Item: A test questionAP Latin Multiple-Choice Item Writing Tutorial
Terminology for Multiple-Choice Questions
Item: A test question
Stem: The initial part of the question, which states the task. The stem may be a question or an incomplete statement.
Options: The choices in a question, identified as (A), (B), (C), and (D). There are two kinds of options:
Key: The correct answer
Distracters: The incorrect options
Example:
The tense and mood of vellet are [stem] (A) future indicative [distracter] (B) present subjunctive [distracter] (C) imperfect subjunctive [key] (D) present indicative [distracter]
Set: A group of items based on a passage
Introduction: A brief statement designed to provide candidates with a context for the passage in a way that does not give away answers to test questions
Gloss: An explanation of the form and/or meaning of a difficult Latin word. Many more words are, of course, glossed for the sight passages than for the syllabus-based passages.
Line numbers: For the selections from the syllabus, line numbers do not correspond to those in the syllabus. Rather, each passage begins with line 1, with every fifth line numbered.