Multiple choice can seem like such a struggle, especially knowing that test creators are intentionally creating distractors and wrong answers.  Below are some suggestions and tips for approaching multiple choice questions for ELA, especially for cold reads.

1.  Consider looking at the questions (but not the answers) before reading the passage.  Looking at the questions in advance can sometimes help you read the passage more efficiently.  If the questions are asking about a specific word in context in a specific paragraph, the central theme, or other specific author's choices, you can focus in on those things and read with more of a purpose during the limited time.  Important to note:  looking at the answer choices ahead of time can trick you, especially if you read the answer choice that's the distractor and then "see" it in the passage- just stick to the questions.

2.  Make sure that you are not misunderstanding the question before trying to answer.  Sometimes you can skim a question and not really consider "what is this question really asking".  

3.  Once you are looking at the answer choices, make sure the one you pick fully and truly answers the question.  A lot of the time students will inadvertently pick the distractor because part of it is correct or because it's sort of right but not the best answer.  Sometimes this can come down to just a single word or phrase that the question or answer choice contains.

4. Don't change your answer choices unless you truly believe you originally had it wrong!  Doubt can be nefarious- go with your original instinct unless you can actually prove to yourself that you had it wrong the first time AND why you had it wrong.