Multiple Choice
Advice
• Experiment with different approaches to
the passage and the questions. Practice
enough so that each student will find the
best approach.
– Read the whole passage first; then answer
questions.
– Read all the questions (or several questions)
first; then read the passage and answer
questions.
Advice-2
• Recognize that the questions give clues about
the passage’s structure and meaning.
• Read the passage for implications and
ambiguity.
• Master literary, rhetorical, and syntactical terms.
• Recognize that eliminating one answer and
guessing is to your advantage, unless you are
distracted by possible answers (1/4 point is
subtracted for wrong answers).
Advice-3
• Ignore difficult questions and focus on the
ones you can answer. There is no
sequential order of difficulty (e.g., from
easier to harder questions).
• Learn to leave some answers blank.
• Practice often, even repeating taking
passages and questions. Good reading is
rereading.
The Metacognitive Approach
• Identify, though practice, the kinds of
questions that tend to be asked.
• Think about what the question developers
are thinking about when they construct the
questions.
Multiple-Choice Question Types-1
• Reading comprehension
– Reading inferentially
– Clarifying meaning
– Distinguishing main
ideas from details
– Understanding the
rhetorical structure
• Understanding the
passage’s
– Purpose
– Function
– Tone
– Audience
– Effect
– Thesis or focus
Multiple-Choice Question Types-2
• Literary terms
• Rhetorical terms
• Syntactical terms
– Sentence hierarchy
• Pronoun reference
• Figurative language
• Shifts in meaning
• Oppositions
• Figurative language
– Analogy
– Metaphor
• Definition
– Denotation
– Connotation
– Meaning in context
– Metaphorical meaning
Multiple-Choice Question Types-3
• Defining the writer’s
– Purpose
– Rhetorical strategy
– Intended audience
– Tone
– Sense of self
– Perspective
– Stance
– Style
• Argumentation
– Induction
– Deduction
Build a Bridge between the Text
and the Questions
• As a follow-up activity after students have
learned the answers to their multiplechoice questions, they may write a few
sentences to explain the connection
between their comprehension of the text
and each correct answer.
• Such an activity can improve a student’s
reading comprehension.
Getting the Most out of a MultipleChoice Passage
1. Students take a multiple-choice panel of
questions individually. They record their
answers twice—in their notebooks and on
sheets they give to the teacher.
2. In small heterogeneous groups (students 1, 8,
15, and 22 are in one group; students 2, 9, 16,
and 23 are in another, and so on), students
discuss their answers and arrive at a
consensus. Each student writes the consensus
answer next to the original answer. Students
briefly note reasons for selecting an consensus
answer.
Getting the Most out of a MultipleChoice Passage-2
3. The teacher circulates to listen to the
discussions in each group, noting insights that
should be shared with the whole class.
4. The teacher addresses the whole class and
asks each group to give the consensus answer
and reasoning for the answer. Teacher affirms
the answer with added insights, if appropriate,
or corrects the answer with an explanation.
Getting the Most out of a MultipleChoice Passage-3
5. Students keep a log of their progress on
multiple-choice tests. Note that not answering
questions (leaving some blank answers) can
improve the multiple-choice score.
Correct Blank Incorrect Score (of 14)
1. (14 q)
7
0
7
5.25 (=5)
2. (14 q)
8
2
4
7.00 (=7)
3. (14 q)
9
3
2
8.50 (=9)