summary writing mcqs

MCQtimes.Com

Summary Writing

• Join for FREE
• Printable Worksheets
• Online Lessons
• Test Maker™
• Printable Games
• Worksheet Generator
• Plans & Pricing

Printable & online resources for educators

• Test Maker TM
• Browse All Questions
• Questions With Images
• Advanced Search

Share/Like This Page

Filter By Grade

Kindergarten Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6 Grade 7 Grade 8 Grade 9 Grade 10 Grade 11 Grade 12

Browse Questions

• All Subjects w/ Images (7032)
• By ELA/Literacy Standard
• By Math Standard
• All Subjects (214242)
• Arts (4576)

Reading Strategies

Author's purpose, cause and effect, character study, compare and contrast, fact and opinion, figurative language, identifying genre, making inferences and drawing conclusions, making predictions, point of view, problem and solution, reading poetry, reading skills, rhetoric and propaganda, sequence of events, story elements.

• Summarizing

Supporting Details

Text elements, text structure, tone and mood, types of conflict.

• English as a Second Language ESL (44792)
• Health and Medicine (9411)
• Life Skills (2965)
• Math (31096)
• Physical Education (4157)
• Science (54615)
• Social Studies (30318)
• Study Skills and Strategies (382)
• Technology (2641)
• Vocational Education (7170)

Summarizing Questions - All Grades

You can create printable tests and worksheets from these Summarizing questions! Select one or more questions using the checkboxes above each question. Then click the add selected questions to a test button before moving to another page.

This question is a part of a group with common instructions. View group »

• A tiger tells about her life.
• A group of tiger cubs go hunting.
• A mother tiger raises her tiger cubs.
• A narrator explains how tigers became endangered.
• She believes she is old enough to take care of herself.
• She wants to watch scary movies.
• Carla's mother leaves her alone all the time.
• Carla's babysitter is only three years older than Carla.
• Two boys got into trouble. They were very late getting home. They could not ride their bikes anymore.
• Two boys were late getting home. Dad came looking for them. He took the boys home.
• He took the boys home. Dad came looking for them.Two boys were late getting home.
• The two boys were got into trouble and got lost. Their dad got mad and sent the police to find them.
• Termites are lighter in color and loose their wings at a certain stage of development.
• Ants are dark in color, hard bodied and belong to a different order than termites.
• Ants and termites are both insects and have many things in common
• Although ants resemble termites, they have differences that can be easily seen.
• After reading the book, Williams shouted, "Tip your hat to the Cat!"
• The students giggled while Williams made her voice change from deep to high...
• Two lucky second graders from PS 152 in Manhattan sat next to Williams on a big red chair.
• Serena Williams, the tennis champion, read The Cat in the Hat to second graders.
• summarizing
• He found a map.
• He called his mother.
• He asked a sea lion for help.
• He went back the way he came.
• to entertain one another
• to get children to fall asleep
• to help explain its movements
• to share the facts they had learned
• none of the above
• not waste time reading it again.
• work as fast as you can so you can take a nap.
• draw designs around the answer.
• read the entire question and all the answer choices.
• green beans
• Spot Chases a Rabbit
• Spot is in Trouble
• Spot Has an Exciting Day
• Spot Chases a Car
• They won the victory.
• Eric's team was defeated.
• They were excited.
• After the game, Eric's team got pizza.
• paraphrasing
• contradicting
• empathizing
• restrategizing
• Paraphrasing
• Angie goes to Tennessee to visit a farm and does a bunch of chores.
• Angie goes to live on a farm and quickly wishes she is back home in the city.
• Angie visits family in Tennessee and gets a quick introduction to farm life.
• Angie feeds the chickens and learns how to quickly get out of their way.
• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Use
• FREE Printable Worksheets
• Common Core ELA Worksheets
• Common Core Math Worksheets

40+ Summary Writing Exercises for High School Students

This post is the beginning of my ambitious project to give you lots of summary writing exercises suitable for Senior High School students and teachers. Your constant practice with these summary writing exercises will prepare you sufficiently for any senior high school level English summary test.

Find passages on hiring a car accident attorney, insurance claims, the film and movies industry, hotels, travel, transportation, and tourism, world football, mortgage, banking and personal loans, technology and software, web hosting, investment and stock trading, cryptocurrency, public health and disease control, blogging, digital publishing and content marketing, e-commerce, distance learning and the internet.

Remember that these are the areas that future summary and comprehension passages for high school level tests are going to come from. They may as well help you with your vocabulary work in the Lexis and Structure section of the English Language syllabus.

For your guidance, I’ve provided recommended answers to each of the summary writing exercises. You should try to answer the questions in your own words after checking these model summary answers

Summary Exercise 1

SUMMARY PASSAGE ON WHEN TO HIRE A CAR INSURANCE ATTORNEY

According to AllLaw.com, one of the most respected legal advice websites in the US, there are very good reasons to hire a a car insurance attorney after a car accident. They insist that allowing an attorney to be in charge of your legal battles with insurance companies and other stakeholders can be the smartest move after you suffered an automobile accident.

Usually, car accidents involving serious or long-term injuries require an attorney to get the most desirable outcome. For this reason, having an experienced and articulate advocate working for you is essential in obtaining a reasonable and fair resolution in your car accident case.

Because most injury attorneys work on a contingent-fee basis, and only get paid if there is a successful resolution to your claim, there is often little incentive to try to handle these types of claims on your own, unless no injuries or serious damage were involved and a settlement would be very small. If you’re injured in a car accident, then hiring a lawyer will almost always ensure a much better settlement.

Hiring a personal injury attorney to represent you after a car accident means you will have a professional working for you — one who is extremely knowledgeable about the relevant laws and procedural rules that may affect your case.

Even though a lawsuit is rarely necessary, the threat of legal action offers strong leverage when negotiating a fair settlement.

Whereas this may be your first time dealing with the ins and outs of an accident claim, injury attorneys have dealt with all manner of claims and a variety of insurance companies. They have experience obtaining the necessary evidence to support your claim, including gathering police reports, witness statements, medical records and bills, and employment and lost wage information.

Your personal injury attorney will also be able to organize the evidence and prepare a settlement demand letter for the insurance company. If you are unable to settle your accident case, your attorney can take care of filing the necessary paperwork to start a court case and can deal with the defense attorneys on your behalf. Having someone knowledgeable handling the hard work of your case eases the burden on you, which is especially important if you have been seriously injured and are trying to recover from your injuries.

Questions and Answers #1

a. In one sentence, state the reason why the writer thinks it should not be difficult to hire an injury attorney after an accident.

ANS. i. A personal injury attorney is knowledgeable about the law. ii. He has a good deal of experience.

d. In two sentences, state the two main functions that an attorney performs with institutions as an advocate for his client.

VIEW THE ANSWER TO QUESTION “D” AND ALSO THE NEXT SUMMARY EXERCISE PASSAGE

Share this post.

Get Exclusive Updates & Offers

Recommended.

English Language Summary Test with Certificate (001)

Climate Change Essay Example: Causes, Effects and Solutions

Solutions to Environmental Pollution Essay Example

Causes of Environmental Pollution Essay Example

Leave a comment cancel reply.

Academic Writing MCQs

These Academic Writing multiple-choice questions and their answers will help you strengthen your grip on the subject of Academic Writing. You can prepare for an upcoming exam or job interview with these Academic Writing MCQs. So scroll down and start answering.

1: A bibliography or list of works cited should appear:

A.   after the abstract, but before the body of the work begins

B.   in the appendices

C.   before the work's conclusion

D.   at the end of the work

2: What is included in an APA-style in-text citation?

A.   author and publisher

B.   author and publication date

C.   title and author

D.   title and page number

3: Which is a correct APA-style reference for the book "Life of Pi"?

A.   Martel, Y. (2001, Harcourt). Life of Pi: A novel.

B.   Martel, Yann. Life of Pi: A Novel. New York: Harcourt, 2001. Print.

C.   Martel, Y. Life of Pi: A novel. New York: Harcourt, 2001.

D.   Martel, Y. (2001). Life of Pi: A novel. New York: Harcourt.

4: All of the following may appear as a section in a piece of academic writing EXCEPT:

A.   Acknowledgements

B.   Debate

C.   Index or Indices

D.   Analysis

5: Views that are in opposition to your own should be addressed:

A.   in full, so that they are fully dispatched by the end of your paper.

B.   respectfully and with some brevity

C.   at length, and at each phase of your argument

D.   never

6: What is a thesis statement?

A.   a short statement of the main point

B.   an explanation of the importance of the argument

C.   a "hook" to capture the reader's attention

D.   a restatement of the most important evidence

A.   results

B.   abstract

C.   literature review

D.   conclusion

8: What is self-plagiarism?

A.   allowing colleagues or classmates to use ideas from one's own work

B.   reusing one's own work; for instance, by submitting the same paper to two classes

C.   deliberately misrepresenting the meaning of a quotation from a source

D.   directly quoting oneself, as if to imply one is an expert

9: Which is a standard order for the sections of a piece of academic writing?

A.   abstract, introduction, background, results, discussion, conclusion, references

B.   background, introduction, abstract, results, discussion, conclusion, references

C.   introduction, abstract, background, results, discussion, references, conclusion

D.   abstract, introduction, discussion, results, background, references, conclusion

10: Which of the following can be properly presented in an academic work without citation?

A.   information within the public domain

B.   paraphrasing

C.   a popular quotation

D.   common knowledge

11: While there are many acceptable structures for pieces of academic writing, all of them have in common:

A.   a thesis statement appearing at or very near the beginning of the work

B.   a 'results' section at the end of the paper, with all relevant experimental data

C.   no fewer than three large divisions within the work

D.   a description of experiments performed

12: The primary difference between an abstract and a thesis statement is:

A.   length: the thesis statement is always longer than the abstract

B.   length: the abstract is always longer than the thesis statement

C.   scope: the first summarizes the entire work, while the second clearly states the work's main purpose

D.   scope: the second summarizes the entire work, while the first clearly states the work's main purpose

13: Which of the following statements about plagiarism is true?

A.   verbatim copying of another person's writing without citation constitutes plagiarism

B.   plagiarism is always the result of deliberate dishonesty

C.   paraphrasing the ideas of another person constitutes plagiarism

D.   ideas from course lectures or discussion sections don't require citation

14: Which of the following is a form of plagiarism?

A.   not providing a citation for assertions that are common knowledge

B.   providing citations for works not directly quoted in your writing

C.   providing citations acknowledging contributions by colleagues or classmates

D.   not providing a citation for an online source without a clear author

15: What is the best pair of descriptors for academic tone?

A.   formal, impersonal

B.   formal, imperious

C.   formal, personal

D.   informal, impersonal

16: True or false: an academic argument is almost always strengthened when the author leaves out first-person pronouns.

A.   True

B.   False

17: What is the most appropriate structure for an academic essay?

A.   the inverted pyramid

B.   the appropriate structure depends on the assignment and topic

C.   the cause-and-effect model

D.   the five-paragraph essay

18: Which of the following is an example of common knowledge that would not require a citation?

A.   an interpretation of the meaning of a symbol in "The Great Gatsby"

B.   the name of the first chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court

C.   a long direct quotation from Shakespeare's "King Lear"

D.   a scholar's opinion of the efficacy of the Voting Rights Act

19: Where in an academic essay is the most common place to introduce the thesis statement?

A.   as the first sentence

B.   in the first paragraph

C.   after previewing the evidence

D.   in the conclusion

20: Which of the following is an example of plagiarism?

A.   failing to cite an appropriate source

B.   citing an inappropriate source

C.   citing a source too much

D.   citing a source whose authorship cannot be determined

21: Vocabulary should be selected in academic writing primarily for its:

A.   colloquiality

B.   opacity

C.   clarity

D.   formality

22: What is an abstract?

A.   a "hook" to capture the reader's attention

B.   a condensed summary of the entire work

C.   a restatement of the most important evidence

D.   a preface or introduction

23: If a novelist were to attempt a piece of academic writing, what changes in language and tone would she be advised to make?

A.   Use a more personal, less objective voice

B.   Place less emphasis on a clear, linear line of development from one section to the next

C.   Use a less personal, more objective voice

D.   Use fancier words.

24: What is the difference between plagiarism and copyright infringement?

A.   Plagiarism involves using someone else's work without attribution, while copyright infringement involves using someone else's work without permission.

B.   Plagiarism is the least severe form of copyright infringement.

C.   Plagiarism is a legal violation, while copyright infringement is an ethical violation.

D.   Plagiarism is always copyright infrigement, but copyright infringement is not always plagiarism.

25: Which section of an academic paper describes the design of the experiment or study?

A.   abstract

B.   results

C.   references

D.   methodology

26: How should you address sources that disagree with your argument?

A.   by not mentioning them; doing so would weaken your argument

B.   by dismissing them before you begin your own argument

C.   by listing them in a separate appendix

D.   by acknowledging them and rebutting their claims

27: Which of the following could be plagiarized?

A.   data and statistics

B.   computer code

C.   (All of these)

D.   written text

28: Which is most correct? "The professor presented her ideas to the panel of her ____."

A.   colleagues

B.   buddies

C.   extremely important colleagues

D.   extremely important buddies

29: From a style perspective, good academic writing should:

A.   be as florid as possible

B.   use language that reflects the historical prominence of the relevant universities or colleges.

C.   use as sophisticated vocabulary as possible

D.   be as clear and direct as possible

30: What type of academic paper should include a results section?

A.   one that relies on historical analysis

B.   one that develops a novel argument

C.   one that focuses on an experiment or other primary research

D.   one that lacks any other citations

31: Which element is necessary to a strong argument?

A.   a thesis statement that makes a claim

B.   evidence to support a claim

C.   an acknowledgment of opposing views

D.   (All of these)

32: Which are discouraged in many forms of academic writing?

A.   (All of these)

B.   colloquial language

C.   contractions

D.   abbreviations

33: What voice is most appropriate to adopt for academic writing?

A.   folksy and verbose

B.   pretentious and stylized

C.   impassioned and emotional

D.   objective and confident

34: Choose the most correct option for a piece of academic writing: "The complete data of experiment results were ____ in the New England Journal of Medicine later that year."

A.   unfurled

B.   put on display

C.   published

D.   put out

35: What is the best approach to using jargon or technical terms in academic writing?

A.   Jargon and technical terms should be used when appropriate for precision and authority.

B.   Jargon and technical terms should be used in the body of the writing, but never in an introduction or conclusion.

C.   It should be avoided; only vocabulary that will be familiar to the average person should be used.

D.   Technical language should be used as frequently as possible, to demonstrate your mastery of the subject.

36: Which section of an academic paper evaluates the current body of published work in the field?

A.   methodology

B.   literature review

C.   introduction

D.   works cited

37: What is deductive reasoning?

A.   reasoning from general premises to a specific conclusion

B.   reasoning from specific information to broader conclusions

38: What is the relationship between a thesis statement and a topic sentence?

A.   a thesis statement can appear anywhere in the work; a topic sentence must be at the beginning of a paragraph

B.   the work as a whole has a thesis statement; each paragraph has a topic sentence

C.   there can be many thesis statements, but only one topic sentence

D.   the thesis statement is implied and abstract; the topic sentence is the literal statement of the thesis

39: Which of the following is not included in an MLA-style reference for a book?

A.   place of publication

B.   page count

C.   publisher

D.   title and edition number (if any)

40: What is the primary difference between a Works Cited list and a Bibliography?

A.   (None of these)

B.   A Works Cited list is considered more formal than a Bibliography.

C.   APA style calls for "Works Cited"; MLA style calls for "Bibliography."

D.   A Works Cited list includes only references that are cited in the text, while a Bibliography includes all sources consulted.

41: Which is most likely to be an effective strategy for avoiding plagiarism when researching?

A.   never copying down direct quotations

B.   focusing on secondary sources

C.   keeping careful track of sources

D.   using the Cornell method for note-taking

42: Choose the best thesis statement:

A.   Mozart's work contains many masonic symbols.

B.   The masonic symbols within Mozart's works reveal a subtler, politically-minded artist than was originally thought.

C.   Mozart was a great composer.

D.   The masonic symbols in Mozart's work are significant in understanding his beliefs.

43: When is it permissible to copy verbatim from a source without citation or quotation marks?

B.   when the material is in the public domain (no longer under copyright)

C.   when the material is freely available online

D.   when the purpose of the copying satisfies the tests for fair use

44: Which style of citation would be most appropriate for academic work in the social sciences?

A.   MLA

B.   APA

C.   Chicago

D.   Bluebook

45: The correct APA reference format in Academic Writing out of the following

A.   Friedman, H. S. (Ed.). (1990). Personality and disease. New York.

B.   H.S. Friedman (Ed.). Personality and disease. New York: Wiley.

C.   Friedman, H.S. (Ed.). Personality and disease. New York: Wiley.

D.   Friedman, H. S. (Ed.). (1990). Personality and disease. New York: Wiley.

A.   the departmental faculty of one specific field, within one institution or more than one institutions within a geographical area

B.   an event or conference where scholars can come together and discuss developments in their field

C.   (none of these)

D.   a group of scholars who are primarily engaged and interested in a given field

47: What is the in-text citation format for Harvard style of formatting?

A.   Author and year; Author page no.; Author and publisher, Author and title

B.   Author, year, page no.

48: Which of the following is an acceptable way to cite a web source according to the Chicago Manual of Style?

A.   "http://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/IRS-Criminal-Investigation-Issues-Annual-Report" March 2014

B.   United States Internal Revenue Service. "IRS Criminal Investigation Issues Annual Report." Irs.gov. Accessed 10 March 2014. http://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/IRS-Criminal-Investigation-Issues-Annual-Report.

C.   "IRS Criminal Investigation Issues Annual Report" irs.gov 2014 Web 10 Mar 2014

D.   US IRS: "IRS Criminal Investigation Issues Annual Report," irs.gov, http://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/IRS-Criminal-Investigation-Issues-Annual-Report

49: What is a difference between "Works Cited" and "References"?

A.   MLA style calls for "Works Cited"; APA style calls for "References."

B.   (None of these)

C.   A Works Cited list is considered more scientific than References.

D.   A Works Cited list is only appropriate in legal and medical contexts.

50: What is the primary difference between the MLA and Chicago styles of citation?

A.   MLA requires a bibliography, while Chicago calls for a list of works cited.

B.   MLA generally uses parenthetical citations, while Chicago generally uses footnotes or endnotes.

C.   MLA is more appropriate for scholarly use.

D.   MLA is more focused on date of publication, while Chicago emphasizes authorship.

List of Academic Writing MCQs ...

Related academic writing mcqs:.

Editing/Copy Editing MCQs

English Sentence Structure MCQs

English Vocabulary UK MCQs

Microsoft Word MCQs

Report Writing MCQs

Available in:

Latest mcqs:.

Literature MCQs

Linguistics MCQs

AP Style Editing (US English) MCQs

Resume Writing MCQs

Popular MCQs:

Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions | Contact Us

© copyright 2024 by mcqss.com

Android APP

To study regularly, improve and track your English, you can download our Android app from Play Store. It is %100 free!

Home » Miscellaneous English Tests » Paragraph Summarizing MCQ Test With Answers + PDF Exercise 3

Paragraph Summarizing MCQ Test With Answers + PDF Exercise 3

Paragraph summarizing test 3.

The future is something that many people, especially young ones, worry about. Our elders tell us that making correct decisions about our futures is very important and making a mistake can ruin us forever. However, when one looks at the records, those people who have taken chances and tried to do things their own way, tend to make out much better than those who do things the way the system expects.

Although we didn't know who she was or where she had come from it was easy to guess that she had some type of royal blood in her veins. The English she spoke was so carefully precise that she couldn't possibly be a native speaker. Her graceful movements and confident gestures indicated power and control. All in all, the appearance she presented was very impressive.

From the very first, man has wondered if there was life on worlds other than our own. The mind of man has wandered to many light-years away: to other planets and solar systems. Today man is still asking this question, but he seeks the answer in science and technology instead of religion ad magic.

There are many different reasons why a poet writes poetry. I would suppose that some write poems for themselves and to please their own senses. Others, however, write to share thoughts, or rather feelings with others. Most poems are meant to appeal to the heart and senses rather than to the mind and reason.

The art form which is best known under the name of Impressionism evolved in France with the Realist movement of the mid to late 1800s. Although this style only lasted for about 15 years in a pure form, it has influenced the style of art that has come after it till today. The motivating thought in this style of art comes from the idea that "Nothing is seen without light."

War is one of the most terrible parts of human history. Death, destruction and pain, both physical and emotional are the primary results of war. Still, the man seems to be incapable of doing without it.

Our world seems to be changing too fast to keep up with. In my youth, life was much more simple. Our parents worried about feeding and educating us. We worried about simple things life school and friends. Today, however, children have become selfish and materialistic.

Download PDF version of this test.

Previous Posts

We welcome your comments, questions, corrections, reporting typos and additional information relating to this content.

Have an account?

Summary Writing

10 questions

Introducing new   Paper mode

No student devices needed.   Know more

• 1. Multiple Choice Edit 1 minute 1 pt Which one of the following is NOT a part of a summary? using your own words summary being shorter than the text exact words from the text including main ideas only

Which best describes a summary?

a really long detailed piece of writing

the entire text told in your own words

something that teachers make you write

the main ideas and important details of a text

Which of the following statements about SUMMARIZING is TRUE?

The summary is a thought that is true but is not in the passage.

The summary is what the passage is mostly about.

The summary is specific, detailed information contained in the passage.

The summary is always found in the first sentence of the passage.

Read the following passage and choose the best answer.

Lisa knew all of the seven dwarfs except one. She remembered Grumpy, Sleepy and Bashful. And of course she couldn't forget Doc and Dopey. Dopey was her favorite. But there was one she just could not remember. Let's see. There's also Sneezy, and that's six. But she could not remember that last one. What was his name?

Dopey was Lisa's favorite dwarf.

Lisa could not remember the name of one of the dwarfs.

There were seven dwarfs in all.

Lisa had a good memory.

• 5. Multiple Choice Edit 1 minute 1 pt What can you summarize? only novels only nonfiction only movies anything you read or watch
• 6. Multiple Choice Edit 1 minute 1 pt You should write your summary in your own words with complete sentences in a secret language that you make up in one draft without revising in fragments without punctuation

Which of the following statements about SUMMARIZING is FALSE?

The summary is what all or most of the sentences or paragraphs are about.

The summary is usually found in more than just one sentence of the passage

The summary is one isolated thought in a passage.

• 8. Multiple Choice Edit 1 minute 1 pt When summarizing a story you must include... Everything that happened The most significant information An Inference My background knowledge
• 9. Multiple Choice Edit 1 minute 1 pt Summaries help me... understand what I'm reading write about what I read include the key points of a text all of the above

All of the above are important steps to be taken when summarising EXCEPT

paraphrasing

highlighting

Explore all questions with a free account

Continue with email

Continue with phone

In order to continue enjoying our site, we ask that you confirm your identity as a human. Thank you very much for your cooperation.

Summarization Quiz Questions With Answers

Story narration is essential; it requires an analytical mind and excellent communication skills. Play this informative "Summarization Quiz Questions With Answers" to improve your narration and writing skills. This quiz contains trivia, facts, and information that will aid your summarizing skills. The learnings you take from this quiz will help make crisp, concise content for your readers. Take the challenge to refine your summarization skills further and enhance your storytelling abilities. These skills are invaluable in today's world of effective communication. Don't hesitate to share this quiz with friends and family who may also benefit from it. Wishing Read more you success in becoming a more proficient narrator and writer! Good luck!

We use summarizing to:

Retell a story

Reduce information to essential ideas

Get through an article more quickly

Avoid long reading

Rate this question:

What can one summarize?

Only essays

Whatever you read

Which is not part of the summary?

Exact words from the text

Summary shorter than text

Using own words to summarize

Including main point only

What is the first step to summarizing a passage?

Careful reading

Reading from the end

Reading only introduction

Reading only main body

A summary should consist of?

Introduction only

Main points

Conclusion only

What is the best strategy for summarizing?

Looking for important details

All of the above

When summarizing, we want to __________________ unimportant information.

Give importance

The main idea is __________________________

All the information provided

The most important information

Nothing to worry about

Provide extra information

 True or False:  Basic signal words are: Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How.

The _______________________ gives the reader an idea about what the paragraph is going to be about..

Concluding sentence

Topic sentence

None of the above

Quiz Review Timeline +

Our quizzes are rigorously reviewed, monitored and continuously updated by our expert board to maintain accuracy, relevance, and timeliness.

• Current Version
• May 06, 2024 Quiz Edited by ProProfs Editorial Team Expert Reviewed by Juliette Firla
• Sep 30, 2010 Quiz Created by Lbradley

Related Topics

• Preposition
• Figurative Language

Recent Quizzes

Featured Quizzes

Popular Topics

• Abbreviation Quizzes
• Citation Quizzes
• Linguistics Quizzes
• Phonetics Quizzes
• Poem Quizzes
• Quote Quizzes
• Vocabulary Quizzes

Related Quizzes

Wait! Here's an interesting quiz for you.

Center for Teaching

Writing good multiple choice test questions.

Constructing an Effective Stem

Constructing effective alternatives.

• Additional Guidelines for Multiple Choice Questions

Considerations for Writing Multiple Choice Items that Test Higher-order Thinking

Additional resources.

Multiple choice test questions, also known as items, can be an effective and efficient way to assess learning outcomes. Multiple choice test items have several potential advantages:

Reliability: Reliability is defined as the degree to which a test consistently measures a learning outcome. Multiple choice test items are less susceptible to guessing than true/false questions, making them a more reliable means of assessment. The reliability is enhanced when the number of MC items focused on a single learning objective is increased. In addition, the objective scoring associated with multiple choice test items frees them from problems with scorer inconsistency that can plague scoring of essay questions.

Validity: Validity is the degree to which a test measures the learning outcomes it purports to measure. Because students can typically answer a multiple choice item much more quickly than an essay question, tests based on multiple choice items can typically focus on a relatively broad representation of course material, thus increasing the validity of the assessment.

The key to taking advantage of these strengths, however, is construction of good multiple choice items.

A multiple choice item consists of a problem, known as the stem, and a list of suggested solutions, known as alternatives. The alternatives consist of one correct or best alternative, which is the answer, and incorrect or inferior alternatives, known as distractors.

1. The stem should be meaningful by itself and should present a definite problem. A stem that presents a definite problem allows a focus on the learning outcome. A stem that does not present a clear problem, however, may test students’ ability to draw inferences from vague descriptions rather serving as a more direct test of students’ achievement of the learning outcome.

2. The stem should not contain irrelevant material , which can decrease the reliability and the validity of the test scores (Haldyna and Downing 1989).

3. The stem should be negatively stated only when significant learning outcomes require it. Students often have difficulty understanding items with negative phrasing (Rodriguez 1997). If a significant learning outcome requires negative phrasing, such as identification of dangerous laboratory or clinical practices, the negative element should be emphasized with italics or capitalization.

4. The stem should be a question or a partial sentence. A question stem is preferable because it allows the student to focus on answering the question rather than holding the partial sentence in working memory and sequentially completing it with each alternative (Statman 1988). The cognitive load is increased when the stem is constructed with an initial or interior blank, so this construction should be avoided.

1. All alternatives should be plausible. The function of the incorrect alternatives is to serve as distractors,which should be selected by students who did not achieve the learning outcome but ignored by students who did achieve the learning outcome. Alternatives that are implausible don’t serve as functional distractors and thus should not be used. Common student errors provide the best source of distractors.

2. Alternatives should be stated clearly and concisely. Items that are excessively wordy assess students’ reading ability rather than their attainment of the learning objective

3. Alternatives should be mutually exclusive. Alternatives with overlapping content may be considered “trick” items by test-takers, excessive use of which can erode trust and respect for the testing process.

4. Alternatives should be homogenous in content. Alternatives that are heterogeneous in content can provide cues to student about the correct answer.

5. Alternatives should be free from clues about which response is correct. Sophisticated test-takers are alert to inadvertent clues to the correct answer, such differences in grammar, length, formatting, and language choice in the alternatives. It’s therefore important that alternatives

• have grammar consistent with the stem.
• are parallel in form.
• are similar in length.
• use similar language (e.g., all unlike textbook language or all like textbook language).

6. The alternatives “all of the above” and “none of the above” should not be used. When “all of the above” is used as an answer, test-takers who can identify more than one alternative as correct can select the correct answer even if unsure about other alternative(s). When “none of the above” is used as an alternative, test-takers who can eliminate a single option can thereby eliminate a second option. In either case, students can use partial knowledge to arrive at a correct answer.

7. The alternatives should be presented in a logical order (e.g., alphabetical or numerical) to avoid a bias toward certain positions.

8. The number of alternatives can vary among items as long as all alternatives are plausible. Plausible alternatives serve as functional distractors, which are those chosen by students that have not achieved the objective but ignored by students that have achieved the objective. There is little difference in difficulty, discrimination, and test score reliability among items containing two, three, and four distractors.

Additional Guidelines

1. Avoid complex multiple choice items , in which some or all of the alternatives consist of different combinations of options. As with “all of the above” answers, a sophisticated test-taker can use partial knowledge to achieve a correct answer.

2. Keep the specific content of items independent of one another. Savvy test-takers can use information in one question to answer another question, reducing the validity of the test.

When writing multiple choice items to test higher-order thinking, design questions that focus on higher levels of cognition as defined by Bloom’s taxonomy . A stem that presents a problem that requires application of course principles, analysis of a problem, or evaluation of alternatives is focused on higher-order thinking and thus tests students’ ability to do such thinking. In constructing multiple choice items to test higher order thinking, it can also be helpful to design problems that require multilogical thinking, where multilogical thinking is defined as “thinking that requires knowledge of more than one fact to logically and systematically apply concepts to a …problem” (Morrison and Free, 2001, page 20). Finally, designing alternatives that require a high level of discrimination can also contribute to multiple choice items that test higher-order thinking.

• Burton, Steven J., Sudweeks, Richard R., Merrill, Paul F., and Wood, Bud. How to Prepare Better Multiple Choice Test Items: Guidelines for University Faculty, 1991.
• Cheung, Derek and Bucat, Robert. How can we construct good multiple-choice items? Presented at the Science and Technology Education Conference, Hong Kong, June 20-21, 2002.
• Haladyna, Thomas M. Developing and validating multiple-choice test items, 2 nd edition. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1999.
• Haladyna, Thomas M. and Downing, S. M.. Validity of a taxonomy of multiple-choice item-writing rules. Applied Measurement in Education , 2(1), 51-78, 1989.
• Morrison, Susan and Free, Kathleen. Writing multiple-choice test items that promote and measure critical thinking. Journal of Nursing Education 40: 17-24, 2001.

Teaching Guides

• Online Course Development Resources
• Principles & Frameworks
• Pedagogies & Strategies
• Reflecting & Assessing
• Challenges & Opportunities
• Populations & Contexts

Quick Links

• Services for Departments and Schools
• Examples of Online Instructional Modules

Purdue OWL® Exercises Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Exercise : Basic-level Paraphrase and Summary Writing

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

Paraphrase the following sentences.

• The student requested that the professor excuses her absence, but the professor refused.
• There will be a music concert next to Vienna coffee shop. Would you like to go?
• International Center is hosting English Conversation classes. They help non-native speakers of English practice their English speaking skills.
• The office of International Students and Scholars at Purdue University is located in Schleman Hall.
• The car that was pulled over by the police officer yesterday just had an accident. That driver is not careful.

Summarize the following text from the Voice of America website:

“Many thousands of Chinese are studying at schools in the United States. And writer Liel Leibovitz says the students are following an example that began in the eighteen seventies.

• Mr. Leibovitz and writer Matthew Miller joined forces to tell the story of the students in their book, “Fortunate Sons.” The book says China sent one hundred twenty boys to America to learn about developments that could help modernize their country.” (American Documents the Country’s First Exchange Students from China, Voice of America, learningenglish.voanews.com)
• “Illiteracy is a problem in many of the world’s poorest countries. Even in wealthier nations like the United States, many children struggle with reading and writing. But in 19 cities across the country [United States], the volunteers of Experience Corps are helping youngsters learn to read. The volunteers, all over 50, work with students in low-income areas.” (Older Volunteers Help Children Learn to Read, Voice of America, voanews.com)
• “Women entrepreneurs in the developing world often face challenges that limit their chances for success and growth. They often have less access to education than men and have difficulty getting financing on their own. But with an understanding of the essential aspects of doing business – such as planning, financing, networking and marketing – they can overcome those obstacles. That's where the 10,000 Women Initiative comes in. As Faiza Elmasry tells us, it's an investment in education with dividends that benefit the businesswomen, their local communities and their national economies.” (Goldman Sachs invests in Educating Women in Business, Voice of America, voanews.com)

Graduate Programs Courses

Technical Writing App's Tests

Technical Writing e-Book's MCQs - Complete

Download Summary Writing App's MCQ & e-Book PDF - 498

To write an effective summary of a report and article, the summary tend to follow the;

• chronological order
• priority based organization
• spatial organization
• All of above

More MCQs from Technical Writing Textbook

Summary writing textbook app: free download (android & ios).

The App: Summary Writing MCQ App to study Summary Writing Textbook, Technical Writing MCQ App, and C Sharp MCQ App. The "Summary Writing" App to free download iOS & Android Apps includes complete analytics with interactive assessments. Download App Store & Play Store learning Apps & enjoy 100% functionality with subscriptions!

Summary Writing App (Android & iOS)

Technical Writing App (iOS & Android)

C Sharp App (Android & iOS)

Fluid Mechanics App (iOS & Android)

Computer Basics MCQs eBook Download

Computer Basics MCQ Book PDF

General Knowledge Test Questions

• NATO Cold War App's MCQ: NATO-led security mission 'ISAF' is abbreviation of
• Earth Atmosphere App's MCQ: Which is not part of greenhouse gases
• Laser Invention App's Quiz: 'LASER' was invented in
• Jupiter Facts App's MCQ: Largest moon in Solar System lies in
• Francis Crick App's MCQs: Francis Crick won Nobel Prize in field of medicine in

Technical Writing Quiz Questions

• Instructions Writing App's MCQs: Best way involved in writing an effective instruction, by considering;
• Types of Letters App's Quiz: A type of letter, monopolizing in directing and focusing readers
• Writing Technical Descriptions App's MCQs: First step of pre-writing in technical description is embodied in;
• Accuracy App's Quiz: Accuracy in technical writing, considered to be as:
• Importance of Internet App's Quiz: ".gif" term used in internet or websites refers to;