HiSET Reading, Math and Essay Writing: Multiple Choice Strategies for a Higher Score

HiSET® Reading, Math and Essay Writing: Multiple Choice Strategies for a Higher Score

Winning Multiple Choice

Strategies for the High School

Equivalency Test®

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ISBN-13: 9781772452907

Version 8 Updated July 2025

HiSET® is a registered trademark of the Educational Testing Service (ETS), who are not involved in the production of, and do not endorse this product.

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Getting Started

C

ongratulations!

By deciding to take the HiSET®, you have taken the first step toward a great future! Of course, there is no point in taking this important examination unless you intend to do your best to earn the highest grade you possibly can. That means getting yourself organized and discovering the best approaches, methods and strategies to master the material. Yes, that will require real effort and dedication on your part, but if you are willing to focus your energy and devote the study time necessary, before you know it you will be finished the exam with a great mark!

We know that taking on a new endeavour can be a scary, and it is easy to feel unsure of where to begin. That’s where we come in. This study guide is designed to help you improve your test-taking skills, show you a few tricks and increase both your competency and confidence.

The Test Assessing Secondary

Completion

®

The HiSET® exam is composed of five sections, Reading, Writing, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies. It measures examinees’ levels of achievement and readiness for college and the workforce as outlined by the Common Core State Standards.

This is a book about improving your score by using proven test strategies. This is different from other books such as a study guide, or a practice test. Even though we do provide lots of information to study and practice test questions, this book is about how to tackle multiple choice questions.

But don’t worry - that’s not all! While you are learning different strategies for answering multiple choice questions, you can also practice your skill at answering reading comprehension and basic math, which are half your score and then use what you have learned to answer the other subject areas.

Worried about that big exam coming up? Do you think you’re just not a good test-taker, especially when it comes to standardized tests? The good news is that you’re not alone. The bad news is that millions of people are left behind through objective testing, simply because they’re not good test-takers - even though they may know the material. They don’t know how to handle the format well or understand what’s expected of them.

This is especially true of the multiple-choice test. Test-takers are given a lot of support for taking essay-style tests. They’re helped with skills such as grammar and spelling. However, little is offered for the multiple-choice exam. This is although thousands of people find multiple-choice to be the most challenging kind of test. Here are some reasons that so many people have difficulties with multiple-choice:

The Broad Range. Because the questions are so short and quick, a lot of ground is covered in the test. Who’s to know what to study with so much material covered?

Time Limits. Most standardized tests have time limits, which adds an extra layer of pressure.

Trickery. Many test-designers think that it is too easy to guess a multiple-choice question correctly, so they intentionally make the questions tricky.

Bluffing Not Allowed. With an essay test, you can try to bluff your way through it. Not so with multiple-choice. The answer is either right or wrong.

Difficult to Write. It’s not easy for a test-writer to design a good multiple-choice test. Sometimes, they make them overly difficult.

Shuffled Content. Multiple-choice tests tend to throw the questions in at random, in no particular order. You could be answering a question about the 1700s and then about the 2004 Presidential election.

These challenges mean that students have to be familiar with a wider range of material than on other kinds of exams. You’ll need to know specific vocabulary, rules, names, dates, etc.

There are, however, a few advantages to you, the test-taker, with a multiple-choice test. For instance, because there are more multiple-choice items on a test than other types, each question tends to have a lower point value. You can afford to miss a few and still be okay. Also, if you’re doing a fill-in-the blank or essay test, you have to rely totally on memory for the answer. With a multiple-choice exam, you know that the correct answer is somewhere in the question. You just have to decide which one it is. Often, seeing the right answer will trigger your memory, and you’ll recognize it instantly.

Keep in mind, though, the test-writer knows that one advantage of multiple-choice is the fact the answer is on the page. Therefore, many test-writers include what is called a distracter. This is a possible answer that is designed to look like the correct answer, but which is actually wrong. We’ll talk about this again later, but an example would be the question: Who is known for posting 95 theses on a church wall? Among the answers might be Martin Luther and Martin Luther King. Because the student vaguely remembers the name Martin Luther from the course materials, there’s a chance that he’ll select the incorrect Martin Luther King.

Who Does Well On Multiple-Choice

Exams?

With so many challenges working against you on the multiple-choice exam, what’s the answer? Is there a way to improve your chances and your score? There is! The point of this book is not to discourage you, but to make you aware that there are strategies and tips that you can incorporate to raise your test score. Before we get into the specific strategies, let’s take a general look at who does best on these types of tests.

Those who know the material. This should go without saying, but the thing that will most raise your test score will be if you know the material that’s going to be covered. While the strategies we’ll