The fluency of System 1 is mistaken for truth. A "this feels familiar = correct" signal shuts down verification. The moment certainty arrives is the moment to stop and check.

A correct-looking cue is placed at the front or surface of a choice, leading the student to stop before reading the rest.

"It felt familiar, so you were glad to see it — but did you read it to the end? The moment you feel certain is the moment to slow down and check."

The semantic or logical field is recognized correctly, but its sign (+/−) or direction is reversed. The right neighborhood, the wrong-pointing arrow.

A same-field word of opposite direction, or a choice with cause and effect swapped, is placed as the distractor.

"abate" → selects "intensify." Both relate to magnitude — direction is reversed.

"Everything but the direction was perfect. Is this getting bigger or smaller? Let's draw the arrow again."

The boundary of the claim the text guarantees is stretched (over-) or shrunk. Low sensitivity to quantifiers (some / most / all); partial evidence is scaled to the whole, or inference runs past the text's edge.

The passage says "some" while the choice says "all," or a step the text never guarantees is dressed as the answer. Modifier shifts (most → all).

"How far did the passage actually go? Between 'some' and 'all,' where should you stop? Let's see if you took a step the text doesn't guarantee."

Attraction to surface form — same word, similar spelling, prominent position — instead of meaning. When the answer is paraphrased, it "doesn't look like a match" and gets missed.

A distractor copies a passage word verbatim (lexical magnet) while the real answer is disguised as a paraphrase.

"The same word from the passage pulled you in, didn't it? The same word doesn't guarantee the same meaning. Let's match by meaning, not by word."

The concept is right but the magnitude (intensity) or formality (register) is off. The gradient within a synonym cluster goes unresolved — common in learners who acquired English from casual media.

A distractor with the same meaning but too weak, too strong, or too informal is placed beside the answer.

"loquacious" → selects "chatty." Meaning correct; register too informal.

"Your answer means the same thing — but would you use it in a formal essay, or a text to a friend? Let's recalibrate the intensity and register by one notch."

Background knowledge, common sense, or intuition wins over the given text. Top-down overrides bottom-up evidence, and the author's intent is replaced with the reader's own.

A choice that is "plausible" by common sense but has no support in the passage — a trap that flatters received wisdom.

"It might even be true — but did this passage say it? Put your finger on the evidence the text gave you, not on what you already believe."

"Almost right" is not separated from "most right." The student stops at the first plausible answer and evaluates absolutely instead of comparing relatively.

A choice that matches 80–90% but flips in the final 2–3 words (half-truth), or a near-pair where both look correct.

"This one's right? Then did you read the one next to it too? When two answers are 'right,' which is more precise? Set them side by side and compare to the last word."