It's easy to mis-read or mis-interpret questions.

This can be caused by haste, anxiety, or over-enthusiasm.

The answer you offer might be reasonable, but it could be an answer to a different question.

Here's how it often happens.

Symptoms

You might spot one significant word in the question.

It seems familiar and you focus attention on it, but the question is actually about something else.

If there are two key terms, one might be given the wrong emphasis.

Solution

Read the question very carefully.

Identify the key terms and instruction terms.

Ask yourself "What is the main issue?"