Students who are genuinely comfortable in English still lose avoidable points on IEO — usually from a small set of repeatable mistakes rather than a real language gap.
Mistake 1: Skimming Comprehension Passages Too Quickly
Rushing through a passage to save time often means missing the specific detail a question asks about — comprehension questions frequently hinge on a precise detail, not just the general gist of the passage.
Mistake 2: Choosing the "Almost Right" Answer
Multiple-choice English questions often include a distractor option that's close but not quite correct — usually missing a specific nuance in meaning. Careful reading of all options, not just picking the first plausible one, avoids this trap.
Mistake 3: Guessing Vocabulary from Similar-Sounding Words
Assuming a word's meaning based on how it sounds or resembles another word is a common, avoidable error — context clues within the sentence or passage are a more reliable guide than assumption.
Mistake 4: Overlooking Grammar in Context
Grammar questions embedded in a sentence or passage are sometimes approached as isolated rule-application, missing how the surrounding context changes which rule actually applies.
How to Fix These
Deliberate, unhurried reading practice — rather than speed-reading — combined with reviewing exactly why a wrong answer was wrong after every practice set, addresses most of these mistakes directly.