Come Up With Your Own Answer First: A Reading Comprehension Strategy
Did you know there’s a technical term for an incorrect answer choices on multiple-choice tests? They’re called distractors.
Distractors aren’t random. They’re designed to test your understanding by tempting you to choose the wrong answer. They often work by sounding convincing or familiar, by anticipating common mistakes, or by including details that are true on their own but don’t actually answer the question.
On reading comprehension tests specifically, this might look like overstating what the passage says, including information that is true but irrelevant to the question, or making a subtle logical leap that isn’t supported by the text.
One of the most effective ways to avoid these traps on reading comprehension tests is surprisingly simple: come up with your own answer before looking at the answer choices.
You can use this approach on virtually any multiple-choice reading comprehension test, including the SAT, ACT, ISEE, and SSAT.
Why Answering the Question Yourself Works
It keeps distractors from influencing your thinking
Distractors have to be tempting. If every incorrect answer were obviously wrong, the test wouldn’t do a very good job of measuring reading comprehension.
Instead, distractors are designed to sound plausible. Once you’ve read the answer choices, they begin to influence your thinking. Instead of asking, “What does the passage say?” it’s easy to find yourself asking, “Which of these sounds the most reasonable?”
Answering the question yourself first helps prevent distractors from influencing your thinking. It gives you an objective point of reference before the answer choices have a chance to shape your thinking.
It forces you to engage with the passage
Many students approach reading comprehension questions by looking for shortcuts. They skim the passage, glance at the answer choices, and hope something stands out.
The problem is that reading comprehension tests are designed to assess how well you can read and genuinely understand a passage. Simply skimming the passage and looking for hints in the answer choices isn’t enough to earn a top score.
Answering the question yourself requires you to process what the passage is saying. Instead of letting the answer choices guide your thinking, you’re constructing your answer from the passage itself. That makes you much less likely to be pulled toward a plausible-sounding distractor.
How to Use This Method
1. Answer the question yourself
Read the question, then return to the relevant part of the passage and answer the question yourself before looking at the answer choices.
Your answer doesn’t have to be polished. It’s enough to jot down a word or short phrase, or even to underline a sentence in the passage. The goal is simply to give yourself something concrete to compare against the answer choices.
Don’t just think of an answer; write it down or underline the supporting evidence in the passage. Having something objective to return to makes it much easier to evaluate the answer choices without second-guessing yourself.
2. Compare your answer to the answer choices
Once you’ve answered the question yourself, look at the answer choices. If you’ve understood the passage and the question correctly, one of the answer choices will likely be very close to the answer you came up with.
Now compare each answer choice to your own reasoning. Eliminate the choices that don’t match your thinking or aren’t supported by the passage.
As you evaluate each choice, don’t ask, “Could this be right?” Instead, ask, “What’s wrong with this answer?”
Because distractors are designed to sound plausible, looking for reasons to accept an answer often leads students astray. Looking for flaws is much more effective. As you eliminate choices, the correct answer should emerge as the one that best matches your reasoning.
3. Verify your answer with the passage
You should be able to point to evidence in the passage that supports your answer. If someone asked, “Why is this the correct answer?” you should be able to justify it using the passage.
This step is especially important when you’re deciding between two answer choices that both seem reasonable. Return to the passage and look for the evidence that supports one answer over the other. The passage contains everything you need to answer the question, so let it resolve any uncertainty.
When This Method Doesn't Apply
This method isn’t the right approach for every question. There are a few question types where you’ll naturally need to look at the answer choices sooner. For example, a question that asks which statement is NOT supported by the passage requires you to know what the choices are before you can evaluate them. Even in cases like these, the underlying principle remains the same: your reasoning should always come from the passage, not from the answer choices.
This Strategy Isn't a Quick Trick
Students often resist this strategy because it feels slower. Many students already struggle to finish reading comprehension sections on time, so an approach that initially seems to slow you down can feel like exactly the wrong thing to do.
When you’re worried about running out of time, it’s natural to go looking for that one quick trick that will magically unlock a higher score. However, real improvement in reading comprehension doesn’t usually come from tips and tricks. To dramatically improve your score, you have to change how you take the test.
Like any methodology, this approach takes practice before it becomes automatic. At first, it may feel slower because you’re consciously changing how you think through each question. Over time, however, it becomes more natural, and many students find that they make fewer careless mistakes because they aren’t being pulled toward tempting distractors.
The best way to learn this method is to practice it on isolated questions before you try to use it on a full practice test. Start with untimed practice questions, taking as much time as you need to follow the process correctly. At this stage, don’t worry about finishing the question quickly or even about getting every question right. Instead, focus on building the habit of answering the question yourself before looking at the answer choices.
Once this approach begins to feel natural, apply the same method to an entire reading section, still untimed. Focus on following the methodology consistently. As you work through the section, pay attention to the patterns you notice. Are there certain types of passages that you find more challenging? Are some question types becoming easier?
Finally, take a full timed practice section and see how the method holds up under realistic testing conditions. Try to approach this with curiosity rather than pressure. It’s just a practice test. You’re finding out how well the method works when the clock is running and identifying where you still need more practice.
I once worked with an SAT student who had developed a habit of looking at the answer choices first. She was a strong reader but couldn’t break out of the low-to-mid 600s. After committing to this approach, her score jumped to an 800 on her next practice test.
Not everyone will see such dramatic results, but her experience illustrates how much changing your approach to reading comprehension can matter.
Sara Laszlo
Sara Laszlo has nearly ten years of experience in private tutoring. An opera singer by training, Sara is especially interested in exploring better ways to practice and improve skills, whether musical or test-related. She holds a B.A. in Classical Civilization from Duke University and a Certificate of Merit in Voice from the New England Conservatory of Music.
