Compared with a simple recall question, a higher-order question generally needs:
- (A) Less wait time, because pupils already know the answer
- (B) No wait time at all
- (C) The same wait time in every case
- (D) Longer wait time
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Answer: D – Analysis, evaluation and creation take more processing, so difficult questions deserve a longer thinking pause.
Q25. After a teacher deliberately lengthens her wait time, she notices longer answers and more hands raised. The best explanation is that:
- (A) More pupils have time to think
- (B) Pupils have become afraid of silence
- (C) The questions have become easier
- (D) The lesson has become shorter
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Answer: A – Thinking time lets more pupils form an answer, so participation widens and answers grow fuller.
Q26. Wait time does NOT mean that the teacher should:
- (A) Look expectantly at the class while pupils think
- (B) Count silently to herself before nominating a pupil
- (C) Use silence to embarrass a pupil who is struggling
- (D) Resist the urge to answer her own question
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Answer: C – Wait time is thinking time offered with patience and encouragement, not a silence used to pressure or shame a pupil.
Q27. A teacher who finds it hard to wait after asking a question can best practise wait time by:
- (A) Asking only pupils who answer instantly
- (B) Repeating the question three times at once
- (C) Giving the answer herself more quickly
- (D) Silently counting before nominating
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Answer: D – A deliberate silent count and an expectant look help the teacher hold the pause instead of filling it.
Q28. After a pupil gives a wrong answer, a short Wait Time II before the teacher responds is useful because it:
- (A) Lets pupils reconsider
- (B) Shows the class that the answer was foolish
- (C) Wastes time that could be used for new content
- (D) Proves the teacher does not know the answer
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Answer: A – A pause after an error gives thinking space instead of instant judgement, so correction can come from reasoning rather than ridicule.
Q29. A pupil starts an answer, pauses in the middle, and looks uncertain. The teacher’s best immediate response is to:
- (A) Interrupt and give the answer herself
- (B) Call on another pupil at once
- (C) Wait, then prompt if needed
- (D) Tell the pupil to sit down
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Answer: C – Waiting respects the pupil’s thinking, and a gentle prompt keeps the pupil in the answer instead of removing her from it.
Q30. Research on longer wait time shows that it tends to reduce:
- (A) The number of pupils who volunteer
- (B) Fewer “I don’t know” replies
- (C) The length of pupils’ answers
- (D) The amount of pupil-to-pupil discussion
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Answer: B – With time to think, fewer pupils give up at once, and more offer fuller answers supported by reasons.
Probing, Redirection and Prompting
Q31. A probing question is best defined as a follow-up question that:
- (A) Repeats the first question in a louder voice
- (B) Changes the topic completely
- (C) Gives the pupil the correct answer
- (D) Deepens an initial response
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Answer: D – Probing goes beyond the first answer and asks the pupil to explain, support or extend what was said.
Q32. Which of the following is an example of a probing question?
- (A) Can you give an example?
- (B) What is the capital of France?
- (C) Do you agree with me?
- (D) Please open your book at page 40
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Answer: A – Asking for an example probes the reasoning behind an answer, while the other options are recall, leading and instruction.
Q33. A teacher asks, “What exactly do you mean by ‘fair’ in this case?” This is a probe for:
- (A) New homework
- (B) Classroom discipline and pupil behaviour in general
- (C) Clarification of meaning
- (D) Factual recall
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Answer: C – Asking what a word means in context clarifies the pupil’s idea before the teacher judges or extends it.
Q34. A teacher asks, “What evidence supports your view?” This is a probe for:
- (A) Spelling of a word
- (B) Justification
- (C) The date of an event
- (D) The name of a textbook
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Answer: B – A justification probe asks the pupil to back an opinion with evidence or reasoning rather than assertion alone.
Q35. Redirection means that the teacher:
- (A) Asks another pupil
- (B) Gives the answer herself
- (C) Changes the lesson topic
- (D) Sends a pupil out of the class
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Answer: A – Redirection moves a question from one pupil to others, so more pupils think and respond instead of one voice dominating.
Q36. The main purpose of redirection is to:
- (A) Punish a pupil who answered wrongly
- (B) Show that the first pupil was foolish
- (C) Finish the lesson faster
- (D) Involve more pupils
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Answer: D – Redirection spreads thinking and lets the teacher hear whether understanding is shared or limited to one pupil.
Q37. A pupil answers correctly. The teacher then asks, “Sara, do you agree with Ahmed, and can you add a reason?” This is an example of:
- (A) Prompting the same pupil
- (B) Redirection
- (C) Ignoring the first answer
- (D) Giving the answer herself
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Answer: B – Passing the same issue to Sara, with a request for agreement and a reason, is redirection, not a prompt to Ahmed.
Q38. Prompting means that the teacher:
- (A) Repeats the pupil’s answer for the class
- (B) Marks the answer wrong at once
- (C) Gives hints, clues or smaller steps that help the same pupil reach the answer
- (D) Asks a different pupil the same question
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Answer: C – A prompt supports the pupil who is stuck, through a clue, a rephrased question or a smaller step, without giving the answer away.
Q39. Which of the following is an example of a prompt?
- (A) Think about what happened to the temperature when we heated the water: what did you observe?
- (B) The answer is evaporation: now repeat it
- (C) Ali, answer this question instead
- (D) That answer is wrong: sit down
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Answer: A – Pointing the pupil back to an observation is a clue that helps her think onwards, while the other options tell, redirect or reject.
Q40. How does prompting differ from simply telling the answer?
- (A) Prompting is louder than telling
- (B) Prompting takes less time than telling
- (C) Prompting is used only with weak pupils
- (D) Prompting gives a clue and keeps the pupil thinking, while telling removes the thinking
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Answer: D – A prompt scaffolds the pupil’s own reasoning; telling replaces it, so the pupil learns the answer without the thought that leads to it.
Q41. A pupil hesitates over a question and the teacher at once supplies the full answer. The main error is that the teacher:
- (A) Used wait time correctly
- (B) Failed to prompt and taught the pupil to depend on the teacher’s answer
- (C) Asked too easy a question
- (D) Redirected the question well
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Answer: B – Instant answers remove the chance to think; a prompt or a pause would have kept the pupil working towards the answer.
Q42. Which of the following is NOT an example of prompting?
- (A) Rephrasing the question in simpler words
- (B) Breaking a hard question into smaller steps
- (C) Giving the full correct answer and asking the pupil to repeat it
- (D) Reminding the pupil of a clue from an earlier example
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Answer: C – Rephrasing, breaking down and reminding are all prompts, but giving the full answer and asking for repetition is telling, not prompting.
Q43. What is the key difference between redirection and prompting?
- (A) Redirection is louder than prompting
- (B) Prompting is used only in examinations
- (C) Redirection is used only with difficult pupils
- (D) Redirection moves the question to another pupil, while prompting supports the same pupil
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Answer: D – The two techniques differ in who is helped: redirection changes the respondent, prompting helps the original respondent.
Q44. A pupil gives a short correct answer: “Because of gravity.” The best probing follow-up is:
- (A) How does gravity produce that effect in this case?
- (B) What is the spelling of gravity?
- (C) Who discovered gravity?
- (D) Please read the next paragraph aloud
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Answer: A – Asking how gravity produces the effect extends a brief correct answer into an explanation, while the other options change the focus.
Q45. A pupil gives a wrong answer. The teacher gently asks, “What led you to that answer?” This probe is valuable because it:
- (A) Embarrasses the pupil in front of the class
- (B) Proves the pupil was not listening
- (C) Reveals the pupil’s reasoning and any misconception behind the error
- (D) Ends the discussion quickly
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Answer: C – A diagnostic probe shows how the pupil thought, so the teacher can correct the misconception rather than only the final answer.
Handling Responses and Questioning Sequences
Q46. When a pupil gives no response at all, the teacher’s first step should usually be to:
- (A) Scold the pupil for silence
- (B) Wait, then rephrase the question or offer a prompt to the same pupil
- (C) Skip the topic entirely
- (D) Give the whole class extra homework
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Answer: B – Waiting plus a rephrase or prompt gives the pupil a fair second chance to think, instead of punishing silence or abandoning the question.
Q47. A pupil says, “I don’t know.” The most supportive response is to:
- (A) Offer a smaller step or a clue, or give thinking time and return to the pupil later
- (B) Laugh and ask a harder question
- (C) Move on and never ask that pupil again
- (D) Answer for the pupil and praise the class instead
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Answer: A – A smaller step, a clue or a return later keeps the pupil included and thinking, while ridicule or exclusion teaches silence.
Q48. A pupil’s written answer in classwork shows a misunderstanding, and the teacher returns it with a comment. The best comment is one that:
- (A) Marks the whole page wrong and writes the correct answer in the margin
- (B) Leaves the error unmarked so that the pupil is not discouraged
- (C) Circles the error and tells the pupil to ask a neighbour for the answer
- (D) Points to where the reasoning went wrong and asks a question that leads the pupil to correct it
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Answer: D – Pointing to the faulty reasoning and probing towards the correction turns the error into learning, while marking it wrong, ignoring it or passing it to a neighbour does not.
Q49. A pupil gives the correct answer but cannot explain how she reached it. The best response is to:
- (A) Accept the answer and move on to the next question
- (B) Ask her to explain her working, so the reasoning is checked and shared with the class
- (C) Repeat the answer for the class yourself and continue
- (D) Ask a different pupil to explain, without returning to the first pupil
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Answer: B – Asking for the working checks whether the answer was understood or guessed, and makes the reasoning available to the whole class.
Q50. The same three confident pupils answer every question in a class. The best remedy is to:
- (A) Stop asking questions altogether
- (B) Ask only the confident pupils, because they are reliable
- (C) Distribute questions deliberately, use wait time, and redirect to quieter pupils
- (D) Punish the confident pupils for answering
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Answer: C – Deliberate distribution, wait time and redirection widen participation without punishing pupils who are willing to answer.
Q51. A teacher who accepts only chorus answers from the whole class faces the problem that:
- (A) Individual understanding is masked, so she cannot tell who understands and who does not
- (B) Lessons become too quiet
- (C) Pupils learn too quickly
- (D) The textbook becomes unnecessary
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Answer: A – A chorus hides individual gaps, because strong voices carry weak ones and the teacher gets no diagnosis of each pupil.
Q52. A good questioning sequence for a new topic usually moves:
- (A) From evaluation straight to recall, with no middle steps
- (B) From the hardest question to the easiest
- (C) In random order, with no connection between questions
- (D) From recall and understanding towards application, analysis and evaluation
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Answer: D – Building from lower-order to higher-order questions lets pupils secure facts and meaning before they apply and judge ideas.
Q53. A funnel sequence of questions is one that:
- (A) Starts with a detail and widens to a general issue
- (B) Asks the same question repeatedly
- (C) Starts with a broad open question and narrows step by step to specifics
- (D) Asks only yes-or-no questions
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Answer: C – Like a funnel, the sequence narrows: a wide opening question is followed by increasingly specific probes.
Q54. An inverted funnel sequence of questions is one that:
- (A) Starts broad and narrows
- (B) Starts with a specific detail and widens to broader issues and generalisations
- (C) Never reaches a conclusion
- (D) Uses only rhetorical questions
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Answer: B – An inverted funnel opens narrowly, for example with one example, and then widens towards principles and general ideas.
Q55. A teacher asks a rapid series of closed questions and never probes an answer. The main weakness of this pattern is that it:
- (A) Takes too much lesson time
- (B) Makes pupils too confident
- (C) Gives pupils no chance to disagree
- (D) Checks recall but gives little evidence of reasoning or depth of understanding
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Answer: D – Rapid closed questions can confirm remembered facts, but without probes the teacher cannot see how pupils reason or how deep their understanding runs.
Q56. When introducing a new concept, the most sensible opening move in a questioning sequence is to:
- (A) Elicit pupils’ prior knowledge, then build new ideas on it and check understanding with probes
- (B) Ask the hardest evaluation question first
- (C) Ask no questions until the end of the lesson
- (D) Ask only pupils who have already studied the topic at home
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Answer: A – Starting from what pupils already know connects new learning to existing ideas, and probes then check whether the new understanding holds.
Q57. A teacher names Ali before asking the question: “Ali, what is photosynthesis?” The main drawback is that:
- (A) Ali will always answer correctly
- (B) The question becomes too easy
- (C) Other pupils may stop thinking, because only Ali is expected to answer
- (D) Ali will never learn the topic
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Answer: C – Naming first releases the rest of the class from thinking; naming after the question and a pause keeps everyone engaged.
Q58. Which routine best supports thinking across the whole class?
- (A) Pose the question to the whole class, pause, and then nominate a pupil
- (B) Nominate a pupil, then ask the question with no pause
- (C) Answer every question yourself after one second
- (D) Ask only volunteers and accept only the first hand raised
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Answer: A – Pose, pause, then nominate gives every pupil thinking time and keeps the nomination fair instead of a race to raise a hand.
Q59. One pupil dominates every discussion. The best handling is to:
- (A) Forbid that pupil ever to speak again
- (B) Let the pupil answer everything, because speed matters most
- (C) Ignore all other pupils’ hands
- (D) Thank the contributor, redirect questions to others, and invite quieter pupils by name after a pause
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Answer: D – Thanking, redirecting and inviting others by name shares discussion fairly without shaming the keen pupil.
Q60. Effective questioning is best judged by:
- (A) The number of questions the teacher asks in one period
- (B) The quality of pupils’ thinking, reasoning and participation that the questions produce
- (C) How quickly pupils answer
- (D) How difficult the teacher’s vocabulary sounds
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Answer: B – Counting questions or rewarding speed misses the point; good questioning is shown in deeper thinking and wider, thoughtful participation.