Distracters on TOEFL iBT

Distracters on TOEFL Reading section Fact/Detail question type


Distracters are incorrect answers that look correct,but they are actually incorrect.To distract means to draw some`s attention away from something ; in this case the distracter takes your attention away from correct answers and encourages you choose a wrong one.The multiple-choice questions on the TOEFL are designed to be challenging,not easy or obvious.Detail questions that require one correct choices have two distracters.

Regardless of the type,the distracters for detail questions follow a certain pattern.First,distracters in detail questions usually repeat vocabulary exactly as it appears in the passage.Since you know that a correct answer choice paraphrases all or most of the information from the passage,repetition is a strong clue that a choice could be wrong.Repetition is also common in distracters for most other types of questions as well,so don`t be distracted by repetition.However,same vocabulary is not easily paraphrased,so repetition is a clue,but not proof,of a distracter.You should always check an answer choice with the passage.Review the following strategies to become more familiar with the various types of distracter.


Distracter 1 : Answer choice includes unmentioned information.


This is perhaps the easiest distracter to recognize and avoid,but it usually includes some repeated idea(s) from the passage with the unmentioned idea(s).If you always check your choice with information in the passage,you should be able to avoid this distracter because you won`t be able to find all of the idea(s) from this choice in the passage.Choice (A) is an example of this type.There is no judgement and measurement of the quality of any of the statues.However,some readers might be distracted by the repetition of serious,which is used to describe the earlier statues.Also,a reader could incorrectly assume that the representation of inner and outer features in the later statue indicates better quality,but this assumption is not supported by any statements in the passage.Often,this distracter is based on incorrect assumptions.

Distracter 2 : Answer choice refer to ideas mentioned in the passage but related to a different key point.

This type of distracter can trick many students it uses ideas from the passage,but idea don`t relate to the question.This is why it is important to identify key ideas in the question,and then read the passage carefully once you locate the information in the passage.You need to make sure that you find the right information,not just any information.Choice (B) is example of this type.The warning is mentioned in relation to the earlier statues and in relation to certain of those statues,not all of them,but the question asks about later or last statue of Apollo.


Distracter 3 : Answer choice rearranges stated ideas incorrectly.


A distracter can take ideas written in the passage and change their relationship each other.This distracter type can reverse a cause and effect relationship,recorder the sequence,interchange detail (time,place,etc.), among any other possibilities.For instance,(C) in the detail question above rearrange stated ideas from the passage.The answer choice states that the statues might have caused,or led to,weakening cultural moral,but according to the passage,weakened morality of society was a possible cause of the new statues.The distracter reverses the correct cause and effect relationship.


Distracter 4 : Answer choice reverses the positive or negative quality of an action or state.


This kind of distracter states the correct ideas from the passage,but changes them positive to negative or from negative to positive.The incorrect choice could remove or add no or not to the ideas,or it could use antonym.As always,you must read the relevant sentence(s) closely to avoid any distracter.