PFA - Multiple-Choice Questions: How Do I Figure Out the Answer? (Lesson)

Multiple-Choice Questions: How Do I Figure Out the Answer?

Multiple-Choice Questions:

On your tests in the course and the AP Exam in the spring, you’ll see multiple-choice questions. There are strategies you can use to increase your chances of increasing your score on these questions even if you don’t 100% know the correct response.

The AP Exam will contain 55 multiple-choice questions with a 55-minute time limit. These questions will test not only your knowledge of specific historical facts but also how they are applied to the events that shaped history.

The multiple-choice questions require you to apply higher-level thinking skills as opposed to only memorization. The questions on the AP Exam will also contain quotes and other documents that apply to questions following the document. However, these questions will not give you all the information that you need to answer the questions in the documents provided. You will need to use the information that you have learned to answer the multiple-choice questions.

Each multiple-choice question has 4 choices and you will choose the best answer.

In this course, each unit test will contain a section of 25 multiple-choice questions that must be answered in 20 minutes. The test questions will be based not only on the AP frameworks but also on the Georgia Performance Standards (GPS) to help prepare you for the state administered Georgia Milestones Test.

You may also have some "review" questions on tests meaning that some test questions may draw from material learned in previous modules. The specific items required by the AP frameworks and the GPS are defined in the key terms provided in the course at the beginning of each module.

 

Strategies for answering Multiple Choice questionsStrategies for answering multiple-choice questions include:

  1. Read the entire question and glance over the options. Students typically think the answers to multiple-choice questions are obvious, but this is a dangerous habit that can cost you many points on multiple-choice tests. Read each question stem carefully.
  1. Answer the question in your mind before reviewing the answer choices. This practice helps you keep from talking yourself out of a correct answer.
  2. Eliminate the wrong answers. Eliminate (and mark through) the answer options you 100% know are incorrect. Even if you believe you know the correct answer, strike through the other options to be certain you don’t get the options confused.
  1. Use the process of elimination. Cross out the answers you know are wrong. (You can write on your test book for the AP Exam.) This saves you time and increases the chances of selecting the correct response.
  2. Select the best answer. Not just the one that seems correct. Typically, there is one best answer.
  3. Make an educated guess if you don’t have an idea about the best choice.
  4. Pay attention to words. Pay close attention to words like never, always, only, and none. If you see always or never, the responses must be irrefutable.
  5. Usually, it’s best to stick with your first choice—but not always. Usually, it’s not advantageous to second-guess yourself and change your answers. Test questions are not usually designed to trick you or confuse you---they are usually intended to test your knowledge and ability to discern the correct response.
  6. “All of the Above” or “None of the Above”—that is the question. Do not select “All of the above” if you are pretty sure that one of the answer options is wrong. The same principle applies to “None of the above” if you are relatively sure that at least one of the options is. If there are apparently two correct answers, and one of them is “All of the above,” “All of the above” is likely the correct choice.
  7. The more information, the better. Usually, the correct answer contains more information than the other options—this is a useful strategy if you have to guess.

 

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