Multiple-Choice Tip: Eliminate Choices | Download for quality grades |

You’ve learned some great multiple-choice tips so far. Ready to add one more to your repertoire? Great. Let’s add this one: eliminating answer choices. You’ve probably heard the advice before: When answering multiple-c ...

You’ve learned some great multiple-choice tips so far. Ready to add one more to your repertoire? Great. Let’s add this one: eliminating answer choices. You’ve probably heard the advice before: When answering multiple-choice questions, try to eliminate the clearly wrong answers and narrow it down to at least two possible choices. But how do you know which answers are “clearly wrong”? Four-Step Process One easy way to determine if an answer is correct is to ask yourself: Is it true? Then, ask yourself: Is it all true? On the AP English Literature and Composition Exam, your answer options may often have multiple “parts.” In order for the answer to be true (correct), all parts of the answer choice must be true. Want to see this in action? Great. First, read this passage taken from a novel. Then take a look at two questions based on the passage and follow the steps to see how you can eliminate answer choices to arrive at the correct answer. Read the question 1. In the context of the passage as a whole, the first paragraph serves to build suspense by (A) hinting at the political machinations underlying the party’s spectacular failure (B) emphasizing the extent to which the success of the party hinges on seemingly unimportant details (C) alluding to the international significance of issues that will be resolved at the party (D) dwelling on the elaborate preparations for an event whose disruption is imminent (E) contrasting the suffering of the working classes with the opulence of the wealthy classes Step One: Eliminate choices that clearly don't match what is happening in the passage. (A) hinting at the political machinations underlying the party’s spectacular failure (B) emphasizing the extent to which the success of the party hinges on seemingly unimportant details (C) alluding to the international significance of issues that will be resolved at the party (D) dwelling on the elaborate preparations for an event whose disruption is imminent (E) contrasting the suffering of the working classes with the opulence of the wealthy classes Step Two: Strike incorrect answers.