Exam-Taking Techniques

A well-known principle when taking certification exams is to first read over the entire exam from start to finish while answering only those questions you feel absolutely sure of. The next time around, you can delve into the more complex questions. Knowing how many such questions you have left helps you spend your exam time wisely. Although this is good overall testing advice, this capability is not available to you on the BCMSN exam 642-811. To protect the integrity of the certifications, Cisco does not allow you to mark and go back to review a previously answered question.

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It is critical on a Cisco exam that you read each question thoroughly. After you input your answer and move on to the next question, you cannot go back!


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As you approach the end of your allotted testing time of 90 minutes, you're better off guessing than leaving a question unanswered.

Please note that Cisco can, at any given time, change the number of questions on the exam as well as the allotted time to complete the exam!


The most important advice about taking any exam is this: Read each question carefully. Some questions are deliberately ambiguous, some use double negatives, and others use terminology in incredibly precise ways. I've taken numerous exams both practice and live and in nearly every one, I missed at least one question because I didn't read it closely or carefully enough.

Here are some suggestions on how to deal with the tendency to jump to an answer too quickly:

  • Make sure that you read every word in the question very carefully, even if that means you have to read it several times.

  • As you read, try to reformulate the question in your own words. If you can do this, you should be able to pick the correct answer(s) much more easily.

  • Rereading a question sometimes enables you to see something you missed the first time you read it.

  • If you still do not understand the question, ask yourself what you don't understand about it, why the answers don't appear to make sense, or what appears to be missing. If you think about the subject for a while, your subconscious might provide the details that are lacking or you might notice a trick that points to the correct answer.

Above all, try to deal with each question by thinking through what you know about switching and the characteristics, behaviors, and facts involved. By reviewing what you know (and what you've written down on your information sheet), you'll often recall or understand enough to be able to deduce the answer to the question.



BCMSN Exam Cram 2 (Exam Cram 642-811)
CCNP BCMSN Exam Cram 2 (Exam Cram 642-811)
ISBN: 0789729911
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 171
Authors: Richard Deal

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