Multiple Choice Test Taking Strategies

The morning of the test, eat a healthy breakfast.
BE ON

TIME.
Stretch during testing breaks.

your chance of doing well on the test.
Remember,

the stories
were not chosen to entertain you. Pay attention and
remember to highlight as you
read.

you do now?

one big one. If you have a positive attitude you

will do well.

Look over the test.

Now look at the questions.

read the answer choices because it will take too long

and confuse you later.
In each question, highlight the important words that tell you what the question wants you to do. It might ask “main idea,” “compare,” “author’s purpose,“ “opinion,” “summarize,” etc
Also highlight unusual or very specific words or phrases that you can look for while you’re reading.

a box at the top or bottom of the page.

Hint: Sometimes you will find an answer to a question in one of the boxes.

Read in chunks, stopping often (every paragraph or 2) to ask yourself, “What did I just learn?”

If you don’t know, REREAD THE SECTION until you do. This way you’ll catch where you stopped understanding, instead of realizing at the end of the story that you don’t understand it.

that contains the unusual words or important words that you

highlighted in the questions.

Be careful: Too much highlighting will make it hard for you to find the answers to the questions.

Careful highlighting can help you find the answers to the questions.

As you read, highlight any words that remind you of the questions that you read.

choices
Get rid of wrong answers
Intelligent guessing
Advice for bubbling
Finishing

the passage to look for the answers.

It’s not cheating; you

have the time, and
your highlighting will help you.

answer choices and read the question only. See if you

already KNOW the answer. Don’t peek, and predict the answer.
Now, read ALL of the answer choices.
See if any of the choices match your prediction.
If your prediction isn’t one of the choices, read the question again; you may have read it incorrectly or misunderstood it.
Double check your answer by going back to the passage for proof.

seems true, then one of them doesn’t really answer that

question. Read the question again to see which choice is wrong.

Read ALL of the answers, and cross out those that you KNOW are wrong.

Some answers are partly true. If any part of
the answer is false, it’s not the correct answer.

For vocabulary, try putting each answer choice in the sentence in place of the vocabulary word. Choose the one that makes the most sense.
Ask yourself what the question is asking you to do.

Go back to the section in the passage that is about the question.

you cannot figure out the answer within a few minutes

by using the passage and suggestions, go with your first thoughts. Don’t leave it blank; you might number the rest of the test incorrectly.

Circle the questions you’re unsure of,
even though you’ve answered them. Go
back when you’re done with the section
and take a fresh look. Sometimes,
later questions help to answer earlier
ones.

Research shows that first thoughts are
often correct, but we don’t always trust
ourselves.

answered all of the questions.

Erase all stray marks and smudges.