The Question

THE ANATOMY OF A QUESTION

All questions in the UMAT are multiple-choice. They may be individual questions, or questions
grouped into units. They all follow the same basic structure:

Stimulus

This is another word for the piece(s) of information that you need to interpret to answer the
question. For example, in

Section 1: a passage, graph, table, diagram, series of short statements or any

combination of these
Section 2: a scenario, conversation, passage
Section 3: pictures arranged in various ways (eg. a series, a grid, a hexagon, a
pyramid)

Question stem

The question stem is critical, perhaps as critical as the stimulus itself. It tells you what to do
with the stimulus, so you should read it very carefully. For example, you may be asked in:

Section 1: to supply a viable conclusion, to infer from the material presented, to solve
a problem
Section 2: to understand what another person is thinking / feeling, to identify the
motivations behind their behaviour, to predict their future behaviour
Section 3: to complete a pattern

Too many people misread or skim over the question stem, to their detriment. Those who do
this often answer the question that they think they are being asked, not the one that they are
really being asked.

Answer alternatives

In Sections 1 and 2, you will have a choice of four options. In Section 3, you will usually have
five.

One option, and only one, will ever be the best answer. The rest are called distractors, because
that is what they are designed to do distract attention from the correct answer.

STRATEGIES FOR ATTACKING A QUESTION

Preview the question stem

Eliminate your natural instinct to read the question from top to bottom, especially for long
passages. Reading a long passage end to end will give you an interesting (or not so interesting)
taste of the subject, but often the questions will deal with only a fraction of the information. As
one successful student put it, For longer questions, never read the whole thing thoroughly
youll be too pressed for time. Read the questions first and then look for the answers. Carefully
reading long passages is a waste of time.

So start with the question stem. This will focus your thinking, help you concentrate on the parts
of the stimulus that are pertinent and prime your mind to manipulate the information in a way
that is relevant to the question. As another student says, Reading the questions before the
passage helps you read for what you need.

For 'unit' questions, where there are several questions per stimulus, it may be sufficient to skim
over the question stems and gain a more general idea of what is being asked.

Understand the stimulus

Note that we didnt ask you to read the stimulus, but to understand it. There is a significant
difference. You can read over something without grasping what it is trying to say. You need to
actively interpret the information so you have a firm understanding of what it is about.
Remember that UMAT questions are rarely presented in the simplest, most helpful way. In
fact, your main job for many questions is to figure out what the question means so you can
answer it.

Dont move on until you have understood the stimulus. You may have to re-read the
information, or parts of it. But dont get too obsessive either; dont waste time trying to
understand everything its saying. You will waste time and the parts you dont understand may
not even be relevant to the question.

In school, you are probably used to reading with the intention of remembering. In UMAT,
however, there is no need to commit anything to your long-term memory. All of the information
you need is in the test itself, and you can always refer back to it. You need to work with the
information in the here and now. When you attack a question, dont think Can I remember
this?, think Let me figure this thing out!

A brief word on vocabulary: dont worry too much about it. If you are in year 10 or 11, it may
be useful to develop a good vocabulary (which will also help you in school), but if you are in
year 12, you probably wont have time. Most of the language used in the UMAT is
understandable. If it is not, it will most likely be defined. If you are nonetheless keen to develop
your vocabulary, consult the guide under Extra Skills Development.

Briefly try to predict the answer

This might seem a bit odd, since the answer is there in front of you, and you dont want to
waste time trying to predict it. But predicting answers can sometimes stop you from getting
confused by answer choices and save time in the long run. Remember that the incorrect answers
are distractors, and they will distract you if you let them guide your thought.

If you do not even have a faint idea of what the answer may be, you may be tempted to pick an
option that sounds nice or looks complex. The people who write UMAT questions know this,
which is why they deliberately put in options that catch such students out. Make sure you dont
fall into this trap; spend a few moments formulating an idea of the correct answer. If you have
ever tried to answer a question where more than one option sounded correct, you probably did
not think carefully enough about your own answer to the question first. If you do so, the right
option will often pop out at you when you scan the possible alternatives.

Choose the right answer

This sounds self-explanatory, but there is more to it than meets the eye.

In problem solving questions in Section 1 and non-verbal reasoning (Section 3), you do not
need to look through all alternatives. Once you get the answer, move on.

For the other question types, ensure that you consider every single response. Remember, in
the UMAT few of the answers are perfect. Obtaining the correct answer is a matter of picking
the best answer. If you only read one response, how do you know its the best?

Occasionally, it will be helpful for you to take a split-second to ask yourself a couple of
questions. Firstly, Is my answer reasonable? If not, you may have made a careless mistake in
solving the problem. Secondly, Have I answered the question? As simple as it sounds, often
mistakes are made because the student has not answered the question. For example, in logical
reasoning problems, you may find distractors that are correct outside of the specific context,
but are actually incorrect in terms of the question. Under time pressure, it is easy to fall for one
of these red herrings, thinking that you know whats being asked for when really you dont.

DIFFERENT QUESTION FORMATS

There are two different question formats that appear infrequently on UMAT but are worth
mentioning so you know how to approach them should you encounter them. These formats are
except questions and questions involving roman numerals.

Except questions (aka least and not questions)

These questions are among the trickiest questions because youre looking for something that
cannot be concluded from the stimulus, rather than something that can. On these questions you
are looking for something that is not true, and switching gears to a reverse process of
elimination can be difficult under the pressure of exam conditions. Be very, very careful with
these questions.

Roman numeral questions (I, II, III)

These questions are not difficult, but they are more time consuming. They involve answering
several questions, but you are only getting credit for one.

Start with the easiest option first, which may not be the first numeral. Decide whether it is true
or false, and eliminate as many options as you can with that information. You will often be
able to eliminate at least two options right off the bat.

Then look at the remaining options to see which numeral you should check next. If you
approach a Roman numeral question methodically, you may not need to consider all numerals.
Take your time on these questions; if you make a mistake on any one of the options, you will
lose full credit.

LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY OF QUESTIONS

You are probably aware that UMAT questions vary in difficulty you will have been struck
by this if you have attempted any of MedEntrys practice exams.

Easy, medium, difficult what do these terms really mean? Well, there are several ways of
understanding difficulty on the UMAT.

First, a questions difficulty is a statistical quality based on the test-takers who encountered
that question in the exam. A pick the middle question can be considered hard, for example, if
only those students who tend to score high on section 3 answer it correctly. More difficult
questions tend to have more seductive distractors. Generally in UMAT you will find that
questions are mixed up, not ordered in terms of difficulty.

But youre an individual, and just because most test-takers find a question easy (or difficult)
does not mean that you will. When you sit an exam, you will make a determination of a
questions difficulty based on your experience and practice.

The take home message is not to worry too much about how UMAT orders the questions
focus on your own assessment of the level of difficulty of the questions. Do the questions in
order of difficulty from easiest (for you) to hardest (for you).

SUMMARY

A question involves three parts: the stimulus, the question stem and the answer
alternatives
First, preview the question stem
Understanding the stimulus involves more than just reading
(Briefly) trying to predict the answer can be helpful
Choosing the right answer involves considering alternatives and conducting a brief
check
Beware of except and Roman numeral questions
Answer the easiest questions first, and the hardest questions later