General Strategies

1. Underline key words or phrases

2. Restate the question in your own words.

3. try to answer the question before you look at the options.

4. Consider al options. Do not select the first one that looks good and forget to read the others.

5. Learn how to make the best choice by using a process of elimination (POE).

   • Eliminate choices that are completely false of impossible considering the other choices.

   • Eliminate choices that are partly false.

   • Eliinate choices that are too general.

   • Cross out answers as you eliminate them.

6. If after reading the question and all the options you find that the answer is not imediately apparent, watif a few seconds before you look at the options again.

7. If a multiple choice questions does not make sense, read the questions and each of the answers independently.

8. If the multiple choice question is clear but the options are not, try combining the question with each of the options.

9. turn the multiple choice question and each option into a true/false question.

10. If the multiple choice question is not in "question form," turn it into a question.

Last Resort Strategies

these may indicate INCORRECT answers:

• specific determiners are likely to be incorrect answers.

• Unknown words are likely to be incorrect answers.

• Insulting statements are likley to be incorrect answers.

• Jokes are likely to be incorrect answers.

• extreme choices are likely to be incorrect answers.

these may indicate CORRECT answers:

• qualifiers are likely to be correct.

• Longer, more complete answers are likely to be correct.

• "All of the above" is likely to be a correct answer.

• If two answers are opposites, one of these choices is likely to be true. .

• Numbers (dates, years, statistics) in the middle of the range are likely to be correct.

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© 2005 Learning Lab, Community College of Philadelphia.  Contact: Jay Howard   Updated: Jan 2005