Half the wrong answers on a test come from reading half the question. Life grades the same way.

Most mistakes are not failures of ability, they are failures of reading. You recognize the shape of a question, assume you know what is being asked, and answer the version in your head instead of the one on the page. The same thing happens in conversation, where you respond to what you expected someone to say.

Slow down at the start rather than the end. Read the question twice, underline what it is actually asking for, then begin. In conversation the equivalent is repeating back what you think you heard before you answer, which takes five seconds and saves the whole exchange.