WEST-B common mistakes
WEST-B · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Choosing an answer choice that is true in real life but not stated or implied in the passage, instead of locating the sentence in the passage that supports the choice.
Basic-skills reading items deliberately include plausible, familiar-sounding statements; under time pressure the candidate recognizes the idea and stops checking the text, so prior knowledge substitutes for evidence.
What to do instead
Treat every item as an evidence question: before marking an answer, point to the specific sentence or paragraph that supports it. If you cannot put your finger on a supporting line, cross the choice out regardless of how true it sounds.
Selecting a supporting detail, or the first sentence of the passage, as the main idea.
Topic sentences look authoritative, and vivid details are the most memorable part of a passage, so they feel like the 'big idea' when the candidate reads for content rather than for structure.
What to do instead
Cover the answer choices and state the passage's point in one sentence of your own words first, then pick the choice that matches. Test the choice by asking whether it covers the whole passage or only one paragraph; only whole-passage statements qualify.
In an EXCEPT / NOT / LEAST question, picking the choice that matches the passage instead of the one that does not.
The candidate's habit is to scan options looking for the one that is confirmed by the text, and that scanning habit overrides the negative wording in the question stem.
What to do instead
Before reading the options, rewrite the stem as a positive question in the margin (e.g., 'Which one is NOT stated?' becomes 'Three of these are stated - find the odd one'). Then mark each choice T or F against the passage and select the lone F.
Answering a vocabulary-in-context item with the word's most common dictionary meaning.
Familiar words are pulled toward their dominant sense automatically, and the candidate does not re-read the surrounding sentence to see which sense fits.
What to do instead
Substitute each choice into the original sentence and read the whole sentence aloud silently. Use the context clues nearby - definition, contrast, or example signals - to confirm, and eliminate any choice that only makes sense outside this sentence.
Accepting a revision because it 'sounds fine' in isolation, without reading the sentence before and after it for tense, pronoun, or tone consistency.
Editing items present one underlined portion at a time, so the candidate evaluates the single sentence in isolation rather than as part of a paragraph.
What to do instead
For every revision question, read the target sentence plus one sentence on each side. Check that the verb tense, point of view, and level of formality match the surrounding paragraph before evaluating the grammar of the choice itself.
Correcting one error with a choice that introduces a new one - a comma splice, run-on, or fragment - because the longer, more formal-sounding option feels more academic.
Test-takers use a 'sounds sophisticated' heuristic; added words read as improvement, and joining clauses with a comma feels natural in speech.
What to do instead
Check every candidate mechanically: does it have a complete subject and verb, and are its clauses joined by correct punctuation (period, semicolon, or comma plus conjunction)? Among fully grammatical options, prefer the shortest and simplest.
Revising the wrong part of the passage - rewriting a sentence the question did not ask about, or answering a general 'best summary' question with a single-sentence edit.
Under time pressure the candidate skims the stem and reads the passage first, then treats whatever stands out as the task.
What to do instead
Underline the exact reference in the stem (sentence number, 'the underlined portion,' 'the passage as a whole') before reading options, and check that your chosen answer addresses only that scope.
Setting up the wrong operation in a word problem - adding when the problem asks for a rate, or computing a percent of the wrong base (e.g., taking a discount off the sale price instead of the original).
Keyword matching replaces modeling: the candidate sees 'total' or 'altogether' and adds, or sees a percent sign and multiplies by the first number available, without identifying what each quantity represents.
What to do instead
Before computing, write one line labeled with units (e.g., 'discount = 0.20 x original price') and identify each given quantity's role. Then check the answer's size against a rough estimate to catch base errors.
Stopping at an intermediate result and reporting it, rather than the quantity actually requested (finding the discount but not the final price, or solving for x when the question asks for 2x + 3).
Multi-step problems produce a satisfying intermediate number, and the relief of getting a clean answer ends the work; the last sentence of the stem is also the part most often skimmed.
What to do instead
Circle what the question asks for before starting, and re-read that last sentence after computing. Label your final answer and check it against the circled question before marking a choice.
Dropping or flipping a negative sign when distributing, and adding fractions without a common denominator - producing an answer that appears among the choices.
Distractors are built from exactly these slips, so the wrong answer looks confirmed; handwritten scratch work in a small test booklet makes signs easy to lose and encourages shortcut fraction rules.
What to do instead
Write distributing steps on separate lines with the negative attached to every term, and never add numerators until denominators match. If your answer is present but you made a sign or denominator slip, redo the step rather than trusting the match.