IELTS Academic Reading · Scanning and reading in detail · Lesson 10 of 12
Multiple choice
Choose the correct answer from four options, or choose two or three answers from a longer list. Learn to spot distractors and prove your answer from the text.
In this lesson you will
- learn the different formats of multiple-choice questions
- identify the four common kinds of wrong option (distractors)
- practise a step-by-step strategy for finding and proving the correct answer
The question type
What is a multiple-choice question?
| Formats | A question with four options (A–D), or the first half of a sentence with four possible endings. Choose one. Some questions give a longer list (e.g. A–E) and ask you to choose two or three answers, so always check how many you need. |
| What it tests | Detailed understanding of specific points, or general understanding of the main points of the text. |
| Order | The questions follow the order of the information in the text. |
Based on the official IELTS description of the Academic Reading test (ielts.org).
Key idea
Know your distractors
Three of the four options are wrong, but they are designed to look right. Most wrong options are one of these four types:
| Type of wrong option | Why it seems right |
|---|---|
| Contradicts the text | Uses words from the text but says the opposite. |
| Not mentioned | Sounds sensible, or matches your own knowledge, but the text never says it. |
| True, but doesn't answer the question | The text does say it, but it is from a different part of the text or answers a different question. |
| Too extreme / too general | Words like all, never, always or most make the option stronger than the text. |
Practice
Practise with a passage
The passage stays next to the questions so you can scan it as you work.
Bees in the City
A Twenty years ago, few people would have expected to find beehives on the roofs of office blocks. Today, however, urban beekeeping is flourishing in cities from London to Tokyo. In Paris alone, the number of registered hives rose from around 300 in 2010 to more than 2,000 a decade later. Supporters say city hives help to protect bees, whose numbers have fallen in many parts of the world, but some scientists are now questioning whether the trend is as positive as it seems.
B One reason bees can thrive in cities is the surprising variety of food available. Parks, private gardens, railway embankments and balcony flower boxes offer a wide range of plants that flower at different times of year. In the countryside, by contrast, large farms often grow a single crop that flowers for only a few weeks. Cities are also generally a few degrees warmer than the surrounding countryside, which allows bees to remain active for longer each year, and city plants tend to be exposed to fewer chemical pesticides than farm crops.
C Despite these advantages, researchers have raised concerns about the sheer number of hives. A study of 14 European cities found that where hive numbers had grown fastest, the amount of nectar and pollen available for each colony had fallen sharply. Honeybees, which live in colonies of up to 50,000 insects, may also compete with wild bee species, most of which live alone and cannot fly far in search of food. The researchers concluded that adding more hives does not necessarily help bees in general and may even harm the wild species that are most at risk.
D For this reason, several cities have started to change their approach. Rather than encouraging companies to install hives as a marketing exercise, city councils are now focusing on planting more flowers, particularly native species that bloom early in spring or late in autumn. Some have introduced limits on the number of hives allowed in each district, while others ask new beekeepers to complete a training course before they are given a licence.
E Urban beekeepers themselves have mixed feelings about these changes. Many welcome the extra planting, but some argue that limits on hives unfairly punish small hobbyists for problems caused by large commercial operations. Most agree, however, that the real measure of success should not be how many hives a city has, but how healthy all of its bee populations are.
Original text written for Tips4IELTS.
Survey and skim
Give yourself to read the title and the first sentence of each paragraph. Then match each paragraph to its main topic.
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
Analyse the options
What did the study of 14 European cities find? Decide what kind of option each one is.
- A Wild bees can fly further than honeybees in search of food.
- B Where hive numbers grew fastest, there was much less food for each colony.
- C Most cities now have too many wild bee species.
- D City plants are exposed to fewer pesticides than farm crops.
- A The text says wild bees “cannot fly far”, the opposite.
- B Paraphrases “the amount of nectar and pollen available for each colony had fallen sharply”.
- C The text never says this.
- D True (paragraph B), but it is not a finding of the study in paragraph C.
Questions 1–4
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D. Underline the key words in each question first, then find the place in the text.
- What does the writer say about Paris?
- Why does the writer mention large farms?
- According to the researchers, adding more hives
- How are some cities changing their approach?
- B From around 300 to more than 2,000 is more than six times as many. C is too extreme: the text only says hives are found on office roofs, not that most are.
- B “In the countryside, by contrast, large farms often grow a single crop that flowers for only a few weeks.”
- C “…adding more hives does not necessarily help bees in general and may even harm the wild species that are most at risk.” A and B contradict the text, and D is too extreme.
- B “…focusing on planting more flowers, particularly native species that bloom early in spring or late in autumn.” A is the opposite of what the text says.
Question 5: choose TWO answers
Which TWO advantages for bees in cities are mentioned in paragraph B? Choose two letters, A–E.
For “choose TWO” questions, the two answers can be in any order. B, D and E sound sensible but are not mentioned. Don't use your own knowledge.
Strategy
A strategy for multiple-choice questions
Put the strategy in order
Use the arrows to put the steps in a logical order.
- Read that part closely and decide what the answer is in your own words.
- Survey and skim the text so you know what each paragraph is about.
- Eliminate the options that contradict the text, are not mentioned, are true but irrelevant, or are too extreme.
- Check the instructions: choose ONE answer, or TWO / THREE?
- Use the key words (and synonyms) to find the right part of the text. Remember the questions are in text order.
- Read the question stem (not the options yet) and underline the key words.
- Choose the option that matches the text, and make sure you can point to the words that prove it.
Top tip: an option that repeats exact words from the text is not automatically correct. The correct answer usually paraphrases the text, and distractors often copy its words.
Questions about what the writer thinks or suggests? Lesson 2 teaches you to recognise opinion, attitude and purpose, and to read for inference.
Lesson and passage written for Tips4IELTS, based on the official IELTS description of this task type (ielts.org).