Test-Taking Tips

Of course the best way to be able to answer any test question is to have studied and reviewed so well that you know the material thoroughly, but some techniques are presented here which can help you when you are unsure of the answer.

Tips for answering Multiple-Choice questions:

• Anticipate the answer. Try answering the question before you look at the choices. This gets your mind working in the right direction, and there should be a feeling of recognition when you see the correct alternative.
• Consider ALL the answers. Don’t just mark the first answer that “looks good”
• Try rephrasing the question if you’re not sure of the answer. Sometimes rewording the question jogs your memory and supplies the answer.
• If you have to guess, first eliminate the wrong or unlikely choices. This increases the odds that your guess will be correct.

Tips for answering Matching questions:

• Find out whether each answer is used only once. If you are allowed to write on the test, cross out the letter after you’ve used so that you can see what’s left.
• Read all the items in both columns before answering any question.
• Answer those you know first.

Tips for answering Sentence Completion (fill in the blank) questions:

• If you don’t know the exact answer, come as close as you can. You might at least get partial credit.
• Check the number of blanks (occasionally an instructor will leave the same number of blanks as the number of words in the answer).
• Look for A or AN. A word that starts with a vowel should follow AN, a word that starts with consonant should follow A.

Tips for answering True/False questions:

• Watch out for absolute words like always, never, and entirely. Since few things in life are always true, questions using those words are often false.
• If any part of the statement is wrong, the whole thing is false. For example, “The Volkswagen is a small foreign car made in France,” is false.

*Adapted from the University of North Dakota Learning Center

 

 

 

UNCW/Jamie Moncrief