Aptis for Teachers: Test 4 with Sample B2 Answers

Aptis for Teachers Test 4 with Sample B2 Answers: Script

Part One

30 seconds per answer

What do you after you finish work?

As soon as I get home from work I kick off my shoes, make myself a large cup of lemon and ginger tea and get down to any marking I’ve got to do. Then I go for a quick run, have a shower, make and eat dinner, and spend the rest of the evening chilling out with my family.

Highlighted lexis: phrasal verbs

kick off – take off / remove quickly

get down to – start work on

chill out – relax

Describe your classroom.

My classroom’s on the first floor of the main building. I’m lucky, as it’s very light and airy and we have plenty of space. I’ve put up a lot of students’ work on the walls, which makes the room colourful too. The only downside is that it overlooks the playground, which can be a bit distracting.

Highlighted lexis

light, airy, colourful – useful adjectives for describing a room

downside – synonym of ‘disadvantage’

Tell me about your colleagues.

My colleagues are absolutely fabulous. I’ve been working at the school for 18 months, and I can honestly say that I’ve never had a bad word to say about any of them. They’re supportive and always ready to lend a hand. In my previous school that wasn’t the case, and I’m so glad I left.

Highlighted lexis

absolutely fabulous / I can honestly say ­– use adverbs to raise the level of your answers

lend a hand – synonym of ‘help’

Part Two

45 seconds per answer

Describe this picture. 

There are six children sitting in a semi-circle in a very colourful room, with a young man who’s probably their teacher. The seats are on different levels, like in a theatre. It could be a modern type of classroom. The kids look about eight or nine years old. Two of the girls are dressed exactly the same, so they might be sisters, or maybe twins. The girl on the left is engrossed in her book, and the others look as if they’re discussing something they’ve read.

Highlighted structures

probably / maybe – adverbs of probability / possibility

could be / might be – modal verbs of speculation

look + adjective or adjectival clause / look as if + clause

What type of books do children and young people in your country read?

That’s an interesting question … I think it depends on their age and, of course, their interests. Younger children love picture books, especially ones with rhymes and beautiful artwork, while slightly older ones prefer books that are funny, or series that are based in fantasy worlds, like Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings. I’ve also noticed that in recent years older children and teenagers have been getting into graphic novels and manga-style books.

Highlighted language

That’s an interesting question – useful expression to give you time to think

it depends (on …) – a good way to start your answer and cover more than one aspect of the question

getting into – synonym of ‘becoming interested in’

How have reading habits changed since you were a child?

Well, 20 years ago almost all books were made out of paper, and you’d see people reading books or newspapers on public transport. These days, when I look round, I notice fewer people reading – most of them are on their phones, scrolling through their social media feed or playing games. I do see some people using Kindles or other e-readers, but in general I’d say that there’s been a sharp decline in the number of books being read.

Highlighted structures

you’d see – would + infinitive to describe past habits

I do see – we use the auxiliary ‘do’ in statements to emphasise a point

I’d say – second conditional structure to give an opinion

Part Three

45 seconds per answer

Tell me what you see in these two pictures.

Both pictures show young people involved in playing games – one’s an individual game, while the other’s a team sport. The first is a chess tournament, and it looks like some type of competition between adults and children, or a tournament that’s open to all age-groups … whereas the second photo shows a group of seven or eight-year-olds playing football. There are both girls and boys playing, and they look like they’re having a great time.

Highlighted structures

Both pictures show – to highlight what the photos have in common

while / whereas – conjunctions to compare and contrast

look like + noun or clause

Which after-school activities are popular in your country?

In the school where I work we offer lots of after-school activities. Many of them are focused on helping students to attain better test scores, and the one most in demand is English. Of course, those are more popular with parents than with students! Then there are the non-academic activities such as sports … the ones that have the biggest uptake are football, swimming and street dance, which has proved so popular that we even have a waiting list.

Highlighted language

in demand – needed or wanted by many people 

uptake – participation in a service provided

prove popular – collocation: to be successful

What are the benefits of after-school activities?

I think one of most positive aspects of after-school activities is that they give children a way to connect with their peers in a new setting. Getting to know each other out of class makes them feel more like a group of friends, which in turn helps build confidence in class. Arts options, such as drama and music, can help kids get interested in new fields. And even when the activities are academic in nature, they’re often more fun than ‘real’ classes.

Highlighted language

connect with their peers – meet or get closer to those of the same age

build confidence – collocation: to increase confidence gradually

in nature – having such a quality

Part Four

One minute to think & take notes, two minutes to answer all three questions 

Tell me about a time when you experienced a stressful situation with your students or colleagues.

How did you feel about it?

What are some of the ways you can deal with stress?

There are so many stressful situations that I’ve had to face during my teaching career that it’s really difficult to choose just one. So I’ll talk about my most recent experience, as it’s still fresh in my mind. It was when I had to teach all my classes online due to the Covid situation. My school introduced this from one day to the next, and I was totally unprepared.

Stressed-out doesn’t even begin to describe how I felt. Suddenly I had to learn how to use break-out rooms, share screens, find interactive online activities … and on top of that, I had to teach the students how to do it too! I’ve never been that comfortable working with technology, and I felt completely overwhelmed. I often had to ask my colleagues for help.

One of the best ways to deal with stress is deep breathing. I learnt that in my yoga class. When you take deep breaths, it sends a message to your brain to calm down, reduces your heart-rate and lowers your blood pressure. I also find that listening to classical music can really help, so I play it in the background while my students are reading or writing.

Highlighted language

Expressions:

fresh in my mind – a clear recent memory

from one day to the next – suddenly, without warning

on top of that – additionally

in the background – quietly, in addition to the main sound

Adjectives for feelings:

stressed-out – adjective from phrasal verb ‘to stress (someone) out’

totally uprepared / completely overwhelmed – use adverbs to raise the level of your answer