How to Study

50–50 Odds Aren’t Bad. True or False?
What can you do to increase your scores on true/false tests? Be more
inclined to guess if you have to. After all, I encouraged you to guess
on a multiple-choice test if you could eliminate enough wrong answers
to get down to two, one of which is correct. Well, you’re already
there! So, unless you are being penalized for guessing, guess away!
Even if you are being penalized, you may want to take a shot if 
you have the faintest clue of the correct answer.
In fact, your odds are often better than 50-50. Most test preparers
tend to include more “true” statements than false. So if you really
don’t have any way to determine the truth of a statement, presume
it is true. If there is a specific detail in the statement—“There are 
206 bones in the adult human body”—it may also tend to be true.
Remember: For a statement to be true, every part of that statement
must be true. Be careful of statements whose parts are true (or at
least may be true), linked in such a way that the whole statement
becomes false. Example: “Since many birds can fly, they use stones
to grind their food.” Many birds do fly, and birds do swallow stones to
grind their food, but a causal relationship (the word “since”) between
the two clauses makes the whole statement false.
The longer and/or more complicated a statement in a true/false test,
the less likely it’s true, since every clause of it must be true (and there
are so many chances for a single part of it to be false).
Be careful of double negatives: A statement claiming that something
is “not uncommon” actually means that it is common.
Chapter 8
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How to Study for Tests
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Few broad, general statements are true without exception. So always
be on your guard when you see the words “all,” “always,” “no,”
“never,” “everyone,” “best,” “worst,” “none,” “nobody,” or other
absolutes. As long as you can think of a single example that proves
such a statement false, then it’s false. But be wary: there are state-
ments containing such absolutes that are true; they are just rare. 
“All U.S. presidents (and/or vice presidents) have been men” is, 
unfortunately, all too true.
Likewise, words like “sometimes,” “often,” “frequently,” “generally,”
“usually,” “much,” “may,” “probably,” “might,” and “ordinarily” make
more modest claims and thus usually indicate “true” statements.
Strategy tip: It’s easier for a teacher to add something that makes 
a statement false than the other way around. So when you read it,
look for anything that will make the whole statement false. If you 
can’t find it, assume it is true.