Question-Handling Strategies

Based on our experiences with certification exams, some interesting trends have stuck out over the years . For questions that require a single answer, two or three of the answers will usually be obviously incorrect, and two of the answers will be plausible ”of course, only one can be correct. Unless the answer leaps out at you (if it does, reread the question to look for a trick; sometimes those are the ones you are most likely to get wrong), begin the process of answering by eliminating those answers that are most obviously wrong. To give you an idea of what we are saying here, consider a question that asks you about forwarding decisions of a switch. In all likelihood , two of the answers will be MAC address and Network address. The other answers will probably be really odd. Do not get too anxious and select the first one you see. Remember that a switch deals with MAC addresses.

Numerous questions assume that the default behavior of a particular utility is in effect. If you know the defaults and understand what they mean, this knowledge will help you cut through many questions rather quickly and again save valuable time for the less obvious questions.

As you work your way through the exam, another counter that Cisco thankfully provides will come in handy ”the number of questions completed and questions outstanding. If you have fallen behind, use the last 5 minutes to guess your way through the remaining questions. Remember, guessing is potentially more valuable than not answering; blank answers are always wrong, but a guess may turn out to be right. If you do not have a clue about any of the remaining questions, pick answers at random. The important thing is to submit an exam for scoring that has an answer for every question. We say this as a tip, however we know that anyone who reads this book will never have to resort to that, right?