Tips for Doing Your Best on the Critical Reading Section of the SAT
Thereading section on the SAT makes up half the points of the verbal test.
This section is more difficult and should be done after the sentence completion. The reading section is also long and can bog the test taker down. But, there are strategies and hints that make the reading section conquerable!
About the Critical Reading Test Section
The Critical Reading test is not about what you know or how you read.
Rather this section tests how well you search for answers. The reading section tests the same skill you use when you are setting up a DVD. You would never read ALL those instructions. What you do with the DVD instruction booklet is:
read for a specific purpose
know how and when to look for details
figure out anything unfamiliar from the clues given.
Think of this as an open book test. This is the kind of test you like, the easy kind. You can find all the answers on your own. Remember, this is only a test, made by very fallible humans!
The reading section is made up by formula. There are always four types of passages:
Science, usually third person
Social sciences, usually including a passage about an ethnic group that has experienced discrimination or hardship
Humanities, (art, literature, philosophy)
Narrative, first person, excerpted. Note: This will never be a poem.
Each passage will be from 400 to 850 words in length, and there will always be one paired or dual passage.
The questions ask for four types of answers:
Those based on content: topic, main point, logical argument, or fact vs. opinion
Those based on tone or the author’s point of view or feeling
Those based on specific detail from the text
Those based on a comparison or contrast of the information in the passage.
Each passage’s questions are 70% “Little Picture” questions. These questions ask for detail or meanings of a specific word or words. These types of questions have their answers in the text and are the easier questions.
The other 30% of the questions are the “Big Picture” questions. You cannot find their answers in the text because they are implied. You must infer them from what is given in the text.
In fact, the passage is the least important part of this test section. The points are in the questions, and often you can answer the questions without even reading the passage from your own knowledge. BUT, don’t use this as a general technique. It takes longer to eliminate the illogical answers this way.
The Plan of Attack
STEP I - Starting
To get started on the right foot, the first thing you should do is memorize the instructions before taking the test. Then you will know what is expected and not have to read them each time they are written. This will save time for reading and answering the questions.
Here they are.
Each passage below is followed by questions based on its content.
Answer the questions following each passage on the basis of what
is stated or implied in that passage and in any introductory material
that may be provided.
STEP II - Reading
First, don’t read the whole paragraph.
You are supposed to “skim” the passage or read it “lightly.” This does not mean you should race through and miss the point of the passage. You must always read asking yourself, “What is the point of this writing?” This is active reading, looking for a purpose. On the other hand, you should not be trying to remember details or be saying the words to yourself. It’s all about balance.
Here’s a balanced reading approach. Read, looking for
• topic or main idea
• organization – how the topic will be discussed
• author’s point of view, and
• author’s purpose for the reader, that is, his/her point.
A way to find all this in a long PROSE passage without reading too much is
• Start with the blurb in italics; this will give you the topic.
• Then read the first paragraph, which will reveal the main idea, or topic sentence, and the layout, or organization, of the rest of the passage.
• Next read the first sentence of each of the following paragraphs; this will show the layout and how the support is divided.
• Finally, read the last sentence of the last paragraph for tone and the point of the passage.
Write in your booklet as you read. Writing helps to keep you focused and can help you avoid confusion when you begin looking for answers to the questions.
• Make notes of what is covered in each paragraph: the topic, the topic sentence, the last point that sums up the author’s purpose.
• Underline words that are triggers that help define the feelings of the author.
• Note tone words that give clues about viewpoints or what is going on under the surface.
A very helpful article about reading attack skills can be found on the Family Education website. Look at Parent Resources to find the SAT guide for College Preparation. The title of the article is “SAT Reading Comprehension: Basic Principles.”
STEP III – Translate the Questions
Questions are often written to confuse. Some are stated as sentences that need completion. Always reword the questions simply and start a question with Who, What, Why, etc. to make sure you know what the question is really asking.
EXAMPLE: According to the passage:
“language of bureaucracy”
and the
“language of liberation”
are alike in that they take into account which of the following?
really means:
How are the “language of bureaucracy” and the “language of liberation” alike?
STEP IV – Find the Answers
70% of the time the answers are right in the text. Plan to spend approximately one minute per question.
Little picture questions refer you to the text and ask you to answer about details.
• Often definitions of words are asked with a line reference. Find the word and read two sentences above and below the word. Always use the context of the word to choose the answer. Blank out the word. Use context clues, key words around the blank, to figure out what the blank should be.
EXAMPLE: The clear sky, mother’s good mood, and a smile on dad’s face meant it was a propitious occasion to ask for the use of the family car.
Propitious? Well, everything seems positively poised for a good outcome. Do you think the word means favorable or conducive?
NOTE:Often a word identified in a passage is not used in its most common way. All words have connotations or other meanings. Be careful not to pick the most common meaning offhand. Look carefully at the context. Steer clear of obvious choices.
Example: With his cockeyed mouth and his blackened teeth, he had a curious smile.
Curious usually means inquisitive, but here it means odd.
Be careful about specific text referenced by lines. Often these line references are not exact. What is referenced may be in a line or two above or below. For example, if you are referred to lines 33-36, the actual reference may be in lines 31 and 32 or even in lines 37 – 39. Read above and below the lines referenced!
Big picture questions ask you to answer questions when there is nothing in the text to put your finger on. These are inferences. An inference is deducing information from information you have. A deduction goes beyond the information you have, but is based on that information.
The best way to attack inference questions is to paraphrase, put into your own words what the passage is saying.
Trigger words can also help you see the purpose of a whole passage. But, though and although show a change of direction from what has already been stated. And and because show agreement with the previous writing.
The last paragraph can often give you the sum of the whole passage, too. Far fetched inferences are usually wrong. There should be a sound basis for what you deduce from the passage.
Save the tougher questions for last. There are two types of tough questions. Do these last.
First: There are the Except/Least/Not questions. These ask you to find 4 pieces of information for 1 point. Do the other questions first and use what you have already found on these 4-way questions.
EXAMPLE: All of the following statements about pattern II children express differences between them and pattern I children EXCEPT:
a. They migrate for part of each year.
b. They have fewer siblings.
c. They spend less time contributing to family income.
d. They spend more months in school.
e. Their parents sometimes work at jobs other than farming.
These are True/False questions. All are True EXCEPT one, which is False. Which is the false statement?
Second: There are the I, II, and III, questions. These are triple True/False questions.
EXAMPLE: According to the author, which of the following characteristics is (are) common to both literature and biology?
I. They are concerned with living creatures.
II. They enrich human experience.
III. They are guided by scientific principles.
a. I only.
b. II only.
c. III only.
d. I and III.
e. I, II, and III.
Take these one step at a time. If statement I is false, you have immediately eliminated answers a. and d. Why is the answer c?
HINTS for Answering the Questions:
1. Cross off answers that will not work to avoid re-reading them when you look over answers to make the best choice. This will save you time and confusion.
2. Remember, these passages are not ordered from easy to hard. In the same way, the questions are not ordered from easy to hard. In fact, the questions are ordered chronologically. That is, the questions will follow the flow of the passages from paragraph 1 to the last paragraph.
3. Jot notes on the booklet as you read. This will help you stay focused and save you time because you will have to do less re-reading.
4. If you are running out of time, go to the questions of the passages left and look at the specific questions first, those that refer you to specific lines of the passage known as the “little picture” questions, and answer them. If you end up with extra time, these little picture questions may help you go back to whole passage questions or inference questions, known as “big picture” questions.
5. ETS does not want arguments about what they say are correct answers. Therefore, their answers tend to be vague. Answers that are specific are easier to argue.
For example: “It will be 63 tomorrow.” can be argued. The weather for tomorrow will be fair is a harder case. Choose the vaguer answers!
6. ETS is an American company that represents American values and wants American clientele. So? Correct answers do not usually express anti-American sentiment, even if the question is phrased as a critical one.
For example: if the question read: “Why is the author critical of federal judges?,” the answer is probably not: “He finds they do not base their decisions on the Constitution.”
7. ETS is a biased test, but it certainly does not want to appear biased. In dealing with passages about ethnic cultures, do not choose answers that slur or dismiss an ethnic group.
8. When an answer has the following words, avoid it: must, always, impossible, never, cannot, each, every, totally, all, solely, only.
9. When you have paired our dual passages, always read the first passage and answer the questions for it first, then do the second passage and its questions. Do the questions for both passages last. Always take it one at a time.
10. Put the answers in your own words before looking at the answer choices.
Final Thoughts
The College Board provides an Official SAT Study Guide. It is wise to use the 8 practice tests they provide to prepare for taking the SAT. These tests are actual tests from past exams. Start with the first 2 tests and go through the critical reading section question by question, looking up the answer to each question as you go to see why an answer is correct. Don’t worry about time at this point. Do the next 3 tests by answering all the questions in the section and then reviewing all the answers. With the last 3 tests take them under the standard protocol to get a feel for the timing of the tests.
The bottom line for this section is to read, read, read ahead of time, everything and anything. I have seen the suggestion that you may particularly want to focus on magazines like Discover and Scientific America because they are more sophisticated than the average magazine and, yet, have short articles like you might find on the reading section.