LANTITE literacy practice questions
Free LANTITE literacy practice questions, grouped by the skill each one tests and written to match the style and difficulty of the real paper. Every question carries a worked solution that shows the reasoning, not just the answer. The LANTITE literacy test covers reading comprehension and technical writing: finding what a text states, judging what it implies, and writing clearly and correctly.
These are not full LANTITE literacy practice tests, and they are not ACER's questions. They are a way to find out where your literacy practice is best spent before you sit.
Reading passages
The comprehension questions below refer to these passages. Each question names the one it uses.
Retrieval practice
Retrieval practice, the act of recalling information from memory rather than simply re-reading it, is one of the most reliable ways to strengthen long-term learning. When students are asked to bring information to mind, the effort of retrieval consolidates the memory and makes it easier to access later. Re-reading, by contrast, can create a false sense of fluency: the material feels familiar, but that familiarity is not the same as being able to recall it under exam conditions. Short, low-stakes quizzes are a practical way to build retrieval practice into everyday teaching.
Feedback timing
Feedback is most useful when a student can still act on it. Written comments returned weeks after a task are frequently read once and filed away, because the work they describe has already been superseded. Immediate feedback, by contrast, can be applied to the next attempt while the reasoning behind the task is still fresh. This does not mean feedback must always be instant. What matters is that the student has a genuine opportunity to use it before the topic closes.
Retrieval and explicit interpretation
3 questions, each with a worked solution.
Refers to the retrieval practice passage above.
Identifying the main idea
Q1. Which statement best captures the main idea of the passage above?
- A Re-reading is the most effective way to study for an exam.
- B Retrieval practice strengthens learning more reliably than re-reading.
- C Familiarity with material guarantees success under exam conditions.
- D Quizzes are only useful when they carry high stakes.
Show answer
Answer: B · Retrieval practice strengthens learning more reliably than re-reading.
The passage argues that recalling information consolidates memory more reliably than re-reading, which only feels familiar. The other options each contradict something the passage states directly.
Refers to the feedback timing passage above.
Locating a stated reason
Q2. According to the passage, why are written comments returned weeks after a task often ineffective?
- A They are too detailed for students to read closely.
- B The work they describe has already been superseded.
- C Students prefer spoken feedback to written feedback.
- D Teachers write them too quickly to be useful.
Show answer
Answer: B · The work they describe has already been superseded.
The passage gives the reason directly: such comments are read once and filed away because the work they describe has already been superseded. The other options are not claimed anywhere in the text.
Refers to the feedback timing passage above.
Distinguishing what a text does and does not claim
Q3. Which statement about feedback does the passage actually make?
- A Feedback must always be given instantly.
- B Feedback is only useful if it is written down.
- C Feedback should reach the student while they can still use it.
- D Feedback given during a task is more useful than feedback given after it.
Show answer
Answer: C · Feedback should reach the student while they can still use it.
The passage explicitly rejects the idea that feedback must always be instant, and says what matters is a genuine opportunity to use it before the topic closes. The remaining options add claims the passage never makes.
Inference and evaluation
3 questions, each with a worked solution.
Refers to the retrieval practice passage above.
Inferring meaning from context
Q4. In the passage, 'a false sense of fluency' suggests that re-reading can make students:
- A recall information more accurately under pressure
- B believe they know the material better than they actually do
- C enjoy their studying a great deal more
- D forget the material almost immediately
Show answer
Answer: B · believe they know the material better than they actually do
A 'false sense of fluency' means the material feels known, but that feeling overstates how well it can actually be recalled.
Refers to the retrieval practice passage above.
Identifying author purpose
Q5. The author's main purpose in the passage is to:
- A argue that quizzes should replace all other teaching
- B criticise students who choose to re-read their notes
- C explain why retrieval practice supports learning and suggest a classroom use
- D compare two unrelated approaches to classroom management
Show answer
Answer: C · explain why retrieval practice supports learning and suggest a classroom use
The passage explains the benefit of retrieval practice and ends by suggesting a practical classroom application in low-stakes quizzes.
Refers to the feedback timing passage above.
Evaluating an inference
Q6. Which statement would the author of the passage most likely agree with?
- A Returning marked work on the last day of a unit gives feedback of limited value.
- B Feedback given more than a day after a task is worthless.
- C Only immediate spoken feedback can improve a student's learning.
- D How detailed feedback is matters more than when it arrives.
Show answer
Answer: A · Returning marked work on the last day of a unit gives feedback of limited value.
The author's test is whether the student still has a real opportunity to use the feedback, and on the last day of a unit they do not. The other options overstate the argument or reverse its emphasis, and the passage explicitly denies that feedback must be instant.
Grammar and mechanics
3 questions, each with a worked solution.
Dangling modifiers
Q7. Which sentence is written most clearly and correctly?
- A Walking into the classroom, the whiteboard was covered in notes.
- B Walking into the classroom, the teacher saw that the whiteboard was covered in notes.
- C The whiteboard, walking into the classroom, was covered in notes.
- D Covered in notes, the teacher saw the whiteboard while walking in.
Show answer
Answer: B · Walking into the classroom, the teacher saw that the whiteboard was covered in notes.
The opening phrase 'Walking into the classroom' has to describe whoever is doing the walking. Only the version that names the teacher immediately after it avoids a dangling modifier, where the phrase appears to describe the whiteboard instead.
Subject-verb agreement
Q8. Which sentence is grammatically correct?
- A The list of resources for the new units are on the shared drive.
- B The list of resources for the new units is on the shared drive.
- C The list of resources for the new units were on the shared drive.
- D The lists of resources for the new units is on the shared drive.
Show answer
Answer: B · The list of resources for the new units is on the shared drive.
The subject is 'the list', which is singular, so the verb is 'is'. 'Of resources for the new units' is a prepositional phrase and does not change the subject. The plural 'lists' would need 'are'.
Apostrophes
Q9. Which sentence uses apostrophes correctly?
- A The students' reports were sent to their parents last week.
- B The student's reports were sent to their parent's last week.
- C The students reports were sent to their parents' last week.
- D The students's reports were sent to their parents last week.
Show answer
Answer: A · The students' reports were sent to their parents last week.
'Students'' is a plural possessive, formed by adding an apostrophe after the existing s. 'Parents' here is a simple plural and takes no apostrophe at all.
Vocabulary
3 questions, each with a worked solution.
Precise word choice
Q10. Staff were asked to ______ the draft policy before the meeting so that they could raise concerns. Which word best completes the sentence?
- A revise
- B review
- C reverse
- D revive
Show answer
Answer: B · review
To review is to examine something, which is what reading a draft before a meeting involves. To revise is to change it, which is not yet being asked for; to reverse is to undo it; to revive is to bring it back.
Commonly confused words
Q11. Which sentence uses 'affect' or 'effect' correctly?
- A The new timetable will effect every faculty.
- B The new timetable will affect every faculty.
- C The new timetable will have an affect on every faculty.
- D The new timetable will have a large affect on staffing.
Show answer
Answer: B · The new timetable will affect every faculty.
'Affect' is normally the verb, meaning to influence, so a timetable affects a faculty. 'Effect' is normally the noun, so the sentences using 'an affect' or 'a large affect' need 'effect' instead.
Register for an audience
Q12. Which sentence is most appropriate for a written report to a school board?
- A Attendance has been pretty bad this term, which is a bit of a worry.
- B Attendance declined this term, and the trend warrants further investigation.
- C Attendance went down heaps and we reckon it needs looking at.
- D Attendance is down, which is obviously terrible for everyone involved.
Show answer
Answer: B · Attendance declined this term, and the trend warrants further investigation.
A report to a board needs a neutral register and a claim it can act on. The other options rely on informal wording ('pretty bad', 'heaps', 'we reckon') or on an emotive overstatement that the evidence does not support.
Text organisation
3 questions, each with a worked solution.
Concision
Q13. Which sentence expresses the idea most concisely without losing its meaning?
- A Due to the fact that the test was difficult, many students required additional time in order to finish it.
- B Because the test was difficult, many students needed extra time to finish.
- C The test being difficult in nature, additional time was a thing many students needed.
- D On account of its difficulty, extra time for finishing was needed by many of the students.
Show answer
Answer: B · Because the test was difficult, many students needed extra time to finish.
The correct sentence keeps the full meaning while cutting padding such as 'due to the fact that' and 'in order to'. The others preserve the meaning but add words that carry none of it.
Ordering sentences
Q14. Which order arranges these four sentences into a coherent paragraph? (1) This meant the excursion had to be rescheduled. (2) The bus company cancelled at short notice. (3) Parents were notified by email the same afternoon. (4) The new date falls outside the assessment period.
- A 2, 1, 3, 4
- B 1, 2, 3, 4
- C 2, 3, 1, 4
- D 3, 2, 1, 4
Show answer
Answer: A · 2, 1, 3, 4
The cause comes first (the cancellation), then its consequence (rescheduling), then the action taken (notifying parents), then the detail about the new date. Starting with 'This meant' is impossible, because 'this' has nothing to refer back to yet.
Connectives
Q15. Attendance improved after the new policy was introduced. ______, the number of late arrivals stayed the same. Which connective best fits the gap?
- A Therefore
- B However
- C Similarly
- D Consequently
Show answer
Answer: B · However
The second sentence contrasts with the first: one measure improved and the other did not. 'However' signals that contrast. 'Therefore' and 'Consequently' signal a result, and 'Similarly' signals agreement.
Spelling
3 questions, each with a worked solution.
Double letters
Q16. Which spelling is correct?
- A accomodation
- B accommodation
- C acommodation
- D accommadation
Show answer
Answer: B · accommodation
'Accommodation' takes a double c and a double m, and ends '-odation'. It is among the most commonly misspelt words in written English, usually by dropping one of the doubled letters.
Spotting a misspelt word
Q17. Which sentence contains a spelling error?
- A The principal's office is at the end of the corridor.
- B Attendance at the professional learning day is compulsary.
- C The curriculum was reviewed in February.
- D Parents received a separate letter about the excursion.
Show answer
Answer: B · Attendance at the professional learning day is compulsary.
'Compulsary' should be 'compulsory'. The other three are correct, including two words that are often misspelt: 'February' and 'separate'.
Homophones
Q18. Which sentence is spelt correctly?
- A Their are fewer students in the senior school this year.
- B There are fewer students in the senior school this year.
- C They're are fewer students in the senior school this year.
- D Their are less students in the senior school this year.
Show answer
Answer: B · There are fewer students in the senior school this year.
'There' introduces the existence of something. 'Their' is possessive and 'they're' is short for 'they are', so 'they're are' repeats the verb. Note that 'fewer' is also the correct choice for students, which can be counted.
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Background reading
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These are original, Teacher Passport-authored practice questions written to resemble the style and difficulty of LANTITE. They are not real LANTITE questions and are not an official practice test. Teacher Passport is not affiliated with ACER. The only official practice materials are free from ACER at teacheredtest.acer.edu.au.