The natural tendency upon receiving the question sheet is to find that first question and start it right away. It is possible that some of what you plan to put in your answer to the first question belongs instead to another answer later on. Also, reading it through first will give you an overview and might also raise some question in your mind which would be better to ask the instructor at the beginning rather than mid-way. Now let's say you are ready to answer the first question, but you draw a blank on it and fear you will waste time contemplating it with no visible results on the paper. Now let's talk about the question format, particularly the wording that is the key to what the instructor is seeking.
Some terms are relatively easy to respond to, but others frequently are misunderstood.
For example, if you were asked to compare the electoral system of France with the electoral system of the United Kingdom, you certainly know that you are expected to put down major elements of each. But how you put these down is crucial. Because compare means that you, the student, are to make the comparison, not the instructor through some magical merging of your two halves. You must interweave in your answer the similar and dissimilar aspects of the two electoral systems, usually no more than a sentence apart, thus revealing to the instructor that you see the commonality or difference concerning a particular point. Again, you cannot describe one and then describe the other, whether it is electoral systems, or legislative systems, or anything else.