Test-taking strategies: How to approach Multiple-choice and True/False Questions

Essential Question How do we tackle Multiple-Choice and True or False questions? What strategies do we use? What do you know?

Multiple-Choice Questions Carefully read both the question and all of the answers. Weeding out absolute answers Recognizing “umbrella” (or “fusion”) questions

Absolute Words One obstacle to tackling multiple choice questions is when absolute words appear in the choices. To the right are some absolute words. These usually make a sentence false. None Never All Always Every day Only Must

Absolute Words Example According to the passage, the people of ancient China were very industrious. How exactly were they considered to be industrious? A. They were all farmers and none of them were craftsmen. B. They were all craftsmen and none of them were farmers. C. Some of them were farmers and some of them were craftsmen. D. None of the people were farmers or craftsmen.

The answer is “C” In the previous question, choices A,B, and D all contained the absolute words “none” or “all”. In general, absolute words limit too many options to be good choices for an answer of a test. The correct choice, however, was more general because it contained the word “may”.

Another Example The people of ancient China had to handle many conflicts from many different forces. What kinds of conflicts did the ancient Chinese have to handle? A. Only invasion forces from barbarians. B. Some conflicts with invaders and some with civil wars. C. Only civil wars and no problems from outside invaders. D. No conflicts at all.

The answer is “B” Choices “A”, “C”, and “D” all contain the absolute words “only” and “no”. Choice “D” is also not the right answer because the question tells us that the ancient Chinese had conflict, therefore “D” can’t be the answer since it claims that there were no conflicts.

“Umbrella” Questions “Umbrella”, or “fusion”, questions are questions in which all of the answers can look correct. Example: Which of these is the definition of a dynasty? A. The ruling power of China B. A family C. When one family has all of the ruling power. D. A family in the upper class

The answer is “C” With an umbrella question, all of the answers may seem correct at first glance, but looking closely at them we see that choices “A”, “B”, and “D” are all a part of choice “C”, “When one family has all of the ruling power.” These families tended to part of the elite class and they had absolute ruling power over China.

Deductive-Reasoning Some questions are phrased using words that you’ve never heard of, or may not even be real. These aren’t anything to freak out about and they are made to test your deductive reasoning. Or your ability to read carefully and deduce information based on that reading.

Deductive Reasoning Question Question: The Chinese people wrote with a secret ink formula. It was made using ellision and corbanite. Which of these components was more important to the creation of their ink? A. Ellision was more important. B. Corbanite was more important. C. Ellision was less important. D. Both A and B

The answer is “A” Despite not knowing what elision and corbanite is we can still look at the question and find the correct answer. Choice “D” can’t be right because the question tells us that one of these components was more important. The choices “B” and “C” say the same exact thing, simply using different words. Therefore, the only remaining choice, “A”, had to be our right choice.

Multiple-Choice Practice Which of the following is not a dynasty mentioned in the passage? A. The Shang dynasty B. The Qin dynasty C. The Mulan dynasty D. The Zhou dynasty

Multiple-Choice Practice Which of these was established by the Han Dynasty: A. The Great Wall of China B. A system of writing. C. Roads and Canals D. The Silk Road

True or False Questions A good rule of thumb is that unless you absolutely know the answer to be FALSE, that you should pick TRUE. However, for a statement to be TRUE, everything about the statement must be TRUE Be careful when a statement contains a negative however, such as “not”, “do not”, or “in” (“infrequent”) and “un” (“unfriendly”) A negative can completely change the meaning of a statement.

True or False Tests If a statement has two negatives, cross out both of them in order to make it easier to understand the statement. The Qin dynasty was never not a short lived but beneficial dynasty. Absolute statements are usually FALSE and they include words such as: All, every, never no Qualified statements are usually TRUE and they include words such as: Some, most, sometimes, rarely

True or False Practice The Chang Mung dynasty was one of the strongest dynasties in Chinese history. People in ancient China always worked with their hands. China went through several dynasties throughout its history. The Great Wall of China was never not built to protect the Chinese from the Barbarians.

True or False Answers False True False

Factoids Write down all of the fact that you can remember about test-taking strategies for Multiple-Choice and True or False. Share your facts with your neighbor.