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Chapter 12: Test Taking

Learn how to be testwise to boost your scores! Mental and physical prep tips, reading strategies, question types, and essay answering guidance provided.

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Chapter 12: Test Taking

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  1. Chapter 12: Test Taking Bridging the Gap, 9/e Brenda Smith 2008 Pearson Education, publishing as Longman Publishers

  2. In this chapter you will answer the questions: • Can being testwise improve your score? • How should you prepare before a test? • What should you notice during a test? • What strategies should you use to read a comprehension passage? • What are the major question types? • What hints help with multiple-choice items? • How do you answer an essay question?

  3. Can Being Testwise Improve Your Score? • High scores depend on preparation, both mental and physical. • Understanding how tests are constructed can help.

  4. Strategies for Mental and Physical Preparation • Get Plenty of Sleep the Night Before. • Arrive Five or Ten Minutes Early and Get Settled. • Know What to Expect on the Test. • Have Confidence in Your Abilities. • Know How the Test Will Be Scored. • Plan Your Attack.

  5. Reader’s Tip: Preparing for a Test • How will the test look? • What material will be covered? • How will you study? • When will you study? • What grade are you honestly working to achieve?

  6. During the Test • Concentrate. • Read and Follow Directions. • Schedule Your Time. • Work Rapidly. • Think! • Ignore Students Who Finish Early.

  7. After the Test • Analyze Your Preparation. • Analyze the Test. • Analyze Your Performance.

  8. Strategies for Standardized Reading Tests • Read to Comprehend the Passage as a Whole • Anticipate What is Coming Next • Read Rapidly, but Don’t Allow Yourself to Feel Rushed • Read to Learn and Enjoy • Self-Test for the Main Idea

  9. Recognizing the Major Question Types • Main Idea • Details • Inference • Purpose • Vocabulary

  10. Strategies for Multiple-Choice Items • Consider All Alternatives Before Choosing an Answer • Anticipate the Answer and Look for Something Close to It • Avoid Answers with 100 Percent Words: no none, only, every, always, must • Consider Answers with Qualifying Words: few, much, often, may, many, some, perhaps • True Statements Must Be True Without Exception • If Two Options Are Synonymous, Eliminate Both • Study Similar Options to Determine the Differences • Use Logical Reasoning If Two Answers Are Correct

  11. Strategies for Multiple-Choice Items • Look Suspiciously at Directly Quoted Pompous Phrases • Simplify Double Negatives by Canceling Out Both. • Use Can’t-Tell Responses If Clues Are Insufficient • Validate True Responses on “All the Following Except” • Note Oversights on Hastily Constructed Tests: • Grammar • Clues from Other Parts of the Test • Length • Absurd Ideas and Emotional Words

  12. Strategies for Content Area Exams Multiple-Choice Items: • Make a list of key terms, facts, and concepts. • Quiz yourself and make connections with similarities and differences. • Invent scenarios that depict principles and concepts. • Factual questions • Conceptual comprehension • Application questions

  13. Strategies for Content Area Exams • Short-Answer Items • Make lists and self-test. • For history exams, be prepared to identify who, what, when, where, and why.

  14. Strategies for Content Area Exams • Essay Questions • Translate the Question. • Answer the Question. • Organize Your Response. • Use an Appropriate Style (not conversational). • Be Aware of Appearance. • Predict and Practice. • View Your Response Objectively for Evaluation Points. • After the Test, Read an “A” Paper. See the Reader’s Tip on page 619 for examples of Key Words in Essay Exams.

  15. Locus of Control • External Locus of Control: does not take responsibility for test grades • Internal Locus of Control: takes responsibility for success on tests. • WHICH ARE YOU?

  16. Summary Points • Can being testwise improve your score? • How should you prepare before a test? • What should you notice during a test? • What strategies should you use to read a comprehension passage? • What are the major question types? • What hints help with multiple-choice items? • How do you answer an essay question?

  17. Search the Web • For more information on Test-taking, search the Internet and look at information on: http://www.ablongman.com/smith/

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