Some Practical Advice When Taking Multiple-Choice Tests
Remember: Always know the instructions. If you lose points for guessing – Don’t guess. If you are penalized for leaving questions blank – make sure you take a shot at answering every question.
Remember: The answer to every question on a multiple-choice test is there. In order to answer each question correctly, you just need to know how to choose.
Choosing the right answer: If you are presented with four (or five) possible answers, there is at least one answer (generally two) that you can recognize as incorrect.
Example: A triangle has a perimeter of 13 and one side of length 3. If the lengths of the other two sides are equal, what is the length of each of them?
(A) 4
(B) 5
(C) 6
(D) 7
(E) 8
In order to solve this problem quickly, you might throw out the two “extreme” answers – in this case (A) 4, the smallest, and (E) 8, the largest. Now you only have 3 answers to worry about and one of them is correct.
Answer: (B) 5
Solution: 3 + x + x = 13, therefore 3 + x + x – 3 = 13 – 3, therefore x + x = 10, now plug in your remaining answers, 5 + 5 = 10.
Example: Given the statement: “Some integers in Set X are even.”, which of the following must also be true?
(A) If an integer is even, it is in Set X.
(B) If an integer is odd, it is Set X.
(C) All integers in Set X are even.
(D) All integers in Set X are odd.
(E) Not all integers in Set X are odd.
If you reject the “extreme” answers – in this example, (C) and (D) which both have the absolute words “All” in them – you’ve reduced your choices to 3 answers – and, again, one is correct.
Answer: (E)
Solution: (A) states that if an integer is even, it is in Set X – you know that this statement is incorrect because the statement says “Some integers in Set X are even.” – Some, not All.
(B) states that if an integer is odd, it is in Set X – you know that this statement is incorrect because the original statement never mentions odd integers in Set X, certainly not All odd integers.
(F) (F) states that not all integers in Set X are odd – you know this to be true because the original statement places some even integers in Set X.
Example: The city library donated some books to Mr. Clark’s first grade class. If each student takes 4 books, there will be 20 books left. If 3 students do not take a book and the rest of the students take 5 books each, there will be no books left. How many books were donated to the class?
(A) 120
(B) 140
(C) 160
(D) 175
(E) 185
If you remove the two “extreme” answers from consideration – in this case (A) 120, the smallest and (E) 185, the largest, you’ll only have to consider 3 answers – and, yes, as always, one is correct.
Answer: (C) 160
Solution: Having rejected (A), the smallest number, begin with (B) 140. From the example, you assume that this number begins the equation. Therefore, 140 books total minus the 20 books left over if all students take 4 apiece = 120 books divided by 4 books apiece = 30 students. If 3 of these 30 students take no books – 30 total students minus three students = 27 students, and they take 5 books apiece – 27 students x 5 books = 135 total books – and 135 does not equal answer (B) 140.
Move to (C) 160. 160 books total minus 20 books leftover = 140 books divided by 4 books per student = 35 students (first part of the Example). 35 total students minus 3 students who don’t take any books = 32 students. If these 32 students take 5 books apiece (the second part of the Example), then 32 students x 5 books = 160 total books.
In each of these examples, you only have to concern yourself with three possible answers, not five, and this speeds up the “answering process”. In some cases it’s as simple as understanding what the question is asking. As an example, if you are instructed to look for a length in inches, a weight in pounds, a volume in milliliters – you can automatically reject any answer that has a length in yards, a weight in tons, or a volume in liters. If the question asks for “what the character Jane says”, “what the author means”, or “what percentage of geese fly South in the winter”, you can reject an answer that is “what the character John says”, “what an authority quoted in the sample means”, or an answer that is an integer, not a percentage.
Some thoughts on answering multiple-choice questions based on a written sample:
When you are given a written sample, first scan it briefly and then move directly to the questions that relate to it. Read the first question, and then return to the sample and
read to find the answer. If a sample is five paragraphs long, and there are five questions relating it, you can assume that the answer to the first question will appear, if not in the first paragraph, very near the beginning of the sample. Similarly, you should begin looking for the answer to the second question in the second paragraph; the third in the third paragraph; and so forth. While there is nothing guaranteed in this approach – after all, you still have to determine what the correct answer is – if, having read the questions in advance, you can read with purpose – you may be able to streamline the testing process and manage your time more efficiently.
