How to be a Good Teacher ? Reading Answers

Jan 10, 2025

How to be a Good Teacher is an academic topic for IELTS Reading answers. How to be a Good Teacher Reading answers comprise 14 IELTS questions. For the given set of questions (Questions No. 27-34), choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings given below. After that, for Questions No. 35-36, you have to pick the correct answer from the given options. Finally, for the remaining set of questions (Questions No. 37-40), you have to answer the question in not more than three words.

The IELTS Reading section is an important part of the IELTS Exam, assessing your reading ability to understand and analyze the given passages. To improve your performance, it is essential to practice with IELTS reading practice questions, as they help you become familiar with the test format and the types of questions you will face. Consistent practice with different types of questions ensures better time management and accuracy on the actual exam day.

Check: Get 10 Free Sample Papers

Check: Register for IELTS Coaching - Join for Free Trial Class Now

Section 1 How to be a Good Teacher ?

A. A discussion of how to be a good teacher sounds a little narrow and probably not very relevant to most of us. Few of us want to be in a school, instructing children in some narrow academic subjects, which is what we overwhelmingly associate with the word “teacher”, the person in a rather frayed jacket in front of the class, the type who bored us rigid for long stretches of our early years

B. However, teaching is far from being something that we only need to learn if we're contemplating a career in education. Considered properly, teaching — by which we mean, the vital business of getting an important idea from one mind into another — is one of the most crucial life skills that any of us ever require. Every one of us, whatever our occupation, needs to become a good teacher, for our lives constantly require us to deliver crucial information with effectiveness into the deep minds of others. We can admit quite candidly that most of us have probably started by being quite bad teachers. This is nothing to be ashamed of, like most things, teaching can and must be learned. What, then, are some prerequisites of a good teacher?

C. It seems paradoxical once it is pointed out. But the truth is, we often get very annoyed by the fact that another person doesn't know something yet, even though we have never actually told them what it might be. Certain ideas can seem so important to us, that we simply can't imagine that others don't already know them. We suspect they may be deliberately upsetting us by pretending not to have a clue. This attitude makes it unlikely that what we have to teach will make its way successfully into the unfortunate other person's head. Good teaching starts with the idea that ignorance is not a defect of the individual we're instructing: it's the consequence of never having been properly taught. So the fault, rightly, really only ever belongs with the people who haven't done enough to get the needed ideas into others' heads: in other words, with you.

D. The more we need other people to know something, the less we may be able to secure a calm frame of mind, which is Indispensable if we are to have a chance of conveying it to them effectively. The possibility that they won't quickly understand something that matters immensely to us can drive us into an agitated fury, which is the very worst state in which to conduct any lesson. By the time we've started to insult our so-called pupils, to call them a blockhead or a fool, the lesson is quite plainly over. No one has ever learned anything under conditions of humiliation. Paradoxically, the best sort of teachers can bear the possibility that what they have to teach will not be understood. It is this slightly detached, slightly pessimistic approach that stands the best chance of generating the relaxed frame of mind essential to successful pedagogy.

E. It's pretty humiliating to be in the learning position. Someone else has information you don't. That can be so irritating, that the person learning may shut their ears and hate the alleged superiority of the one in the teaching role. That's why another fundamental skill of the good teacher is to admit that they are, in most areas of life, pretty ignorant and stupid. This might seem to undermine their authority. Far from it; it creates an atmosphere of goodwill and modesty which puts the pupil at ease. They might not know this particular thing that's being taught, but they are, overall, not inferior to the teacher, and so they can dare to face up to their ignorance in a given area and submit to the discipline of having it nicely corrected.

F. As bad teachers, we tend automatically to try to teach a lesson at the moment the problem arises, rather than selecting a time when it is most likely to be attended to properly. Crises aren't the best times for a lesson. We might have to wait a long time, three days after an argument, for example, to pick just the opportune occasion to deal with those issues. When our partners stacking the dishwasher and humming a song, might wisest cheerfully and innocently to refer back to something that truly maddened us a little while back, but over which we were at the time sagely silent.

G. As we're beginning to see, the more desperate we feel inside, the less likely we are to get through to others effectively. It is deeply unfortunate that we typically end up addressing the most delicate and complex teaching tasks just when we feel most irritated and distressed. We suffer from a panicked feeling that if we don't jump on this right now, an issue is going to go on and on unchecked forever. Precisely not. We should be more confident that not jumping on an issue is what is going to allow us to fix it properly a little way down the line.

H. Good teachers know that everyone has a lot to learn, and everyone has something important to impart to others. We should never get incensed if someone is trying to teach us something and snap back, I wanted you to like me just as I am”. Only a perfect being would be committed to staying just as they are. For all the rest of us, good learning and teaching are the only ways we'll ever be able to progress, and that's why we should welcome them as the gifts they truly are.

Section 2 Solution and Explanation

Questions 27-34

The reading paragraph has eight paragraphs, A-H. Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below. Write the correct number, i-ix.

LIST OF HEADINGS

i. Good teachers don't get angry

ii. Good teachers pick their moments

iii. A narrow interpretation of who teachers are

iv. Good teachers are also good students

v. The importance of mastering teaching skills

vi. Good teachers can admit they aren't all-knowing

vii. Good teachers can tolerate ignorant students

viii. The good teacher never blames another person for not already knowing

ix. Good teachers need to be aware of the significance of postponing teaching tasks

27. Paragraph A

Answer: iii ( A narrow interpretation of who teachers are)

Supporting statement: “......Few of us want to be in a school, instructing children in some narrow academic subjects, which is what we overwhelmingly associate with the word “teacher”, the person in a rather frayed jacket in front of the class, the type who bored us rigid for long stretches of our early years........”

Answer: v (The importance of mastering teaching skills)

Supporting statement: “....... ........”

Keywords: Skills, Crucial, Vital, Teaching

Keyword Location: para 2, Line 2-4

Explanation: Paragraph B highlights the universal relevance of teaching as a life skill. It states that everyone, regardless of profession, needs to develop effective teaching skills to communicate ideas.

29. Paragraph C

Answer: viii (The good teacher never blames another person for not already knowing)

Supporting statement: “.......Good teaching starts with the idea that ignorance is not a defect of the individual we're instructing: it's the consequence of never having been properly taught.......”

Keywords: Good Teaching, Ignorance, Defect

Keyword Location: para 3, Line 7-9

Explanation: Paragraph C emphasizes that ignorance is not a defect, but the result of not being taught. This highlights that good teachers accept responsibility for teaching rather than blaming the learner.

30. Paragraph D

Answer: i (Good teachers don't get angry)

Supporting statement: “.......The possibility that they won't quickly understand something that matters immensely to us can drive us into an agitated fury, which is the very worst state in which to conduct any lesson........”

Keywords: Fury, Agitated, Conduct, Possibility

Keyword Location: para 4, Line 3-5

Explanation: Paragraph D emphasizes the importance of maintaining a calm mindset while teaching. It explains how anger and frustration hinder effective communication and highlights the need for patience.

31. Paragraph E

Answer: vi (Good teachers can admit they aren't all-knowing)

Supporting statement: “.......That's why another fundamental skill of the good teacher is to admit that they are, in most areas of life, pretty ignorant and stupid........”

Keywords: Admit, Ignorant, Stupid, Skill

Keyword Location: para 5, Line 3-5

Explanation: Paragraph E emphasizes the importance of humility in teaching. It suggests that good teachers acknowledge their ignorance in many areas, fostering an environment of goodwill and humility.

32. Paragraph F

Answer: ii (Good teachers pick their moments)

Supporting statement: “.......Crises aren't the best times for a lesson. We might have to wait a long time, three days after an argument, for example, to pick just the opportune occasion to deal with those issues.........”

Keywords: Crises, Argument, Issues, Occasion

Keyword Location: para 6, Line 3-5

Explanation: Paragraph F emphasizes that a crisis is not an ideal time to teach. Good teachers wait for the right time to address issues effectively, rather than react impulsively.

33. Paragraph G

Answer: ix (Good teachers need to be aware of the significance of postponing teaching tasks)

Supporting statement: “.......We suffer from a panicked feeling that if we don't jump on this right now, an issue is going to go on and on unchecked forever..........”

Keywords: Panicked, Unchecked, Issue, Postponing

Keyword Location: para 7, Line 4-6

Explanation: Paragraph G emphasizes the importance of time in teaching. It explains how addressing delicate learning tasks during moments of crisis or irritation is ineffective and suggests postponing until a better moment.

34. Paragraph H

Answer: iv (Good teachers are also good students)

Supporting statement: “.......Good teachers know that everyone has a lot to learn, and everyone has something important to impart to others...........”

Keywords: Impart, Learn, Students, Important

Keyword Location: para 8, Line 1-2

Explanation: Paragraph H emphasizes that good teachers recognize that everyone, including themselves, has a lot to learn. They consider learning and teaching as essential for self-improvement and progress.

Questions 35-36

Choose the correct letter.

35. In the fourth paragraph, the writer suggests that

A. We are easily prone to anger if we cannot understand important things quickly.

B. Good teachers are willing to accept the chances of failing to impart lessons to other people.

C. Indirect insults heavily affect the learning process.

D. Teachers have to bear the responsibility for not trying to convey understandable messages.

Answer: B (Good teachers are willing to accept the chances of failing to impart lessons to other people.)

Supporting statement: “.......Paradoxically, the best sort of teachers can bear the possibility that what they have to teach will not be understood............”

Keywords: Chances, Failing, Sort, Possibility

Keyword Location: para 4, Line 8-9

Explanation: The paragraph emphasizes the importance of a cool mindset and the ability to accept that the lesson is not always immediately understood. This detachment promotes effective teaching.

36. In the sixth paragraph, the writer refers to “three days after an argument” to make a point that

A. People can tackle teaching tasks more effectively when they are no longer in desperation.

B. It would be better for people to solve problems immediately without talking.

C. Being skilled at timing in solving problems is necessary.

D. Crises require bad teachers to conduct lessons at the right time.

Answer: C (Being skilled at timing in solving problems is necessary.)

Supporting statement: “.......Paradoxically, the best sort of teachers can bear the possibility that what they have to teach will not be understood............”

Keywords: Chances, Failing, Sort, Possibility

Keyword Location: para 4, Line 8-9

Explanation: The paragraph emphasizes the importance of a cool mindset and the ability to accept that the lesson is not always immediately understood. This detachment promotes effective teaching.

Questions 37-40

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

Because we associate ____(37)____ so strongly with schools, it's natural to assume somewhere in our minds that 'teaching' is something most people leave behind as they grow up. We tell ourselves that it takes a very special type of person to be a teacher — and assume that we're just not cut out for that kind of role. But in truth, being a teacher is one of the most _____(38)_____ of human life. There is no alternative but to master the art of teaching. Teaching happens every hour of every waking day. But we've fatally misconstrued teaching as a specific professional job when it's in actuality a role that everyone has to dip into continually. Whether we like it or not, things in life frequently ______(39)_____ us to teach, which means getting an insight, emotion, state of mind, or skill from your head into the _____(40)______ of others.

37. Because we associate ____(37)____ so strongly with schools, it's natural to assume somewhere in our minds that 'teaching' is something most people leave behind as they grow up

Answer: teaching and teachers

Supporting statement: “.........Few of us want to be in a school, instructing children in some narrow academic subjects, which is what we overwhelmingly associate with the word “teacher”,..........”

Keywords: Teaching, Instructing, Narrow, Associate

Keyword Location: para 1, Line 2-4

Explanation: The text emphasizes how teaching is generally associated with schools and teachers in narrow educational settings, giving the impression that teaching is not relevant beyond childhood.

38. But in truth, being a teacher is one of the most _____(38)_____ of human life.

Answer: Crucial Life Skills

Supporting statement: “.........Considered properly, teaching — by which we mean, the vital business of getting an important idea from one mind into another — is one of the most crucial life skills that any of us ever require. .........”

Keywords: Vital, Crucial, Skills, Require

Keyword Location: para 2, Line 2-4

Explanation: The text of the passage directly supports the idea that teaching is a fundamental skill needed by everyone in various aspects of life.

39. Whether we like it or not, things in life frequently ______(39)_____ us to teach, which means getting an insight, emotion, state of mind, or skill from your head into the _____(40)______ of others.

Answer: Require

Supporting statement: “.........Every one of us, whatever our occupation, needs to become a good teacher, for our lives constantly require us to deliver crucial information with effectiveness into the deep minds of others. .........”

Keywords: Occupation, Deliver, Information, Effectiveness

Keyword Location: para 2, Line 5-7

Explanation: Paragraph B of the passage states, “In our lives, we constantly need to convey important information into the deep minds of others,” indicating a need or compulsion to teach.

40. Whether we like it or not, things in life frequently require us to teach, which means getting an insight, emotion, state of mind, or skill from your head into the _____(40)______ of others.

Answer: Deep Minds

Keywords: Frequently, Insight, Emotion, Skill

Keyword Location: para 2, Line 5-7

Explanation: This passage discusses the essential role of transferring significant information from one person to another, emphasizing how teaching is the act of bringing ideas into the minds of others.

Read More IELTS Reading Related Samples