Please, listen to your teacher and here are the reasons why.
a) When you lift from the passage, you may not be answering the question.
b) Some questions require you to make intelligent guesses and you won’t be able to get the answer by lifting from the passage.
Examples:
1. The passage says: On the night of October 24, 1902, the people of Blackburn England, poured into the Palace Theatre. It was a Friday night, and the mostly poor working families were weary from a long week of toiling in the cotton mills.
Q: Who were Harry Houdini’s main audience that evening?
If you answered:
The people of Blackburn England poured into the Palace Theatre. The mostly poor working families were weary from a long week of toiling in the cotton mills. (Indeed this is where the answer is but you are not answering the question at all. The examiner could fault you for that and deduct points.)
Better:
His audience were the poor working families of Blackburn England.
2. The passage: Fifteen minutes later, the curtain was lifted to reveal Houdini, lying on his side, still bound. The crowd groaned. Houdini looked exhausted, near fainting. Bess Houdini hurried over and mopped the sweat from her husband’s face. Again the curtain closed. Twenty minutes later, the curtain was raised again.. Was Houdini free of chain? No! Instead he complained he had been bound so tightly his arms were numb and blue.
Q: What did the audience expect to happen when the curtains was first lifted?
You can’t possibly lift from this passage. However, by understanding the story, you could infer that “The audience expected Houdini to free himself from the handcuffs and escape.”