IELTS Reading- Multiple Choice Questions (Single Answer)

The multiple-choice questions have always been quizzical as there are four options and every time at least two options seem to be the potential answer which requires a lot of time resulting in less time investment in other parts.  Consequently, the low band score and degraded morale of the candidate portray MCQs as villains of the plot. 
But, the usage of the right techniques and more attentiveness towards the questions may emerge as the potential saviors. Before taking the curtains off the techniques, understanding the categories of multiple-choice questions is the warm-up someone can do before hiking the mountain. 
Multiple Choice Questions (Single answer) are of two categories:

• To choose the right answer to the question

For Example:
…….. Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) is planning to cut about 300 jobs in its investment banking and capital markets group, as it struggles to rein in costs to make up for weak revenue growth, sources familiar with the situation said on Tuesday. 
The layoffs are not nearly as eye-popping as the bank's job cuts in areas like retail banking. Wall Street companies have broadly been looking at cutting jobs recently. The bank, the second-largest in the United States by assets, is also assigning junior bankers to work with broader groups of companies, the sources said. That move could also lead to more layoffs, the sources said. ……….

1. What is the latest consideration of the Wall Street companies to overcome the poor revenue growth?

• To complete the statement 

• Read the question first and figure out the demand of the question. In example 1, the question says 'what is the consideration' means the question is about the potential move the companies are thinking to take. Hence, the candidate should keep an eye on the demand. 
• Don't underestimate the power of grammar. Yes, you read it right! Grammar plays a crucial role in solving if not all but half of the questions. So right knowledge of tense, verb forms and prepositions will save you from getting diverted.

• Scanning the keywords will help to find the possible location of the answer. For example, in the sample questions, keywords are 'Wall Street companies', once you are able to get the possible sentences in which Wall Street is written, the answer is nearby.
• Follow 'one paragraph one answer' pattern. Once you have located an answer in a paragraph, most likely, you won't get another answer in the same paragraph, it will be in the subsequent paragraphs. Keep in mind that the answers to MCQs are always in sequence i.e. one after another.