Multiple choice items consist of a question or an incomplete statement called the "stem," typically followed by four to five choices. Most often only one is the correct or "best" answer and the others are called distracters or decoys.

A couple of strategies can help you do your best on multiple-choice tests:
• Cover the answers to an item and read only the stem of the question. If an answer comes to mind, then look at the choices and select it if it is listed. See if you can provide the correct answer without having to be prompted by the choices.
• Reject answers that use specific determiners such as: everyone, always, never, etc.
• Look for grammatical inconsistencies which may help eliminate wrong answers.
• Choose the longest, most precise answer.
• If answers cover a wide numerical range, choose the answer in the middle.
• Choose answers which use qualifying terms such as: often, most, etc.
• Choose the answer which first caught your eye.

1. Watch out for negatives and extreme words: Whenever you find negative words such as not or except in the stem or in the options, circle them so they will stand out. But make sure you take them into consideration when you choose your answer. Always circle 100 percent words such as never, no, none, best, worst, always, all, and every and be suspicious of the options in which you find them.

2. Foolish options are usually incorrect: Sometimes test writer's use foolish statements as an option. You should almost always view such statements as decoys to be immediately crossed out.

3. The option "all the above" is usually correct.

4. Sometimes lengthy or highly specific answers will be the correct answer.

5. Be aware of words like "always," "never," "only," "must," and "completely." These are usually the wrong answers since there are many exceptions to rules. These are extreme words which are more than likely to be the wrong choice.

6. Mark questions you can't answer immediately and come back to them.

7. Machine-Graded Tests *Make sure the answer you mark corresponds to the question you are answering. Do not make any stray marks--try not to erase or change your answers.

8. Many standardized tests have separate answer sheets. Make sure that the number you are answering corresponds to the number of the question. If you skip a question, be sure to leave the space for that question blank.

How To Take an Essay Test

Essay questions frequently appear on tests, especially for subjects that are not scientific or mathematical. Essay tests usually require you to pull information together, make relationships, and draw conclusions. On the whole, essay tests usually take more time than objective exams. Try to use your time wisely.

Keep these guidelines in mind when you have to write an essay test:

• Read all of the questions on the test before answering any of them. The questions often contain valuable information that may be helpful when you write your answer. Reading all of the questions before starting will help refresh your memory about the material and will help you make an informed choice if you have to choose from several questions.

• Underline key verbs in the question. Essay questions usually focus on one or more key verbs. Here are some key words that often appear on essay exams: compare--examine similarities and differences summarize--briefly give the major points discuss--examine or analyze in detail relate--emphasize connections and associations

• Concentrate on these key verbs; they will give you clues to the type of information that you need in your answer. Other commonly used verbs include: analyze, contrast, criticize, define, describe, enumerate, evaluate, examine, explain, illustrate, interpret, list.

• When answering an essay question, first decide precisely what the question is asking. If a question asks you to compare, do not explain.

• Good organization is important in an essay exam; take a few minutes in the beginning to collect your thoughts and write a brief outline for your answer.

Essays often involve discussing certain key points. Identify these points and put them in your outline. If you run out of time and don't explain all of the points on your outline, you may get partial credit for your effort.

If the test includes both essay and multiple-choice questions, fill out the multiple-choice part first. Answering multiple-choice questions will help you remember the material and make connections between concepts. These questions may also contain information you can use to answer essay questions.

If you have extra time, check your answers. If you finish a test before your time is up, don't hand in your test. Use the extra time to check over your answers.

Do not frustrate yourself, however, by concentrating on questions that you simply don't know how to answer.

Tips for Taking Standardized Tests Like the CLAST and the GRE
by Mark McBride, English Professor at Brevard Community College in Palm Bay

• Begin by going through the questions and answering all the ones you know you can answer correctly in less than one minute.

• As you do this, circle all the questions you know you can answer correctly but that will take more than a minute.

• Also, for those questions you're not sure you can answer at all, cross them out.

• Answer all the questions you know you can get in less than a minute, and then start at the top again, answering all the circled questions. (The idea behind this is most of us get bogged down and waste precious time in questions we may or may not be able to answer, for example, complicated algebraic problems. These questions are designed for the cream of the crop students, those seeking high scores for placement.)

• Answer all the circled questions you can, and then, when there is only a few minutes left on the test, go to the answer sheet. Count the marked answers in each row--ABCDE--and whichever row has the least number of answers, place all your guesses in that row. Standardized test makers try to evenly disperse the answers; therefore, your chances of guessing right on those difficult problems are better than randomly guessing.