Multiple Choice Questions

Tips

1. Read the questions before you read the text.
2. You will often be able to eliminate 2 of the four answers and this leaves you with two choices. Think about the difference in meaning between these two choices and this will help you get the correct answers.
3. If you are unsure of what the difference is between two or three sentences, it can help to rephrase them in your own words.
4. If you are ruing out of time or you really don’t know the answer, have a guess. You will not lose marks for wrong answers and you have a 25% chance of getting the correct answer just by guessing.
5. Don’t be tricked by the examiner’s ‘distractors’ especially keywords from the questions that look the same as the text.
6. If you don’t know anything about the topic, don’t panic. It is a reading test, not a test of your knowledge.
7. Try to predict the correct answer before you read the text. This will help you find the correct answer.
8. Before deciding on your answer, always go back and carefully read the questions before making your final decision.
9. The answers will be in the same order as the text.
10. You might be asked about both facts and opinions. Facts are things that are always true or caot be disproved but opinions are just what people think.

Strategy

1. Read the questions carefully.
2. Skim the text to get the general meaning.
3. Underline any keywords in the question and think about any synonyms that might appear in the text.
4. Read the choices and underline any keywords. Think about the difference in meaning between the different choices.
5. Predict the correct answer.
6. Read the text and using keywords and synonyms locate the part containing the answers.
7. Read that part of the text very carefully, thinking about the difference in meanings.
8. Think about not only which options are correct but how the other options are wrong.
9. Go back and read the question again and mark your final choice.