mcq題要求考生在abcd四個選項中選擇一個正確答案，其他三個選項同原文提供的信息相反或不符。如原文可能說生物課在r201室上課，而mcq的一個選項是r202。顯然，這個選項不是正確答案，不能選。
做選擇題主要可以採用如下幾種方法：1、如果問題中的內容在文章中有明確闡述，根據文章內容判斷並選擇正確的答案；2、如果問題中的選項在文章中沒有直接表述，則需要根據文章中的內容進行推斷，然後得出結論並選擇正確答案；3、如果沒有辦法根據文章中的內容確定正確答案，則可以從選項中把錯誤答案逐個排除，剩下的就是正確答案了。
做選擇題時可以套用一些小竅門，比如，要先看文章後面的題目，然後帶著問題從文章中找答案。簡單的辦法就是通過skimming 與scanning在文中找出與問題相對應的詞語或句子，在下面劃線，然後再從這些地方去尋找答案。
此外，在英語文章中，尤其是學術類的文章中，很少出現非常絕對的提法，因此文章中也就極少會用到象absolutely, definitely 等表示‘徹底、絕對肯定或否定’的詞語。所以，如果選項中出現這樣的詞，基本上就不用考慮它所在的句子了。
下面，讓我們用sample exercise為例子，來具體分析一下做選擇題的方法。
sample exercise
shark senses
the shark's sixth sense: the shark has all the senses that we humans do but they also have one we don't have. tiny pores on the snout leads to jelly-filled sacs known as ampullae’s of lorenzini. this sense can detect very weak electrical fields that can detect electrical "vibes" as weak as half a billionth of a volt. struggling or scared animal creates a strong electrical current, which flows through the water, and even though it gets weaker as it travels away from the animal, sharks can pick it up. every animal sends electrical "vibes". a shark can find animals under the sand, and at night, and when at the last moment of attack when the eyes are rolled back and it cannot see. in many cases when doing shark research the shark would attack the boat and other objects instead of the food offered. humans used to think that the shark was just a stupid, crazy eating machine that went after anything. it turns out however that the shark when coming for the prey would roll it's eyes back and have the ampullae’s of loranzini direct it to the prey. the boat gives out very strong electrical "vibes" which confuse the shark and direct it to the boats direction, and since the shark cannot see at the moment it would not know the boat is not the prey. hammerhead sharks have a large number of ampullae’s of lorenzini on their heads. hammerheads use their heads like mine sweepers to find stingrays, and other prey in the sand. large number of hammerheads can be found near underwater volcanoes which attract them from miles away with their electrical fields. the rare and strange goblin shark has a strange snout hanging over is head which may be used the same way as a hammerheads head and help it hunt in the deep dark water it lives in. goblin shark teeth have been found in underwater electrical cables.
the lateral line: the lateral line is another sense that we human do not have. the lateral line is a fluid filled canal that is lined with tiny hair like receptors that are attuned to vibrations made by prey. these lateral lines are located just under the skin on the shark's snout and along both sides of the body. these lines are also in bony fish. fish (sharks included) can also use these lines to sense water currents and pressures and even sounds. some say that the bumping behavior of sharks allows external taste receptors to see if the organism is edible (this may explain why sharks often bump objects).
smell: unlike the nostrils of "higher" animals, sharks are not used for respiratory functions. the shark can sense one molecule of blood in a million molecules of water. each nostril is divided by a skin flap, which separates the water flowing in and out. as the fish swims, water enters the nostrils and through the nasal capsule that contains lamellae. lamellae increase the shark's sensitivity to odors. the olfactory bulb is close to the front of the brain.
hearing: the shark has an excellent sense of hearing and can hear the low pulsing sounds made by animals swimming, splashing, and struggling. these sounds are too low for humans to hear, however sharks can hear them from a thousand miles away. sharks do not have external ear flaps, but instead have ears inside their heads on both sides of the brain case. each ear leads to a small pore on the sharks head. a shark's inner ear can also detect acceleration, and gravity.
sight: it was once thought that sharks had very bad eyesight, and were nearly blind. it is now known that sharks have very good eyesight, some better than ours. like cats, a shark's eye contracts or expands to alter the size of the pupil, according to how much light there is. in the back of the eye there is a layer of cells known as the tapetum lucidum. the cells reflect light back onto the retina. this is where images are focused, making good use of light. due to this a sharks can see in dim light, and the eye "glows" like a cat when light is shined on them. with pigment layers a shark can protect it's eyes on sunny days. the shark's eyes also have cells called rods, and cones. the rods work in dim light and are sensitive to changes in light. the cones may allow sharks to see color. we humans have rods, and cones. fish lack eyelids because they don't need to blink and clean their eyes due to their watery environment. during attack some sharks use their nictitating membranes (translucent eyelids) to protect them from the thrashing animal. sharks that have no nictitating membranes, like the great white for example roll their eyes into the back to their heads. the size, shape, and overall look of a shark's eye depends on their environment. deepwater sharks have large eyes to take in more light, while smaller eyes are on sharks that live closer to the surface. it was once thought that great white attacks on surface were cases of mistaken identity, but researchers now know that this theory is not likely for a few reasons. reason one is because white sharks have excellent vision and can probably tell the difference between a human on a surfboard, and a seal. the second reason is this; when a white shark attacks a seal it makes one huge bite, and kills the seal on the spot. when humans are attacked the shark usually takes one small bite and swims off. if the shark thought we were seals then it would do to us what it doses to the seals.
choose the appropriate letters a-d and write them on your answer sheet.
1. which senses are the ones that sharks have, but humans have not?
a. the sixth sense
b. ampullae’s of lorenzini
c. lateral line
d. b and c
2. according to the author, sharks...
a. are stupid, crazy eating machines
b. go after everything
c. have very bad eyesight
d. are confused by the electrical vibes sent out by the boat
3. why are many hammerheads found gather around underwater volcanoes?
a. because they have a large number of ampullae’s of lorenzini
b. because the water there is warm
c. because they are attracted by the electrical fields there
d. because they can find prey in the volcanoes’ sand
4. the lateral line...
a. helps sharks to detect the movement of a quarry
b. helps sharks to detect electrical fields
c. helps sharks to sense water speed
d. all of the above
5. the nostrils of the shark are for...
a. breathing air
b. perceiving scents
c. separating water
d. steering
6. images are focused on...
a. the tapetum lucidum
b. ampullae’s of lorenzini
c. retina
d. none of the above
7. according to the writer, the great white attacks human beings, because...
a. it confuses a human being with a seal
b. it has excellent eyesight
c. it has poor eyesight
d. not given
從文章的標題我們可以知道這是一篇關於鯊魚感覺（shark senses）的文章。每段文章的開頭都用了大寫字母，清楚地告訴我們文章的各個段落分別是the shark’s sixth sense， the lateral line， smell， hearing， sight。
讓我們來看問題1: which senses are the ones that sharks have, but humans have not?
第一段的標題是the shark’s sixth sense。大家都知道，人有聽覺、視覺、嗅覺、觸覺、味覺五種感覺，而第六感覺一般是指心靈感應等尚待證明的感知功能。因此，通過快速判斷，考生可以猜測到本段描寫的是鯊魚所特有的感覺。接下去看頭兩句，果不其然，第一句講的是鯊魚擁有我們人類所有的感覺，但還有其特有的感覺。第二句講的是在它的嘴上有一些小孔，連到一些叫做ampullae’s of lorenzini的sacs上。一下子我們就遇到了三個生詞。怎么辦？不要緊，通過意群分析法，jelly-filled sacs的名字叫作ampullae’s of lorenzini，因此只要集中注意力在ampullae’s of lorenzini上就可以了，不用管sacs是什麼意思。但應當選a還是b呢？通過判斷可以得知，a只是籠統的一個標題，並沒有說清這種感覺到底是什麼。而b則明確地寫出了名稱。但選b就可以了嗎？如果不仔細看題，或因時間原因，匆匆選擇，就落入了出題者設下的陷阱。在mcq題型中，通常會有一些all of the above, none of the above, a and b, a or b等選項。對這類選項一定不能掉以輕心，必須認真比較，考慮出題者為什麼會在僅有的四個選項中出這么一個題？以本題為例，第四選項是b and c，即c也是鯊魚所特有的感覺。跳到the lateral line一段閱讀，果然，lateral line is another sense that …因此做mcq題一定不能想當然，每個選項都必須看到，進行比較，這樣才不至於馬虎，把該拿到手的分數白白丟掉。
問題2: according to the author, sharks....。這個問題很明顯是在對全文的總體感覺提問,也就是說，作為讀者，讀完全文後，你感覺作者的態度是什麼。一般說來，這種全局性問題的答案總是在第一段或最後一段中。果然，我們在第一段中找到了這樣的一段話：human used to think that the shark was just a stupid, crazy eating machine that went after anything. it turns out however that the shark when coming for the prey would roll its eyes back and have the ampullae’s of loranzini direct it to the prey. the boat gives out very strong electrical 'vibes' which confuse the shark and direct it to the boats direction....
從這段話我們可以找到第二題的答案。可以肯定，前兩個選項都不對，因為這是人們以前對鯊魚的誤解，作者並沒有這么認為。used to, it turns out, however這些詞都發出了強烈的信號，即大家所認為的sharks are stupid, crazy eating machine that go after anything是錯誤的。此外，作者發現，鯊魚錯把船隻當作獵物的原因是它把船隻發出的‘electrical vibes'與獵物們發出的‘electrical vibes'混淆了，而且，此時它只是沒有用眼睛而並非是眼力太差的緣故。如果考生還不放心，可快速瀏覽sight一段，即可發現it was once thought that sharks had very bad eyesight…it is now known that sharks have very good eyesight。因此，我們可以肯定，正確答案是d。
問題3：why are many hammerheads found gather around underwater volcanoes?
看完這個問題，我們首先應當想到的是要到哪裡去找答案？什麼是hammerheads？既然文章是講鯊魚的，那hammerheads一定是一種鯊魚，至少也是一種魚的名字吧。對專有名詞進行paraphrase比較少見，因此以hammerhead為target word對文章進行掃描，很快就可以在第一段找到好幾個hammerheads。通過閱讀了解到，鯊魚是被電場吸引才聚集到水底火山附近的，而至於它們是否要到火山沙里去找獵物或因為那裡的水溫高就到那裡去，文章並沒有提及。選擇這道題的答案時，應該根據文章內容直接選出，不需要用排除法。
問題4： the lateral line....
看到lateral line當然就要到以lateral line為標題的段落中去找答案了。在該段中我們看到，the lateral line is a fluid filled canal that is lined with tiny hair like receptors that are attuned to vibrations made by prey. … fish (sharks included) can also use these lines to sense water currents and pressures and even sounds。意思是鯊魚的lateral line 可以感覺到獵物造成的振動、水流、壓力甚至是聲音。問題所給出的選項有：探測獵物的運動，探測磁場，感應水的流速。但文章只說能感覺水流，而不是流速，因此通過排除法，只剩下a和b。a在文中已有明確表述，如果大家因不認識quarry而對這個選項信心不足，也可以通過排除b來選a。因為通過閱讀第一段已經知道，鯊魚是通過ampullae’s of lorenzini來感知electrical field的。
問題5: the nostrils of the shark are for....
從nostrils一詞我們可以聯想到nose，接著聯想到smell。這樣直接去smell一段中去找答案就省去了很多時間。當然，如果不知道nostril的意思，也可以通過掃描的方法在文中找到含有nostril的句子，但這就費時多了（而且，如果不認識nostril一詞的話，真是該努力一下“我愛背單詞”了：）。
從前兩句話中我們可以了解到：鯊魚的鼻孔不是用來呼吸的；，它們能夠感覺到水中的血滴。這樣，a首先就可以排除掉了。第三句中出現了separate water，但它是出現在由which引導的非限定性定語從句中，修飾的是skin flap，而不是nostril。因此c選項也可以排除。d選項steering在文中未出現過，只是用於迷惑考生，分散他們的注意力。此外，odor 和scent是同義詞，只要能讀懂這段的大意，b選項是可以準確地選中的。
問題6： images are focused on....
由於問題中提到的是image（圖像）， 所以我們應該在sight 這一段中尋找答案。在該段中，我們發現了下面的句子：in the back of the eye there is a layer of cells known as the tapetum lucidum. the cells reflect light back onto the retina. this is where images are focused....
在問題後面給出的選項中，我們發現了tapetum lucidum，ampullae of lorenzini和retina。 ampullae of lorenzini在第一段出現過，主要是和電場有關，因此可以排除掉。tapetum lucidum 看起來有點象，可是仔細讀讀原文，this is where images are focused。 this在這裡很重要，判斷它指的是tapetum lucidum還是retina是本題的關鍵。通過語法分析，this指的是the subject of the most immediate sentence in the above context，所以retina應當是本題的答案。本題再一次說明了，在選項中經常有一些看似正確的答案，但是千萬不能大意，一定要把所有的選項都看完，仔細區別後再做選擇。
問題7：according to the author, the great white attacks human beings, because...
在文章最後一段的後半部分，我們發現與問題有關的句子：it was once thought that great white attacks on surface were cases of mistaken identity, but researchers now know that this theory is not likely for a few reasons...從中我們可以推斷出下面的意思：以前人們認為大白鯊攻擊人類是因為它認錯了‘人’，但是，研究人員現在知道這個理論不太可能成立，並且列舉了若干原因。可見，大白鯊攻擊人類不是因為它眼神不好，分不清人和海豚，文章中列舉出的原因只是在反駁它攻擊人類是因為混淆了人和海豚的理論，但是並沒有說明它為什麼攻擊人類。儘管文章中提到它具有很好的視覺，但是這一點與問題並沒有什麼關聯。因此，我們可以排除掉abc三個選項，選擇d。