This article and all the multiple-choice questions it contains were written by Paul Connor and appear on this site with the kind permission of Oxford University Press.

This is an edited extract from ‘Blackstone’s Sergeant’s and Inspector’s Mock Examination Paper’ (2010 edition) written by Paul Connor and published by Oxford University Press 2009.

Answering Techniques - Multiple-Choice Questions

There are a number of approaches that candidates use to answer multiple-choice questions and it is important to stress that this section is not a comprehensive list of them. As ever with any of my research and advice, I do not advocate change for the sake of it - if you are using a method that suits your style and gets the right result then you should continue to use it.

What this section aims to do is to raise your awareness in respect of the use of certain methods so that you understand their potential to disrupt or to aid your question answering ability and your consequent performance in the examination.

Technique 1 - Cover-up

Here, a candidate will read the storyline and lead-in of a multiple-choice question and then 'cover-up' the four A, B, C and D options (usually with their hand). The candidate then attempts to work out the answer without any reference to the A, B, C or D options. Try this method on the below question:

DC GOTTEN wishes to carry out non-urgent directed surveillance on a commercial car repair garage belonging to LEWES. It is suspected that LEWES is operating a car-ringing enterprise at the garage and DC GOTTEN wishes to obtain intelligence about the alleged offence.

Who will authorise this surveillance and for how long?

At this stage the candidate is attempting to answer the question using the recall process, i.e. locating a piece of information stored in their memory. Once the information is retrieved and the candidate is satisfied that the correct answer is in their mind, they remove their hand and find the mirror of their mental answer in the A, B C or D options in front of them.

DC GOTTEN wishes to carry out non-urgent directed surveillance on a commercial car repair garage belonging to LEWES. It is suspected that LEWES is operating a car-ringing enterprise at the garage and DC GOTTEN wishes to obtain intelligence about the alleged offence.

Who will authorise this surveillance and for how long?

A. An officer of the rank of inspector or above will authorise the surveillance; it will last for a period of three months.
B. An officer of the rank of inspector or above will authorise the surveillance; it will last for a period of six months.
C. An officer of the rank of superintendent or above will authorise the surveillance; it will last for a period of three months.
D. An officer of the rank of superintendent or above will authorise the surveillance; it will last for six months.

Let us say that our candidate recalled that non-urgent directed surveillance in such a situation will be authorised by an officer of the rank of superintendent or above for a period of three months (answer C and the right answer). Our candidate chooses option C and is probably very happy that their recollection is correct; not only has the candidate answered correctly but their morale and confidence is increased as a consequence. This is the positive side of the cover-up technique. However, there is also a negative side to deal with.

The major drawback with this method is that it relies solely on the ability to use the recall process and the truth is that no matter how well prepared they are, NO candidate can actually recall the answer to every single question in their examination (an opinion evidenced by the fact that nobody has ever scored 100% in the Sergeants', Inspectors' or in National Investigators' Examination). What if the candidate happens to recall that non-urgent directed surveillance will be authorised by an officer of the rank of chief constable or above for a period of one month? They remove their hand and find nothing that matches their recall of the subject. Morale and confidence tumble as the candidate begins to doubt their knowledge. If they erred in this question, what about all the others they have answered using the same method? What effect will this have on future questions? Even if the candidates recall choice of rank was a superintendent instead of a chief constable, the recalled time period is still wrong and they will have to debase their recall answer to match one of the options.

For this reason, I strongly advise candidates to use this technique sparingly and only on questions where the candidate knows the area being questioned is an area of particular strength. That way, there is less likelihood of the candidate having to make those morale and confidence sapping half-decisions when answering questions in the examination.

Technique 2 - Key Words

Have a look at the below multiple-choice question.

EALES rents a house under a tenancy agreement from his local council. EALES is short of money and decides to sell off several items from the house to help him through his cash crises.

At what stage, if at all, does EALES first commit an offence of theft?

A. When he picks flowers from the front garden of the house to sell commercially at a car-boot sale.
B. When he severs a large amount of topsoil to sell to his neighbour.
C. When he removes a fireplace to sell at a nearby second-hand shop.
D. As EALES is in possession of the land under a tenancy agreement, he cannot steal land, things forming part of the land or severed from it or fixtures or structures let to be used with the land.

The 'Key Words' approach to the above multiple-choice question will involve a candidate noting words that have a significant impact on the subject. It may lead the candidate to identify the correct answer or perhaps allow them to eliminate incorrect options and thereby increase the chances of a correct guess. The identification may be mental or perhaps the candidate might even underline those key words in the question. For example:

EALES rents a house under a tenancy agreement from his local council. EALES is short of money and decides to sell off several items from the house to help him through his cash crises.

At what stage, if at all, does EALES first commit an offence of theft?

A. When he picks flowers from the front garden of the house to sell commercially at a car-boot sale.
B. When he severs a large amount of topsoil to sell to his neighbour.
C. When he removes a fireplace to sell at a nearby second-hand shop.
D. As EALES is in possession of the land under a tenancy agreement, he cannot steal land, things forming part of the land or severed from it or fixtures or structures let to be used with the land.

So the crux of the question might appear in the candidates' mind as below:

Tenant

Theft

Pick flowers

Sever topsoil

Remove fireplace

Tenants cannot steal

The answer is C. A tenant cannot steal property by picking flowers or severing topsoil as a tenant is not a stranger to the land - he/she is in possession of it. However, a tenant can steal from the property they possess if they appropriate the whole or part of any fixture or structure let to be used with the land i.e. the fireplace (please refer to s. 4(2) of the Theft Act 1968).

Technique 3 - Elementary Elimination

Quite obviously, a candidate will have to eliminate options in a multiple-choice question. What I wish to point out to candidates about the elimination process is that it is not always necessary to know what the right answer is - instead a candidate will answer correctly because they know what the answer IS NOT. In the immortal words of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes) "…when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." So a candidate might arrive at the stage where three options have been eliminated and they are left with option A as an answer. Even if option A appears ridiculous, it has to be right as the other three options are wrong. Just as a candidate must have confidence in knowing what the right answer is, they must also have confidence in knowing what is wrong.

Technique 4 - Lead-in First

I have always taught this technique to candidates who have difficulty answering all of the questions in their examination in the allotted time. This is because using the 'lead-in first' technique can sometimes speed up candidates' ability to deal with a multiple-choice question. Look at the below multiple-choice question storyline:

GILCHRIST has just started a new job at a bank when she is approached by BAXTER who tells her that he knows she used to be a prostitute and that if she does not have sexual intercourse with his friend, HUMPHRIES, he will inform the bank manager and she will probably be sacked. GILCHRIST reluctantly agrees to BAXTER's demand and has sexual intercourse with HUMPHRIES.

There is every chance that the above storyline may lead a candidate to consider potential offences under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 however, this is not what the question is about. Look at the question in full:

GILCHRIST has just started a new job at a bank when she is approached by BAXTER who tells her that he knows she used to be a prostitute and that if she does not have sexual intercourse with his friend, HUMPHRIES, he will inform the bank manager and she will probably be sacked. GILCHRIST reluctantly agrees to BAXTER's demand and has sexual intercourse with HUMPHRIES.

Is this an offence of blackmail (contrary to s. 21 of the Theft Act 1968)?

A. Yes, because BAXTER makes the unwarranted demand with a view to gaining a benefit for another.
B. No, because 'gain' is to be construed as extending only to a gain in money or other property.
C. Yes, as a 'gain' refers to anything at all and not necessarily something with a monetary value.
D. No, because BAXTER did not make the demand with a view to gain for himself.

The 'lead-in' of a multiple-choice question is that one or two line statement located between the storyline and the options of a multiple-choice question - in the above example:

'Is this an offence of blackmail (contrary to s. 21 of the Theft Act 1968)?'

By reading the lead-in before anything else candidates can potentially focus their minds on the issue(s) central to the question. This can save time as a candidate can sometimes become confused by a lengthy storyline or even be misled because of the complex circumstances in a storyline. After reading the lead-in first, candidates then have a choice to make - do they read the options next or do they read the storyline? This is a matter of individual choice as there is no right or wrong answer. The first candidate I ever saw using this technique would read the lead-in first followed by the options on the basis that you can sometimes answer a multiple-choice question without any reference to the storyline. Of course that is not always true but what I do remember about this candidate was that he was faster at answering multiple-choice questions than anyone I had ever seen before and it certainly worked for him when he passed his sergeants' examination.

The answer to the above blackmail question is B. This is because s. 24 of the Theft Act 1968 states that a 'gain and loss' in offences of blackmail is only to be construed as extending to a gain or loss in money or other property - NOT sexual favours.

Whilst the lead-in first approach can assist candidates, it should be noted that it is not always going to work. For example:

TURVEY has just lost his job and is finding money hard to come by. RANDELL feels sorry for TURVEY and gives him a packet of ten cigarettes that also contains a small amount of cocaine. TURVEY knows nothing about the cocaine inside the packet of cigarettes. Several hours later, TURVEY is stopped by PC MAIR, who discovers the cocaine inside the cigarette packet.

Which of the statements below is correct with regard to TURVEY?

A. Provided that TURVEY has physical control of the cigarettes and knows of their presence he has 'possession' of the drug.
B. The only requirement for 'possession' is that TURVEY had the drug in his physical control.
C. To show that TURVEY has 'possession' of the drug you must show that he actually knew that what he possessed was cocaine.
D. TURVEY cannot be in 'possession' of the cocaine because he does not know of its existence.

Here, the lead-in first technique tells you nothing without reference to the options and the storyline of the question.
The answer to this question is A. The question is not concerned with whether TURVEY has committed an offence, merely if he satisfies the law with regard to 'possession' of the drug. In order to be in possession of anything, the common law requires physical control of the object plus knowledge that it contains something, making answers B and C incorrect. The fact that TURVEY does not know of the existence of the cocaine within the cigarette packet pay afford him a defence to a charge of possession but he still 'possesses' the drug, making answer D incorrect.

END OF ARTICLE

In conclusion, there is no perfect method that can be used to deal with all multiple-choice questions. This section aimed to raise you consciousness to the possibility that certain techniques may not only support you but also potentially damage you when use them (particularly the 'Cover-up' technique). Being aware of such negative facts is as beneficial to your chances of success as being aware of the positive ones.

Should you have any queries about this section, please contact Paul Connor on 01827-874600 or by email on checkmatetrain@aol.com

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