How to prepare for the OET Multiple Choice Questions?

The Listening and Reading subtests of the OET requires the student to answer Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ). MCQs are not only about answering the questions accurately, but also on time. Hence, it becomes crucial for students to master the skill of answering MCQs in the OET. Although, the OET Training at BAFEL will prepare you for these kinds of questions, Here are a few tips that will help you along the way.

How are the MCQs arranged?

In the Listening subtest Parts B and C, there are three-option multiple choice questions, which means that for each question, there are 3 possible answers: A, B, C. Reading Part B also has these three-option questions, but Reading Part C consists of four-option MCQs,  meaning there are 4 possible answers to choose from for each question –  A, B, C and D.

The fun of MCQs is that the answer will be there right in front of you. All you need to do is pay attention to the piece that is there in front of you, and you will have your answer. However, the trick is to identify those answers in the limited time correctly. With the tips and strategies I am going to talk about, you will be able to identify and answer the MCQs correctly, with some practice.

Tip 1: Understand the Question

There are two type of questions usually in the OET –

• A short answer question
• A sentence completion question

It is the latter which is trickier. The strategy should be to read the beginning of the sentence with the each of the answer options, to see which fits best and forms a complete meaningful sentence.

Tip 2: Understand the Answer options

In Part B, the one thing to do is to read the verb in the question and try to understand what this verb means and its difference from the verbs in the other answer options. For this, your English language skills need to be good. In our OET training at BAFEL, we pay special attention to increasing your vocabulary along with synonyms, because often you will be able to tick the correct option in the MCQs if you understand the meaning of the verb.

Tip 3: Don’t lose your focus.

It is very easy to lose concentration when you are taking your OET, especially during your listening subtest. You need to be constantly vigilant of what you are listening to or reading. So, losing focus is not an option.

Tip 4: Don’t waste time

One good thing about the MCQs is that each question is independent of one another. This is a sure plus because if you are stuck with one question, you can quickly move on to the next without wasting any time.

These tips and tricks will only help when you practice them a lot with mock tests. At BAFEL, we offer our students multiple mock tests and urge them to use these tips so that they are prepared to face the real exam.