Some Year 6 pupils were left in "tears" by this year's Sats reading test, according to parents and teachers.

The paper was sat by 10- and 11-year-old children across the country on May 10, with the marks being used to inform their grades, sets and performance at secondary school from September.

It has 38 questions, based on three texts in a 12-page reading booklet, with Year 6 pupils expected to understand words such as "hotspot", "vulnerable" and "eradicated". 

But parents have lambasted exam chiefs for making it "too hard for children". Kerry Forrester, the head at a Cheshire primary school, warned about the "negative impact" on her pupils and she said some were reduced to tears.

The National Association of Head Teachers said some staff also struggled "to understand the questions" and would be raising the issue with the exam regulator Ofqual and the Standards and Testing Agency.

Last week, the Department for Education said "the tests are designed to be challenging" and "rigorously trialled" with thousands of pupils, but the schools minister Nick Gibb is now "looking at concerns".

The Telegraph has selected 14 questions from the test below. Try to answer them yourself and check the answers at the bottom.

1) Then it hit her. What is it?

Relevant extract: Priya woke with a start, her heart beating fast. Something had disturbed her but she wasn’t sure what... Then it hit her. Rustlers! They had to be. It couldn’t possibly be Mr Jones. Why would he have two vehicles? Why would he park there with the lights out? She knew she was right.

2) "She wriggled back inside the tent..."
What does this tell you about how Priya got inside the tent?
Tick one.

3) In which American state is the Congress Avenue Bridge found?

Relevant extract: "By day the Congress Avenue Bridge in the city of Austin could hardly look more normal: a grey, dreary city-centre road bridge. By night, it plays host to one of the most amazing shows nature has to offer. The underside of the bridge is home to more than a million bats, and every evening in summer they all come swarming out at once, rising up into the city sky like a tornado before spreading out in all directions like plumes of smoke. Standing on the bridge, you might even feel the wind from their wings as they pass by.

"Austin is the capital city of the state of Texas in the USA, but it is also the bat capital of North America. The bats under the bridge attract thousands of visitors every year, and every August lovers celebrate Bat Fest on the bridge in their honour."

4) The bridge is described as a hotspot by the interviewer and Harriet.

What does the word hotspot mean when the interviewer uses it in her question? What does the word hotspot mean when Harriet uses it in her answer?

Relevant extract: 

Interviewer's question: "This ordinary bridge is popular with bats. What makes it such a hotspot?"

Harriet’s answer: It's actually very appropriate that you call it a "hotspot". The gaps underneath the bridge are a perfect place for mother bats to raise their young. Baby bats are born hairless and have only a few months to develop before travelling south in autumn. They need somewhere warm and safe and the gaps under the bridge are just the right width to trap warmth nicely. These bat pups need to spend their energy on growth, not on keeping themselves warm.

Texas in general is a paradise for bats because of all its tasty insects. A mother bat will go out hunting every evening and consume about two-thirds of her body weight in insects every single night to meet her energy need. The feeding frenzy can last all night.

5) Look at Harriet’s answer (above).
Find and copy one word that is closest in meaning to ‘eat’.

6) Look at Harriet’s answer to the question: Have there always been so many bats here? (Below)
Find and copy one word which means "a group of bats living together".

Relevant extract: No, this large number of bats is quite new. A few bats had lived under the bridge for years. It was headline news when they suddenly began moving in by the thousands after engineers rebuilt the Congress Avenue Bridge in 1980 – they had no idea that they were creating such an ideal bat home. So, when these bats first came, they were seen as uninvited guests. Many campaigned to have the bat colony eradicated. It was frightening. Back then, we thought they’d attack us by pulling out our hair or that they’d carry disease. Gradually, though, we learnt the surprising truth: bats make ideal neighbours. They are gentle creatures that will not harm you, as long as you do not try to touch them. Eventually we came to welcome the bats, and the population under the bridge grew to be the largest city bat colony in the world. Austin now has one of the most unusual and fascinating tourist attractions anywhere.

7) Harriet describes bats as vulnerable.
Which of the following is closest in meaning to vulnerable? Tick one.

8) Look at Harriet’s answer to the question: What benefits could bats possibly bring to humans? (Below)
How can you tell that Harriet thinks insects are pests?
Write two ways.

Relevant extract: We humans spend a great deal of time battling against insects. Who hasn’t been tormented by mosquitoes or wasps? And farmers have to spend millions of dollars every year buying chemicals, some of which are quite harmful to the environment, to stop hungry insects from eating their crops. A group of bats like the ones under this bridge will eat about ten tonnes of insects every night. That’s about the weight of two normal-sized elephants. So we should view bats as allies, not as enemies. Some farmers are already doing this by installing bat boxes in their elds and encouraging bats to live there.

9) "Is there anything I can do to support bats in my area?"
This question shows that the interviewer...
Tick one.

10) After Innis heard the wolf howl for the first time, he "pressed on".
What does pressed on mean in the text?

Relevant extract: The howl pierced the darkening sky and made Innis Munro stop dead in his tracks. He pulled his hood down, listened intently. The only sound was his beating heart. That was a wolf, he thought. But it couldn’t have been. There were no wolves on the island of Nin, no wolves in Scotland any more, not for almost three hundred years. It was just a trick of the wind. He pressed on but kept his hood down. The afternoon light of early March was fading fast, snow was falling, and he was still a good half-mile from home.

11) How can you tell that Innis was familiar with the area?

Relevant extract: Innis walked faster, told himself it was not the howl that made him hurry but the gloomy sky and gathering snow. He was crossing ‘the Barrens’ – the middle of the island where the land was bumpy and boggy. To a stranger, a mainlander, it would have seemed he was lost in the middle of bleak nowhere, but Innis knew this ground, knew every rise and dip. Another howl came; long, bloodcurdling, wolf-like.

12) Innis heard a wolf howl several times.
How can you tell that the wolf was moving all the time?

Relevant extract: Innis cupped a hand to his mouth and returned the best horror-movie wolf howl he could muster. There was an immediate response but from further away this time, in the distance up by the mountain. And then another howl, much closer, a sound that no boy could make.

13) It was the unmistakable silhouette of a wolf.
Which of the following is closest in meaning to unmistakable? Tick one.

14)  Innis meets the boy. What do you learn about the boy’s personality?
Give two things, using evidence from the text to support your answer

Relevant extract: Innis sat up, felt water ooze beneath his trousers and melting snow run down his back. He gave a shiver and looked around. No wolves – but a boy was walking towards him, the snow lying thick enough now to hear the crunch of his steps. Innis struggled to his feet. He didn’t recognise the boy. He was smaller than Innis but seemed older. In appearance, the boys were the exact opposite. The stranger was squat, with short, fair hair, shaved almost to the scalp. He had dark, unfriendly eyes. Innis didn’t know him.

The boy turned and took a step away, and Innis asked, ‘Where are you going?’
‘What’s it to you?’ the boy asked, without turning or stopping.
‘There’s a wolf out there,’ Innis said.
The boy stopped and headed back toward Innis. ‘Where exactly?’
Innis pointed. ‘Out there somewhere.’
‘You saw it?’ probed the boy.
‘I heard it and I saw it.’
The boy didn’t answer, but asked instead, ‘How far?’
‘Not far, five minutes from here.’
The boy sighed and wiped snow from his face. He turned and strode off
without another word.

Question 1)
Award 1 mark for reference to any of the following:
1. Priya’s realisation that they were rustlers,
2. Priya’s understanding of the situation,
3. Priya’s realisation only,
Do not accept: (the / some) rustlers.

Question 2)
Award 1 mark for:
She had to squeeze in. 

Question 3)
Award 1 mark for reference to Texas.
Do not accept reference to both Austin and Texas without indicating Texas is the state, e.g. Austin, Texas.

Question 4)
What does the word hotspot mean when the interviewer uses it in her question?
Award 1 mark for reference to the bridge being popular (with bats)
Also accept reference to the bridge being crowded (with bats)

Do not accept reference to the bridge being a popular tourist attraction

What does the word hotspot mean when Harriet uses it in her answer?
Award 1 mark for reference to the bridge being warm / hot.
Do not accept reference to the bridge being an ideal place for bats / perfect for bats to
raise their young without reference to warmth.

Question 5)
Award 1 mark for: consume.
Also accept: feeding.

Question 6)
Award 1 mark for: colony.
Also accept: population.

Question 7)
Award 1 mark for: at risk.

Question 8)
Award 1 mark for reference to any of the following, up to a maximum of 2 marks:
1. the negative effects (of insects) on farming.
2. insects annoying people.
3. people having to fight against insects.
4. Harriet being positive about insects being eaten.

Also accept reference to either bite or sting.
Do not accept reference to Harriet’s negativity without giving specific examples.

Question 9)
Award 1 mark for: Agrees with Harriet Lopez’s opinions of bats.

Question 10)
Award 1 mark for reference to persevering / continuing.
Do not accept reference to hurrying.

Question 11)
Award 1 mark for reference to any of the following:
1. Innis knowing the terrain / ground.
2. Innis’ knowledge of the island’s wildlife.
3. Innis knowing how far he is from home.
Also accept reference to Innis knowing where he is going / the way home.
Also accept reference to Innis not being a stranger or mainlander.

Question 12)
Award 1 mark for reference to any of the following:
1. the wolf’s howl being closer / further away from Innis.
2. the sound changing volume.
3. the wolf’s howl coming from different places (without reference to distance).
Do not accept reference to sound only..

Question 13)
Award 1 mark for: definite.

Question 14)
Award 3 marks for two acceptable points, at least one with evidence.
Award 2 marks for either two acceptable points, or one acceptable point with evidence.
Award 1 mark for one acceptable point.
1. he is unfriendly /
rude / surly.
2. he is independent /
brave / calm.
3. he is curious.
4. he is mysterious /
strange.
5. he is secretive /
defensive.
6. he is determined /
single-minded /
self-centred.
7. he is untalkative.