Monday, June 20, 2011

SMART Guessing - Standardized Test Taking Tips





We've ALL been there....utterly clueless about which answer to choose for question #37.  It can be AWFUL!  Nothing beats knowing the answer, but even if you are at a LOSS…all is not LOST.  Here are a few ideas you can use in even those tight moments-
1.   The answer to one question is sometimes given away in another question (tests contain a lot of information - use it).   For real – this works often!

2.   True/False Options:
    1.  if you’re unsure select –True.  The percentage of True simply is greater than 50%.
    2. Remember that if a part of a statement is false the whole answer is false.

3.   MC options:
    1. If you  see any of these words - all, every, never, in no case, in every case, etc. – that answer is probably wrong.  When the answer includes words such as often, seldom, or probably  it is often right
    2. Answers that are impossible or unrelated to the question are usually wrong (watch out for alternatives that are true, but have nothing to do with the question).
    3. Complete opposites - usually one is correct. The teacher wants you to understand the choice
    4. Answers say the same thing? -  both are wrong (you can have two that are wrong, but not two that are right on m/c tests).
    5. Two answers contain the same word or phrase, or a similar sounding word, such as "subordination" and "subrogation," choose one of these.  The similarities are there to be SURE you know the details.
    6. Three or more alternatives deal in different ways with one concept, one of them is usually right. The instructor usually doesn't waste 3 alternatives on single incorrect concept. In this case, he or she most likely wants to have you discriminate knowledge.

4.   Answer the questions from your lecture and class reading, not based on educational knowledge that you have.
5.   Never argue with a question. Accept it at face value.  Don’t confuse yourself worrying about it.
6.   If you are unable to eliminate any answer on a 4 answer question, choose the third. Experience has shown that it has a better than 25% chance of being the correct answer.  Don’t ask ME why!

7.   When all else fails:
    1. choose the alternative that makes the best sentence, when added to the open-ended question.
    2. look for subject-verb agreement.
    3. know the instructor's quirks of language.
    4. choose the longer answer. The instructor may have used more words to make the answer precise; thus the most correct.


None of these rules works all the time, so use them only if you have to.

by: Larry Brown
Overlook Tutorial Academy

Download this article as a file HERE

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