How Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers works
You get the longest passage in the Reading part, up to 350 words, followed by one question and a list of options with checkboxes. More than one option is correct, but you are not told how many. The question may ask about details, the writer's view, the purpose of the passage, or what can be concluded from it.
A listening version of this task also exists, where the text is spoken instead of printed. The scoring rule is the same; see Listening Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers for that one.
What is scored
You earn a point for each correct option you select and lose a point for each incorrect option you select. The score for the item cannot fall below zero.
That rule changes how you should think. If you pick two correct options and one wrong one, the wrong one cancels a correct one. Selecting every option that looks possible is the fastest way to score nothing. The goal is not to find all the right answers at any cost, but to select only the ones you can support from the text.
How to answer
- Read the question first. Know whether you are looking for facts, opinions or implications before you start the passage.
- Read the passage once for its main line of argument. Note roughly where each topic appears.
- Judge each option separately. For every option, find the sentence in the passage that supports or contradicts it. If you cannot point to one, leave it unticked.
- Watch the qualifiers. An option that says all, always or never is suspicious when the passage says some, often or may.
- Select only what you can justify. One or two confident choices usually beat three uncertain ones.
Common mistakes
- Ticking options that are true in real life but not stated in the passage.
- Matching words instead of meaning. An option can repeat a phrase from the text and still say something different.
- Falling for options that join two correct details in a way the passage does not, for example turning two separate facts into cause and effect.
- Spending too long here. It is one item with a long text, and the rest of the Reading part still needs your time.
Deciding when to stop selecting
A practical approach: tick the option you are most sure of first. Then ask of each remaining option, "Could I defend this with a line from the passage?" If the answer is a clear yes, tick it. If it is "probably" or "it depends", the minus mark makes it a bad bet. Review your practice results over several items and you will see whether you tend to over-select or under-select, which tells you how to adjust.