Short answer questions are the most common way of testing student’s comprehension in the academic world, therefore most students will be familiar with these types of exercises.
The biggest issues with this type of question are: paraphrasing ability, and synonym recognition. The questions will never match the test, so students who spend time looking for matching words and expressions will be wasting a lot of time, which is something which needs to be managed efficiently in the exam.
Tips.
1. Read the question thoroughly. What are they asking exactly?
2. Look at the keywords, and underline.
3. What type of words are they? (noun, adjective, verb…, etc..,)
4. Think of paraphrasing and synonyms for the keywords.
5. Scan the text looking for the paraphrases and synonyms.
6. Read again to confirm.
Practice time. – Follow the tips above and complete the following exercise.
Click the link to open the document.
Answers.
1. To keep employees (Children’s centres are offering up to 7,000 more….)
2. 17,000 pounds (Senior nurses could still earn up to this amount…)
3. 78 per cent (Private providers current percentage).
4. Private and voluntary (Parents have also made it clear that they like private and voluntary sector nurseries).