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Critical Reading has three components: Sentence Completion, Short
Passages, and Long Passages
For each component, using different strategy.
SAT Critical Reading Strategies:
Sentence Completion
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Study word list
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Sentence
Completion Section is arranged from easiest to hardest, do the easy
questions first
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Two-Blank
Sentences: start with the easier blank
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Extras:
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Before look at
the answer choices, think of a word that make sense
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Spot clues:
signal words
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support:
and, moreover, in addition, and
furthermore
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contrast:
but, although, nevertheless, despite,
however, even though, and on the other hand
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cause and
effect: because, since, therefore,
consequently, accordingly, hence, thus, and as a
result
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Notice
negatives: no, not, non-, un-, in-
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More clues:
in other words, that is, which means
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Make flashcards
for every word you do not know in the book (a MUST)
Proposed Steps:
1. Cover the answers (so you don't get misled by wrong ones).
2. Underline the clues (context clues) and circle the
key words (similarity, contrast, cause and effect, such as
although, however, like etc.)
Ex: Although
he studied very hard for his test, Joe got a _________ score.
3. Make up your own answer for the blank(s).
·
This should be a word or phrase; simple is fine,·
If you can't think of a word or phrase, at least get an idea
of whether it should
be positive, negative, or neutral.·
For double-blank questions, tackle them separately. If you
can't think of words, at
least determine the relationship between the blanks.
For the example above: bad
4. Uncover the answers and eliminate any wrong answers.
Do not eliminate vocabulary words that you do not know.
5. Choose an answer from the answers remaining.
Short Passage Questions
1.
Tackle the passage's opening sentences, try to anticipate
what the passage will be about
2.
Quickly skim passage to get a general idea of the topic,
argument, and structure
3.
Go to the questions and read them one by one, identify
which ones you can complete first
4.
Go back to the passage and read the related section
CAREFULLY
a.
If there are line references, read about 2-3 lines before
and after the line references
5.
Try to think of your own answer (without looking at
answer choices)
6.
Pick the answer closest to your own
7.
ONLY use the information from the passage to
determine your answer
8.
Try to avoid these answers:
a.
Choices with extreme or absolute words (including the
words ALWAYS, NEVER, EVERY, or
BEST). They are rarely correct.
b.
Politically Incorrect Choices: The SAT does not want to
offend groups of people; if there's
an answer criticizing/insulting a specific person or group of
people in a
factual passage (vs. fictional), avoid it.
c.
Choices that defy common sense: In each set of answer
choices, there will almost always
be at least one answer choice that you know is so ridiculous
that it cannot be
the answer. Your intuition is correct. You should certainly
avoid these
choices.
d.
Choices that require you to infer
beyond the limits of the passage: Inference questions on the SAT
are usually phrased in such a way as,
“Based on line 8-12, you can infer that the author…” These
questions are NOT
asking you to guess or jump to some conclusion; DO NOT read into
things. These
questions simply require you to look into specific parts of the
passage and
find the answers. Again, ONLY use
information from the passage to determine your answer.
9.
Tackle paired passages one passage at a time
10. Make flashcards for every
word you do not know in the book (a MUST)
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Long Passage Questions
1.
Read the italics at the beginning of the passage
first (a MUST). It gives you a sense
not only of what the passage is going
to be about, but also of the position and possible tone of the
author.
2.
After reading the italics, do not start reading
the passage yet.
a.
Go to the questions and look for
line number references.
b.
Don't read the answer choices
or the full question yet.
c.
Once you see a line
reference, go to the passage and bracket the
sentence contained within the lines. This will allow you to
focus on that
sentence once you begin to read the passage.
3.
Based on the question:
a.
Make a small annotation such
as MEANING, SAYS THIS BECAUSE, REFERS
TO, HOW SIMILAR TO PASSAGE 1, BACKS UP WHAT BEFORE next to the
bracketed
sentence.
b.
If you see a question
referring to the passage as a whole, circle
the number of the question with a large circle and make an
annotation at the
end of passage. This means it's a
general question and must be answered AFTER all the specific
questions.
(quickly through steps 2 -3)
4.
Once you have marked up all
the line references, read the passage.
a.
First tackle the
passage's opening sentences and try to anticipate what the
passage will be about.
b.
Then read the unmarked
sections quickly yet efficiently, absorbing them briefly but not
truly pausing to analyze.
c.
ONCE you hit a marked
section, slow down, underline the key words and absorb it. Then
go to the corresponding question and answer it.
5.
After reading the question again
a.
tryto think of your own answer based on what you have
read (without looking at the
answer choices) and then pick the answer closest to your own.
In a few instances, it may help to
read a few lines past
the point of reference to choose an answer.
b.
When you answer a question,
just circle in the answer in the test booklet. After you finish
answering all the questions, bubble in the answers on the answer
sheet. If you're very low on time, however, you should bubble as
you go.
6.
Once you have tackled all the
line and paragraph references, finish reading the entire passage
if you
haven't already, then tackle the circled general questions.
Remember to never choose an answer unless you can support it
with evidence from the passage. ONLY use
information from the passage to determine your answer.
7.
After narrowing the question
answers down to 2, look directly into the passage and if there
is no
support at all for the answer choice, eliminate it (do not do it
by your feeling).
8.
Tackle paired passages one passage at a time
9.
Try to avoid these answers:
a.
Choices with extreme or absolute words (including the
words ALWAYS, NEVER, or BEST). They are rarely correct.
b.
Politically Incorrect Choices: The SAT does not want to
offend groups of people; if there's
an answer criticizing/insulting a specific person or group of
people in a
factual passage (vs. fictional), avoid it.
c.
Choices that defy common sense: In each set of answer
choices, there will almost always
be at least one answer choice that you know is so ridiculous
that it cannot be
the answer. Your intuition is correct. You should certainly
avoid these choices.
d.
Choices that require you to infer beyond the limits of
the passage: Inference questions on the SAT are usually
phrased in such a way as, “Based on line 8-12, you can infer
that the author…”
These questions are NOT asking you to guess or jump to some
conclusion; DO NOT
read into things. These questions simply require you to look
into specific
parts of the passage and find the answers. Again, ONLY
use information from the passage to determine your answer.
10.
Mark all guessed answers
11.
Make flashcards for every word you
do not know in the book (a MUST)
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