Single Answer Multiple Choice Questions
Multiple choice questions (MCQs) in the IELTS Reading section test your ability to locate and understand specific details from the text. For single answer MCQs, you'll be given a question or an incomplete sentence with four options (A, B, C, D) and you must choose the one correct answer.

Strategy
Read the question first: Before you read the passage, read the question and the options. This gives you an idea of what information you need to look for.

Scan for keywords: Identify the keywords in the question and options. Scan the passage to find these keywords or their synonyms. The information is usually in chronological order in the text.

Read the surrounding sentences: Once you've located the keywords, read the sentences before and after to get the full context. The correct answer will be a paraphrase of this information.

Evaluate the options: Compare the information you've found with each of the four options. Look for the option that accurately reflects the information in the text.

Multiple Answer Multiple Choice Questions
In this variation, you are asked to choose more than one correct option from a list. You might be asked to choose two, three, or even four answers from a longer list of options.

Strategy
Read the instructions carefully: The instructions will tell you exactly how many answers to choose (e.g., "Choose TWO answers from the following list...").

Follow the same steps as single answer MCQs: Read the question, scan for keywords, and read the surrounding text.

Evaluate each option against the text: Check each option against the information in the passage. Don't assume that if one part of an option is correct, the whole option is.

Identifying Distractors
Distractors are the incorrect options designed to look like the correct answer. They are often plausible but subtly wrong. . Learning to spot distractors is key to acing MCQs. Here's how to identify them:

Partially correct options: These options contain some information that is correct according to the passage, but also include details that are incorrect or not mentioned.

Paraphrased but inaccurate options: The option may use synonyms of words from the passage, but the overall meaning is different. The key is to check if the meaning is truly the same.

Options with new information: These options introduce information that is not found anywhere in the text. Always remember that the correct answer must be supported by the passage.

Options that contradict the passage: These options present a direct contradiction to what is stated in the text. For example, if the text says "The sky is blue," a distractor might say "The sky is not blue."

Irrelevant options: These options are related to the general topic but do not answer the specific question asked.

By systematically applying these strategies and being aware of how distractors work, you can improve your accuracy and efficiency in tackling multiple-choice questions in the IELTS Reading test.