Abstract
This paper deals with one of the main evaluative tools used in foreign language testing: multiple-choice questions. We present the difficulties of making a valid, objective and reliable item based on multiple-choice questions and show that the success of this challenge depends basically on creating the appropriate distractors.
In the paper we focus on an item used in the State exam taken by Czech students at the end of their secondary education to elaborate on the process of construction of a multiple-choice item and the creation of plausible distractors. At the end of this paper, we propose questions about this approach to language testing and show the risks to language learners hidden in multiple-choice questions oriented evaluation.