MEPX
Chapter 3 of 10All chapters

Chapter 3 of 10

Traps

How wrong options are built.

Designed distractors

Options usually include a word from the same topic, a synonym of one of the original words, and the correct relationship reversed. All three feel plausible.

  • Topic association is not a relationship: bee and flower are related and not analogous to bird and nest.
  • Check the part of speech matches.

Ambiguous words

Many words have several senses, and the intended one is fixed by the pair. If nothing fits, try a different sense of the first word.