Unlocking the mystery of the MCQ format in the 2011 Bar

mby Atty. Joel R. Dizon
 
     The reforms in the 2011 Bar Exam are not intended to make the exams more difficult. Neither are they intended to make it easier. They are intended to make the exam more accurate, in terms of gauging how well the bar examinee knows his law.

     Keeping this in mind, you will realize that the new type of multiple choice questions (MCQs) that the Supreme Court will use in this year’s Bar will all follow a uniform structure, consisting of basically of 4 parts: a proposition, a question stem, a right answer and a wrong (in fact, three wrong answers).

    But the wrong answers are more likely to be independently correct in themselves. They are only wrong in relation to the proposition. Thus they are called "distractors."

     The proposition will be an established doctrine or a legal provision. Whatever it is, you must presume that the proposition is always valid. Do not waste any time testing its validity.

     Also do not always look for the proposition literally. It may be stated as a preface to the question, or it may be entirely hidden--meaning unstated. A hidden proposition requires that you infer that proposition from the way the question is worded.

     Next, the question will start by stating an incomplete application of the proposition. In other words, the question will be a half-complete sentence. The answer that you choose will complete the sentence.

     But you must be careful because ANY of the choices will actually complete the sentence, from a purely grammatical point of view. But only one choice--the right answer--will complete the sentence and result in a statement that is TRUE.

     The other statements will be FALSE.

     The beauty of the MCQ format is that the correct answer is staring you in the face. Also, every information you need to enable you to answer the question will be expressly or impliedly included in the sentence itself.

     Although this is not a hard and fast rule, the wise approach to answering MCQs is this: recognize the proposition, recall the rules and theories that define or control that proposition, read the question stem and choose the answer that results in a TRUE statement, that is a correct application of the proposition.

     Good luck!

The ultimate dream of every law student

     Congratulations! You have graduated from law school. You now belong to a distinguished community of legal scholars--they who have transcended beyond the basic duty of every person to simply know the law.

     "Ignorance of the law excuses no one from compliance therewith."

This really means that there is nothing so arcane or difficult about the law that only a select few geniuses ought to be able to understand it. If no one is excused even by ignorance, then everyone is expected to know and understand his rights and how to protect them.

     But as many have been called to the study and understanding of law, a privileged few are destined to push the envelop even further. They comprise that distinguished brotherhood of men and women who are called to put the law into practice.

     The law is dynamic. It is constantly changing as the continuing fruit of informed debate. In any debate, the premises are equal but it is the superior reason that prevails. That’s why to become a member of the Bar, you must hurdle the highest criteria of upholding truth and justice, buoyed by your confidence that you are on the right side of the law.

     This calling is conferred upon you by aspiration, cultivated in you by the academe, and is confirmed by the Supreme Court with a license. On September, the highest court of the land makes its most important judgment: who are to become the newest members of this distinguished Bar?

     Make a declaration of faith today that you are destined to be among the anointed few that the Supreme Court will next enfranchise as "officer of the court."