What to Expect at the Testing Center

Multiple-Choice Question Format

Some exam questions require you to select a single answer, whereas others ask you to select multiple correct answers. The following multiple-choice question requires you to select a single correct answer. Following the question is a brief summary of each potential answer and why it is either right or wrong.

This sample question format corresponds closely to the Microsoft certification exam format (of course, questions are not followed by correct answer keys on the exam). To select an answer, you position the cursor over the radio button next to the answer and click the mouse button to select the answer.

Let's examine a question where one or more answers are possible. This type of question provides check boxes rather than radio buttons (circles) for marking all appropriate selections.

For this particular question, two answers are required. Microsoft might sometimes give partial credit for partially correct answers. For question 2, you have to check the boxes next to answers A and B to obtain credit for a correct answer. Notice that picking the right answers also means knowing why the other answers are wrong.

Build-List-and-Reorder Question Format

Questions in the build-list-and-reorder format present two lists of items: one on the left and one on the right. To answer the question, you must move items from the list on the right to the list on the left. The final list must then be reordered into a specific order.

These questions are usually in the form, "From the following list of choices, pick the choices that answer the question. Then arrange the list in a certain order." To give you practice with this type of question, some questions of this type are included in this study guide. Here's an example of how they appear in this book; for an example of how they appear on the test, see Figure 1.2.

On an actual exam, the entire list of famous people would initially appear in the list on the right. You would move the four correct answers to the list on the left and then reorder the list on the left. Notice that the answer to the question did not include all items from the initial list. However, this might not always be the case.

To move an item from the right list to the left list, first select the item by clicking it and then clicking the Add button (left arrow). After you move an item from one list to the other, you can move the item back by first selecting the item and then clicking the appropriate button (either the Add button or the Remove button). After items have been moved to the left list, you can reorder the list by selecting an item and clicking the up or down button.

Create-a-Tree Question Format

Questions in the create-a-tree format also present two lists: one on the left and one on the right. The list on the right consists of individual items, and the list on the left consists of nodes in a tree. To answer the question, you must move items from the list on the right to the appropriate node in the tree.

These questions are basically a matching exercise. Items from the list on the right are placed under the appropriate category in the list on the left. Here's an example of how they appear in this book. For an example of how they appear on the test, see Figure 1.3.

In this case, all the items in the list were used. However, this might not always happen.

To move an item from the right list to its appropriate location in the tree, you must first select the appropriate tree node by clicking it. Then you select the item to be moved and click the Add button. If one or more items have been added to a tree node, the node is displayed with a plus sign (+) icon to the left of the node name. You can click this icon to expand the node and view whatever was added. If any item has been added to the wrong tree node, you can remove it by selecting it and clicking the Remove button (see Figure 1.3).

Drag-and-Connect Question Format

Questions in the drag-and-connect format present a group of objects and a list of connections. To answer the question, you must move the appropriate connections between the objects.

This type of question is best described using graphics. Here's an example.

For this type of question, it's not necessary to use every object, but each connection can be used multiple times by dragging the answer to multiple locations. Dragging an answer away from its position removes it.

Select-and-Place Question Format

Questions in the select-and-place (drag-and-drop) format present a diagram with blank boxes and a list of labels that must be dragged to fill in the blank boxes. To answer the question, you must move the labels to their appropriate positions on the diagram.

This type of question is best described using graphics. Here's an example.

Hot Area

This type of question asks you to select one or more areas on a graphic to indicate the correct answer to a question. The hot spots on the graphic are shaded when you move the mouse over them, and are marked with an obvious border. To select or deselect an element, just click it.

A simple hot area question might present a screenshot of the Visual Studio .NET interface, and ask you to indicate the tab that allows you to retrieve information on particular databases. In that case, you'd click on the Server Explorer tab to answer the question.