United States
Hong KongWhat a good practice question looks like, with two worked examples
A good question tests one thing from the content outline, has three distractors that are each wrong for a nameable reason, and comes with an explanation that says why the others fail. On the Texas portion it should name the chapter of the Insurance Code. Most weak questions fail on the explanation.
You can judge a question bank from ten questions if you know what to look at, and the thing to look at is not the questions. It is what happens after you get one wrong.
Four tests, in the order they matter
- Does the explanation say why the wrong options are wrong, one by one? This is the single most useful thing a bank can do and it is the first thing cut when questions are produced cheaply
- Does the stem test something the outline actually lists? All 13 sections are published with a question count each, so this is checkable rather than a matter of taste
- Is exactly one option defensible? Two-defensible-answers is the most common defect in this market and it teaches you to distrust your own reasoning
- On a Texas question, does the explanation name where the rule lives?
Test one catches most of it. An explanation that restates the correct option in slightly different words has told you nothing, because you already knew what the correct option said. You wanted to know why the one you picked was wrong.
A general-portion question, worked
A grandmother owns a whole life policy on her grandson, aged eight, and pays the premiums herself. She becomes totally disabled. Which rider, if attached, keeps the policy in force with no further premium due?
- Waiver of premium
- Payor benefit
- Guaranteed insurability
- Accidental death and dismemberment
That is what a decent explanation costs: four sentences instead of one. The waiver of premium option is not filler, it is the misconception the question was built to catch, and an explanation that does not address it has left the reader exactly where they started.
A Texas-portion question, worked
You have passed the examination and TDI has issued your General Lines life, accident and health agent license. An insurer wants you to start writing its products next week. What has to happen first?
- Nothing. The license authorizes you to act for any insurer
- The insurer must appoint you
- You must complete continuing education for that insurer's products
- You must be fingerprinted again
Notice the difference between this explanation and the one above it. The general question is checkable against any insurance textbook. This one is not, unless the explanation tells you where to look, which is why naming the chapter matters more on the Texas 30 than on the general 100.
What a weak question looks like
| Defect | How to spot it |
|---|---|
| Two defensible answers | You can construct an argument for a second option and the explanation never mentions it |
| Giveaway distractors | Two of the four options are obviously absurd, so the question is really a coin flip between the other two |
| Explanation as restatement | The explanation is one sentence and it says what the correct option said |
| Off-outline content | The stem tests something no section of the content outline lists. Interesting, and not on the paper |
| Absolute wording | "Always" and "never" in the options, which usually means the question was written backwards from a rule of thumb |
How we build ours, and where it stops
The 300 Texas questions in our bank are written against 47 chapters of the Texas Insurance Code that we hold in full, and the explanation names the chapter. The 1,000 general questions cannot do that, because there is no statute behind a discussion of nonforfeiture options, so those explanations show the reasoning instead.
The content outline also cites Title 28 of the Texas Administrative Code across the state portion, and we do not hold it. It is public and we simply have not harvested it. So where a Texas answer turns on an administrative rule rather than on the Code, our explanation reasons rather than cites, and it is weaker for it. That is the honest limit on the claim in the paragraph above.
The test to run before you buy anything
Take any provider's free sample. Deliberately pick the wrong answer on a Texas question. Read what comes back. If it names a chapter, you are looking at material somebody built from the law. If it says "in Texas, insurers are required to", you are looking at somebody's memory of a course they once took.
Do the same on a general question and check whether the explanation deals with the option you picked. Two minutes, and it tells you more than any review page.
Common questions
How do I tell if practice questions are any good?
Get one wrong on purpose and read the explanation. A good one says why each wrong option fails; a weak one restates the correct answer. On Texas questions, check whether it names the chapter of the Insurance Code the rule lives in.
Should practice questions match the real exam wording?
They should match the real exam's job, which is testing the 13 sections of the content outline at the published question counts. Nobody outside Pearson has the live items, and a bank claiming to reproduce them is claiming something it cannot have.
What is the most common defect in insurance practice questions?
Two defensible answers, closely followed by explanations that restate the key rather than address the distractors. Both teach you to second-guess correct reasoning, which is an expensive habit at 1.15 minutes a question.
Do good questions have to cite the statute?
On the 30 Texas questions, it is the difference between an explanation you can verify and one you have to trust. On the 100 general questions it matters less, because insurance principles can be checked against any textbook.
How many practice questions should I get wrong?
Early on, plenty. A bank you score well on immediately is either too easy or covering material you already knew. What matters is whether the wrong ones teach you something, which comes back to the explanation rather than the score.