Answers and Discussion
- Did you read the instructions carefully?
It is always important to read the instructions carefully, even if they seem familiar, as there can be some variations within the same item type.
- Did you read the whole passage before you tried to answer the questions?
It is helpful to skim all the questions briefly before reading the text. In some cases Multiple Choice items are used to test understanding of just one part of the text. The first and the last question in the set let you know which part of the text is being tested. Sometimes a Multiple Choice item is used in Section 3 to test a global understanding of the whole text. In this case it is of course necessary to read the whole text before answering.
- Did the questions come in the same order as the information in the passage?
Multiple Choice items come in the same order as the information in the passage.
- Did you think about the answer to the item before reading the options?
It can be helpful to try to predict the answer before reading the options. Then if this answer is provided you can select it. Adopting this strategy means you pay close attention to the question or the stem you are required to complete.
- Did you read all the options before choosing the answer?
Even when you have predicted the answer and found it amongst the options you should still look through all the options. There may be two options that are very similar but one is more accurate than the other. There may be just one word that distinguishes the two and makes one a better answer than the other.
