What do Multiple Choice questions test?
This type tests detailed understanding of a specific part of the passage: a fact, an inference, the writer’s opinion or the main idea of a section. It rewards close reading and the ability to reject plausible-but-wrong distractors.
How do you answer Multiple Choice questions?
- 1Read the question stem carefully before the options so you know exactly what is being asked.
- 2Because multiple-choice questions follow passage order, locate the relevant section and read it in full — the answer usually depends on more than one sentence.
- 3Read all the options and treat each as a claim to test against the text, rather than picking the first that "sounds right".
- 4Eliminate options that are contradicted, only partly true, or not mentioned; the remaining option should be fully supported by the passage.
- 5Choose the answer that matches the meaning of the text, not the one that reuses the most words from it.
What are the common traps to avoid?
- Distractors that use exact words from the passage but distort the meaning.
- Options that are true in the real world but not stated in this passage.
- Options that are partly correct — one clause matches, another does not — which still makes them wrong.
- Extreme wording ("always", "never", "the only") that the passage does not actually support.
How long should you spend on them?
Allow a little over a minute per question, as each often requires reading a short section closely. Use elimination aggressively so you spend time confirming one answer rather than re-reading all four.