|
Written Tests for any competitive examinations may be either descriptive or objective multiple choice types or a combination of both. Whatever may be level of your talent, knowledge or preparation, there are certain DOs and DON'Ts which are very useful to enhance your chance of success. Don't ignore them, as in this highly competitive world there is very thin line between the success and failure. Ten Must Do'es for Written Tests, use as a checklist for descriptive tests | Sl No | Written Test- MUST DOs | Explanations | | 1 | Framing Questions | Instead of framing a question for your preparation, you should decide a topic if you must. For example instead of trying to prepare for a history question that reads why did Pakistan break away from India? You should prepare for the topic the partition of India. | | 2 | Completely scan through a question paper | Always scan through a paper before you begin writing. Give yourself 5 minutes to read through all the questions. Then proceed to answer the easy question first. | | 3 | Allocate time for each question appropriately | Always allocate your time to each question based on the number of marks it is worth. For example, if a question is worth 2 marks out of 100, while another question is worth 5 marks, you should allocate double the time to the later one. Don't waste time on any question disproportionate to marks, simply because you know a lot about that. | | 4 | Start with an easy question | Always start with the easy questions. First, it makes you feel good about the paper and boosts your confidence. Second, you are assured that you will get marks allotted to these questions. Third, if you manage the easy questions properly, you will be able to answer them quickly and allow yourself more time for difficult questions | | 5 | Plan your answer | Always spend two minutes thinking and planning through a question before start answering. Otherwise you may realise half way that your answer is wrong or you may realise that the answer should have been written in the different paragraph or in a different style. | | 6 | Understand the question, don't misinterpret | Only way to avoid misinterpreting a question is to read through the question at least twice. Underline the key words in the question and make sure that you understand what those key words mean to avoid irrelevant answer. Some of the important key words not to be confused are- Define, Describe, Outline, State, List, Explain, Evaluate, Discuss, Analyse, Contrast, Compare, Outline. Your answering style would depend on these key words | | 7 | Forgetting to answer unanswered questions | This is the most common problems in most tests. Some candidates leave the difficult questions to the last but they forget to return to all of them later. Circle or highlight the questions that you cannot answer or chose to answer later. Remember to return to these circled or highlighted questions later | | 8 | Answer the question as it is asked | Read the question again, note sub-sections and make sure you tackle all parts of the question. If you are asked answer 4 out of 6 questions, you should not answer 5 questions. Examiner will not select your best 4 answer instead only first 4 will be given marks | | 9 | Label absolutely everything | Where your answer requires a diagram, be sure that you have labelled everything properly. A graph may be useless if axes are not labelled. | | 10 | Check and double check | When you finally finish an exam, the temptation is always to run as soon as possible. Never leave the examination hall before the allotted time is over, never. You can use this time checking, re-checking your answer or just mulling over your answer, but don’t leave | Handy Tips for Multiple Choice Objective tests A standard multiple choice test item consist of two basic parts- a problem (STEM) and a list of suggested answers (ALTERNATIVES). The stem may be in the form of either a question or an incomplete statement. The list of alternatives contains one correct or best alternatives (right answer) and number of incorrect or inferior alternatives (DISTRACTERS) | Question | | Stem | | | | | | Distracter---- | a. | Alternatives | | Answer------- | b. | | Distracter--- | c. | | Distracter---- | d. | Many a time questions are poorly written which often contain clues that help the candidates who don't know the right answer by eliminating incorrect alternatives. Some of the suggestions on how to find such clues have been included in the list below, however, they should not be used where there is negative marking. Further, when you have applied everything you know to the question and are still forced to guess, the use these clues. | Sl No | Ten Tips for Objective Tests | Explanations | | 1 | Be careful not to circle/mark wrong multiple choice answer | This a costly mistake committed by many candidates primarily due to oversight and carelessness. Make sure that you have marked the answer which you intended to do. | | 2 | Be extremely careful in marking your answer sheet | Most of the answer sheets now a day are read by computer for evaluation. Unless you mark your answer carefully as directed, you may lose a few marks as machine may not be able to read properly | | 3 | Where there is negative marking, don’t attempt any question unless you are more than 90 percent sure | It is very tempting to answer as many as question as possible in case of multiple choice questions. However, where there is negative marks, answering by guessing will guarantee your failure | | 4 | Don't start second guessing yourself and changing your original answers | Research has indicated that your first hunch is more likely to be correct. You should only change answers to questions if you originally misread them or if you have encountered information elsewhere in the test that indicates with certainty that your first choice was incorrect | | 5 | Clue for guessing: Grammar of each alternative inconsistent with the stem, inconsistent grammar is the sign of distracter | Example- A pardanashin woman is one- a. who always remain in veil b. who is married and a housewife c. who is totally secluded from ordinary social course and does not deal with people otherwise than her own family members d. none of these | | 6 | Clue for guessing: Alternatives are not parallel, the answer may be worded different way and the distracters are worded differently | Example- Which of the following training establishment is not run by Reserve Bank of India- a. Bankers training college, Mumbai b. College of Agricultural Banking, Pune c. NIBM d. all of these | | 7 | Clue for guessing: Alternatives are not similar in length, noticeably longer or shorter than the right answer | Example-Which of the following do not fall within the functions of Reserve Bank of India- a. Issue of currency b. Control of credit c. Banker to the Government, bankers' bank and lender of the last resort d. Accepting deposits and making loans and advances to public | | 8 | Clue for guessing: Usage of specific determiners, such as 'always' , 'never' etc. | Example- Which of the following are the main functions of the Reserve Bank of India- a. Granting licenses to commercial banks for opening branches in rural areas b. Accepting deposits from the public c. Regulating foreign exchange business d. Acting as note issuing authority, bankers' bank and banker to the government | | 9 | Clue for guessing: Keywords in the alternatives, i.e. when a word or phrase in the stem is also found in one of the alternatives, it may be the right answer | Example-Social Control was imposed on commercial banks effective from - a. 2nd October 1965 b. 1st February 1969 c. 1st April 1967 d. None of these | | 10 | Clue for guessing: Presence of non-plausible distracters which may be unrealistic or funny | Example-Effective from 15th April 1980, how many banks with demand and time liabilities exceeding Rs 200 crores were nationalised- a. five b. four c. six d. ten | |
|