Page 3 Multiple Choice Reading Comprehension

Page 3 Answering an Individual Multiple Choice Question

1. Use the "cover up strategy".
   
   

• Cover answer options, read the stem or the question, and determine what is asked.

The Butterfly

by Arun Kolatkar

There is no story behind it.          1
It is split like a second.
It hinges around itself.
It has no future.

It is pinned down to no past.        5
It's a pun on the present.
It's a yellow butterfly.
It has taken these wretched hills
under its wings.

Just a pinch of yellow,                 10
it opens before it closes
and closes before it O
where is it?

Sample Stem: "Which line from Kolatkar's "The Butterfly" most captures the idea of freedom?"

You know that freedom involves release, so look for the choice with the most glaring example of letting go.

1. It is split like a second.
   
2. It has no future.
   
3. It has taken these wretched hills/under its wings.
   
4. ... It is pinned down to no past.
   
   
• Then select the option that most closely matches your answer. 

1. Treat each choice as a true or false response and select the one that is "most true".
   
   Sample Stem: "When the camera looks up at the subject, such as a butterfly, the kind of camera angle used is?"
   
   

1. High angle: X false
   
2. Low angle: true
   
3. Flat angle: X false
   
4. Canted angle: X false
   
   

2. Rephrase the question as a statement using the answer in the sentence.
   
   Sample Question: "What is the mood of the poem "The Butterfly" by Arun Kolatkar?"
   
   

1. anger
   
2. happiness
   
3. wonder
   
4. despair
   
   

Rephrase the question with each answer:





1. "The mood of the poem is anger."
   
2. "The mood of the poem is happiness."
   
3. "The mood of the poem is wonder."
   
4. "The mood of the poem is despair."
   
   

• Choose the best response.
  


3. Eliminate options that you know are incorrect. Reducing the number of choices increases your odds of success.
   
   Sample Question: "The figure of speech, a pun, can be defined as..."
   
   

1. a comparison between two things using like or as X This is a simile
   
2. a comparison between two objects not using like or as X This is a metaphor
   
3. a joke exploiting various possible meanings of a word
   
4. a repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of a word X This is alliteration
   
   

4. Use logic to guess the correct answer:
   
   
• Make a guess when there is no penalty to do so.
  
• Use hints from questions you know to answer those you do not.
  
• Only change answers when you are 100 % sure of the correction (you found clues in other questions, for example).
  
  
Sample Question: In Kolatkar's "The Butterfly" what is the effect of the unfinished word in line 12 and the space between lines 12 and 13?




1. It reveals to the reader the poem is about to end. Yes, the poem ends, but this is not the best answer. Consider the theme of the poem.
   
2. It reveals the speaker was interrupted by a terrible event. Yes, the speaker was interrupted, but the butterfly's leaving is not a catastrophe.
   
3. It shows the speaker forgot what he or she was going to say. Possibly, but this is not the best answer because it does not fit with the poem's theme.
   
4. It suggests the speaker's surprise at the suddenness of the butterfly's leaving. Yes, this is the best answer because it connects the ideas of surprise and freedom.