If you are unsure about an answer, use POE!
It happens to everyone. A question pops up that takes you by surprise. What to do?
Firstly, don't panic.
Then, if it seems way too difficult, consider marking it, skipping it, and returning to it later (if there is time leftover).
If you stick with it, try to be patient. Don't rush an answer when you are unsure. But even when you are unsure, there are methods to help you increase your chances of selecting the correct answer. One of those is the process of elimination.
Let's break it down.
This is a tried and true method. If you are not sure about an answer, first eliminate any answers that are definitely incorrect. You might be surprised how often this approach works. This is one of the reasons it is recommended that you not only know the correct answers to the practice exam questions but also know why the wrong answers are wrong.
Even if you aren’t sure about the correct answer, if you can logically eliminate anything that is incorrect, the answer will become apparent. That’s the process of elimination (or P.O.E. if you will.)
To sum it up, the character Sherlock Holmes said it best:
There’s more to it, of course, but from a scientific standpoint, this method can be invaluable.
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Here’s how I do it. I Start with the answer (or answers) where the possibility of being correct is near zero. Then I eliminate them. You may find that as a logical consequence, another answer can also be eliminated because of a logical connection. For example, look at the following question:
You are a technician for a small organization. It appears that a user’s computer won’t boot. You can see the LED lights on the front of the computer blinking and can see and hear fans turning. However, there is nothing displayed on the monitor and the monitor has an amber light. What should you do to fix the problem?
A. Plug the computer into an AC outlet.
B. Plug the monitor into the computer.
C. Plug the computer into a UPS.
D. Call tech support.
E. Restart the computer.
F. Check the AC outlet for wiring issues.
G. Shutdown and power on the computer.
Don't scan or rush, you could easily miss something important!
Now, the question states that LED lights are blinking on the front of the computer. That can’t happen unless the computer is receiving power. So, we can immediately eliminate answer A. It is already plugged in. There are some logical connections here. If we don’t need to plug the computer into an AC outlet, then it stands to reason that we don’t need to plug it into anything, including an uninterruptible power supply, or UPS, (though that is a good idea to have!)
Moving further, we shouldn’t need to check the AC outlet. Power isn’t the primary issue that has presented itself - the computer not displaying anything on the screen is the main issue. That eliminates A, C, and F in one shot. Let’s go through the rest of the answers: B looks good and I like the answer, but I don’t want to simply click that before I have eliminated everything else. D is ridiculous - we are tech support! And we haven’t even tried to start troubleshooting the problem yet. Restarting a computer rarely fixes the problem, and as a logical connection, shutting down the computer and powering it back on will probably have the same result. So E and G can also be eliminated.
What are we left with? B. Plug the monitor into the computer. The best answer is most likely B. Chances are that the video cable got loosened on the back of the system for some reason.
When you encounter questions such as these, try to imagine the actual scenario. Go through the possible causes and troubleshoot in your mind. The process of elimination becomes just as important in real-life situations. Of course, in the real world, if a problem like this occurs, you would want to troubleshoot more thoroughly, and I talk about how to do that in other video courses. However, questions on exams will be limited in scope when it comes to the possible answers. And that’s good for you!
Photo by Soyoung Han / Unsplash