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SAT Reading Strategies: Timing and Question Selection

The document provides strategies and tips for the SAT Reading section. It discusses timing, question ordering, and different question types. For timing, the test contains 5 passages and students should aim to spend 5 minutes reading each passage. Harder passages that take longer to read should be done last. For question ordering, students should answer easier questions first to better understand the passage before tackling harder questions. The document breaks down the main question types as information and ideas, rhetoric, and synthesis questions. It provides tips for each question type such as rephrasing questions, finding keywords, and using line references to aid in answering questions.

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cady
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
153 views

SAT Reading Strategies: Timing and Question Selection

The document provides strategies and tips for the SAT Reading section. It discusses timing, question ordering, and different question types. For timing, the test contains 5 passages and students should aim to spend 5 minutes reading each passage. Harder passages that take longer to read should be done last. For question ordering, students should answer easier questions first to better understand the passage before tackling harder questions. The document breaks down the main question types as information and ideas, rhetoric, and synthesis questions. It provides tips for each question type such as rephrasing questions, finding keywords, and using line references to aid in answering questions.

Uploaded by

cady
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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SAT Reading

Strategies
Timing and question selection
Raw vs scaled score

● You can miss up to 6 questions on each section (Reading, Writing, and Math) to score a
1400
Ordering passages

● When doing timed practice, record the amount of time each passage takes you to
complete mark the passages that take you longer to read. Are they science
passages? Passages that are 100+ years old? Passages with graphs? Do these
passages last on the test.
● The SAT Reading Test is 65 minutes long and contains 5 passages with associated questions.
This means you need to spend 13 minutes per passage on average. You should plan to read
through an SAT passage in about 5 minutes.
Actual reading

● Jot questions on reading page


● skim
● Underline intro/concluding sentences. check these first when looking for answers
● Quickly read the information blurb that comes at the very beginning of the passage. This
should help you situate the passage in context. When is the author writing, for instance? Is
she an author of fiction, a scientist, or a historian?
● Also, look out for transitional words and phrases, like however, additionally, and despite, that
might mark a shift in or continuation of ideas. This approach will be much more helpful and
time-saving than trying to understand each and every word.
● Do passages You find interesting first
Actual reading

● Leave theme questions for the end


● It can be useful and save time to answer the entire set of questions in your test booklet
and then transfer all your answers to the bubble sheet in one chunk.
● IF YOU’RE ZONING OUT, CHANGE THE WAY YOU’RE SITTING AND TRY AGAIN.
● Even top scorers will find themselves losing focus at times on test day, but that’s not a reason to panic. If
you’ve been reading a passage with upright posture, try slouching a little or leaning to one side as you read.
If you’ve been slouching, sit up straight. A simple adjustment like this can help you refocus on the task at
hand and finish reading the passage or answering the question.
Ordering questions

● SAT READING TIP #3: ANSWER EASIER QUESTIONS FIRST.


● Every passage will have a range of difficulty in its questions. If you’re stumped on a passage, try finding
quick, easy questions to answer. Easier questions might ask about vocab words or have line references that
you can quickly locate in the text. Once you answer these, you’ll have a better understanding of the passage
and can tackle the harder ones with less pressure.
● When practicing, mark the types of questions that you find most difficult. They will be
the types that would take you the longest on the actual test.
Types of questions

● Information (what is stated in the passage) and ideas ( what the author means by the
text)
Information and ideas: theme
Information and ideas: Close reading
These questions will ask you to identify information and ideas explicitly stated in
the text or to draw reasonable conclusions from the text. In some cases, the
questions will ask you to apply information and ideas in a text to a new, analogous
situation.
Information and ideas: Best evidence

For these questions, it can


be helpful to read each
quote, and draw a line to
each answer option that it
supports best.
Sometimes, you will find
that this helps you
answer the previous
question, too. But either
way, it helps you to rule
out quotes that are
unhelpful and therefore
limit the answer options
to both questions
Types of questions

● Information (what is stated in the passage) and ideas ( what the author means by the
text)
● Rhetoric (assess how well you understand the choices that authors make as they
structure and develop their texts to convey meaning)
Rhetoric: word choice
● Tip? Rephrase the question using
How What or Why, and then answer
your version of the question in your
own words.
● ex.: "What do the words "exact,"
"specific," and "complement" DO in
the last paragraph?"
● Then, before looking at the choices,
go back to the last paragraph and
formulate an answer to your
question.
● Then cross out the choices that
don't match your answer. Trust
yourself!
Rhetoric: Text structure
● Tip? Answer the question in your own words
before looking at the choices.
● Rephrase the question so you can take control of
it: "How is the passage structured?”
● Then, determine what you think the function of
each paragraph is. It may be helpful to look at
the first and last sentences of the paragraphs,
since they summarize the main idea
● Also, look at the choices and note key words
that make them different from each other -
"traditional practice" is very different from
"meaningful encounter," "series of questions,"
and "amusing anecdote.
● "Only one will accurately reflect what is
happening in the passage
Rhetoric: Point of view
● Tip? identify the point of each passage,
then say it back to yourself in your own
words.
● If you don't quite understand the main
point or primary purpose, then review the
first and last paragraphs to refresh your
memory.
● It can be helpful to figure out how the
tone, or how the author feels about their
topic, of each passage, since this will help
you rule out answers that would not
correspond to the author’s sentiments,
which is what the question is asking
about, afterall
Rhetoric: Arguments

● Again, rephrase the question in your own words.


This is a good general tip to help answer questions
that confuse you.
● Then, eliminate wrong answers
● Avoid reading through the choices until you know
what you are looking for, and you won't waste time
giving the choices the benefit of the doubt.
● Remember, the central claim can usually be found in
the thesis, which is the last sentence of the first
paragraph or the first sentence of the last paragraph,
usually
Types of questions

● Information (what is stated in the passage) and ideas ( what the author means by the text)
● Rhetoric (assess how well you understand the choices that authors make as they structure
and develop their texts to convey meaning)
● Synthesis (draw conclusions and make connections between 2 related passages or
between passages and informational graphics)
Synthesis: Multiple texts

The first question is pretty typical. Questions that ask


for a “relationship between passages” are usually just
another way of asking “How can you restate the main
idea in each passage in a way that they relate to each
other?”

The second question, on the other hand, is another way


of asking, “How can you restate the author’s tone in
each passage in a way that they relate to each other?”
Synthesis: Quantitative texts

These are some of the hardest questions and passages for students

● Focus on the key words in the question


● in this case, "purines" and "yeast DNA."
● Then, find those words in the passage or the graphic.
"Yeast" is the second row from the bottom of the table.
You're probably going to need to figure out which of
the four bases (adenine, guanine, cytosine and
thymine) are "purines" from whatever passage you’re
given for this question
Breakdown
In-session practice materials

examples of question types

answers

Unguided practice - “homework”

answers
Practice day
You will have 10 minutes to do the following set of
questions. They are also found on our normal
powerpoint,
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1jeEqc6BuEVus
iR6B9IMwnSKSauZl3Q4tiQKgRTLuOAQ/edit?usp=sharing
pdf
You will have 10 minutes to do the following set of
questions. They are also found on our normal
powerpoint,
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1jeEqc6BuEVus
iR6B9IMwnSKSauZl3Q4tiQKgRTLuOAQ/edit?usp=sharing

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