Test-Taking Skills and

Preparation

Test-Taking Skills

Skills related not to subject

knowledge but attitude and
how a person approaches the
test.

1.

Establishing a good attitude

Knowing the different kinds of test items
Knowing the keywords and phrases
Following directions
Moving from item to item without wasting time
Difficult questions and educated guessing

2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Follow the Oral Directions

This explanation is extremely

important to hear and
understand because the teacher
(Test Administrator) is not
allowed to repeat instructions
once the test starts.

Quickly Scan Each

Test Section

This will give you an idea of

whats coming up in the allowed
time for the section.

Pace Yourself and Dont Spend

Too Much Time On Any One Item

If you have 30 minutes to complete a

section that has 15 problems, use no
more than 2 minutes per problem on
average.

15 Problems X 2 Min. = 30 Min.

Learn To Manage Your Time

Bring a watch to monitor time or

look at the wall clock so you
know when half, and then all of
your time is up.
Dont focus only on the time.
Too much time clock watching
can be counter-productive.

Read the Directions Carefully

There are many description words

that are absolutely essential to
understand and pay close attention
to.
Underline these words in the
directions so you can refer back to
them.
During timed tests, some directions
are hard to remember if there are
multiple questions. Underlining the
keywords is extremely helpful!

KEY WORDS & PHRASES

Courtesy of Wikipedia:
1. Keyword categories
2. What is it Signaling?
3. Examples.

1. Conclusion or Cause and Effect

2. A summation of the thesis
3. Examples are as follows: therefore; thus; in conclusion;
believes; so; consequently; it can be seen that; can conclude that;
claims that.

1. Continuation
2. More support for the same claim is coming up
3. Examples are as follows: and; also; moreover; furthermore;
plus; in addition; at the same time; as well as; equally; besides;
what is more; both...and; equally important; not only...but also.

1. Contrast (Linguistics)
2. A comparison of similarities and differences
3. Examples are as follows: but; despite; yet; however;
alternatively; still; although; unless; otherwise; not; though; while;
nevertheless; by contrast; notwithstanding; rather; conversely; in
spite of; on the other hand; contrarily.

KEY WORDS & PHRASES

1. Emphasis
2. What is considered important
3. Examples are as follows: I think; above all; essentially;
clearly; most of all; especially; primarily; particularly; in large
measure; indeed.

1. Evidence
2. An upcoming claim
3. Examples are as follows: because; for; since; the reason is
that.

1. Illustration/Exemplification
2. That an example is being given as support for a claim.
3. Examples are as follows: for example; for instance;
specifically; to illustrate; such as; In the words of; To "name"; For
"name"; According to "name"; as "name" says.

1. Sequence
2. That there is a structure or order that has been formulated in
the writing
3. Examples are as follows:Firstly,...,Secondly,...Thirdly,...Lastly;
Next; Finally; On the one hand; Recently.

Dont panic if your mind

goes blank on one
question. Remember
you can put a star next
to it and go back to it
later. Dont forget to
also star the answer
document until you
bubble later on.

Check Your Answers After

Completing Each Section!

Make sure you recheck these answers

before you move on to the next section
(USE ALL OF THE TIME GIVEN FOR
EACH SECTION).
If you still have time left over, check over
all of your answers that you did not put a
star or check next to. This will help
eliminate the simple mistakes that we
make when we rush or did not read the
directions correctly.

Answer All of the

Test Questions

If you cant make up your mind

between 2 answers or have no
clue at all, make an educated
guess.
If you limit it down to 2 choices,
you have a 50% chance of
guessing the correct answer!

Recognize When the Correct

Answer is Not Given or There is
More Than One Correct Answer
When you see none of the
above as one of the answer
choices, check to see if there is
one correct answer or none of
them are correct.
When you see all of the above
as one of the answers, check to
see if there is one correct
answer or if all of them are
correct.

None of the Above

Always notice if none of the
above is listed as one of the
choices for an answer!
You can usually limit your
answer choices down to one
possible correct answer
other than none of the
above.

All of the Above

Always notice if all of the

above is listed as one of the
choices for an answer.
Put checks next to all answers
that you think are correct.
If you think that more than one
of the answers are definitely
correct, then the correct answer
will most likely be all of the
above.

Strategies For Dealing With

Reading Passages
1) Read the questions before
reading the passage.
This will give you a good
idea of what to look for in
the passage.

Scan the Passage

2) Refer to the passage to find the
answers.
Scan over the passage until
you find a specific word or
passage that is related to the
question.
The sentence before and after
will usually give you enough
information to answer the
question correctly.

Always Look Back

at the Passage
3) Dont simply rely on your
memory from scanning or
reading the passage once.
Always refer back to the
passage when moving on
to the next question

Look For Negative Words

in the Questions

Which one is not included

What is the opposite of

All of these happened

except

Main Idea &

Topic Sentence
The

main idea and/or

topic sentence is almost
always stated at the very
beginning of the passage,
and sometimes listed
again at the end.

Relax, Get Plenty of Rest the Night

Before the Test, and Eat a Healthy
Breakfast the Morning of the Test

Maintain Silence During Testing This Causes Distractions for Others

Deep Breathing Exercises

Reduce Anxiety

Practice breathing in real slow

and exhaling real slow if you
feel nervous or anxious before
or during the test.

You are Now Ready to

the Test
Be

Confident
Use the Time Wisely
Fill in All Answers and
Check Them