The sat critical reading section 4

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5658 SAT2006[03](fin).qx 11/21/05 6:42 PM Page 57 – THE SAT CRITICAL READING SECTION – for the reading comprehension questions. Additionally, P art 2: Reading Is Critical learning to make sense of complex passages will make your college career even more successful. There are approximately 40 long-passage critical read- ing questions on the SAT. Each Critical Reading sec- Ready, Set, Read! tion contains at least one long passage, followed by If you are already skilled at quickly reading and under- questions about the passage. Passages are excerpted standing dense prose, good for you! If not, try this from writings in the ﬁelds of literature, humanities, approach. Feel free to adapt it and change it to suit your and social and natural sciences. There is no poetry. needs and temperament. There’s no one “right” way to Each passage is between 400 and 850 words in length, read. The right way to do all of these things is the way and there will be between 5 and 13 questions after that works for you; so as you practice, try variations on each one. the method to see what suits you. In one critical reading section of the exam, there Every reading comprehension passage has a short will be a set of two long passages. These two passages one- to three-sentence introduction. This introduc- will complement each other in some way. Most often, tion will provide you with some context for the passage they will present either supporting or opposing points as a whole, so read it ﬁrst. Occasionally, there will be a of view. Some of the questions about these passages will question that requires knowledge of this introduction, require that you be able to analyze similarities and dif- so read it carefully. ferences between the two passages. Now you may want to skim the passage for its Many of the reading comprehension questions subject matter. With practice, you will ﬁnd that topic are vocabulary-related. You can think of them as a vari- sentences and key adjectives will practically leap out ation on sentence completion questions, asking you and grab your attention. Be sure to keep your pencil to determine the meaning of a word or phrase in con- poised to write as you read. You will want to mark key text. Sometimes, the test-makers ask about fairly com- words and phrases as you see them. mon words that have multiple uses and ask you to Next, read the passage all the way through. As you choose the correct meaning or shade of meaning. Most ﬁnish each paragraph, determine its main idea. Then, often, the answer will be a more obscure meaning of the jot a word or phrase that expresses that idea in the commonly used word. margin of your test booklet. This is a note to yourself, Other reading comprehension questions test your which will enable you to easily ﬁnd sections of the pas- ability to understand what you read. SAT passages are sage later and quickly tie the separate paragraphs into usually complex, densely packed with ideas; and many a coherent whole. are somewhat overwhelming at ﬁrst glance. You will be As you read the passage, mark any words or asked to extract information that may be stated explic- phrases that seem particularly important or expres- itly or implied. In other words, a passage may contain sive. Often, adjectives that set a mood or tone will help arguments with underlying assumptions, which you you understand the author’s meaning, so underline will be asked to uncover. You will be asked about the them or jot them down in the margin. It’s also impor- logical ﬂow of the texts and about their consistency or tant to note the location of details that support the lack thereof. You may also have to answer questions author’s main point(s). about the tone of the passages as well as their overall Of course, you were paying attention in English theme or meaning. class when the teacher discussed topic sentences, so Fortunately, the skills you are learning for the you know that most well-written paragraphs have at sentence completion questions will also serve you well 57
5658 SAT2006[03](fin).qx 11/21/05 6:42 PM Page 58 – THE SAT CRITICAL READING SECTION – least one sentence that sums up the main thrust of the Nine Proven Strategies for paragraph. It is most often either the ﬁrst or the last Reading Comprehension sentence, so if you’re having trouble determining the Questions 1. Read actively! As you read, ask yourself at the end author’s point, reread the ﬁrst and last sentences of of each paragraph what it was about. Mark up the each paragraph. passage, and write any thoughts you have about it Once you’ve quickly but carefully read the entire in the margins. Be an engaged reader. Try to passage, it’s time to tackle the questions. On the SAT, become interested for a few minutes in whatever the questions are organized roughly in the same order the subject of the passage is. as the parts of the passage to which they refer. In other 2. If you have an especially good short-term mem- words, the answer to the second question will most ory, you may want to look at the questions before likely be found in the passage somewhere after the you read the passage. Mark the words and answer to the ﬁrst question, and so forth. All of the pas- phrases the questions ask about, then look for sages on the SAT are numbered every ﬁve lines. Addi- those words and phrases in the passage. When tionally, many of the questions contain the line number you ﬁnd them, you can either go ahead and or numbers that will help you locate the answer. answer the question right then or mark the area Beware, though, that you don’t assume that the answer to come back to later. to the question will be found exactly in the line refer- 3. If you don’t understand what a question is ask- enced in the question. Chances are, it will be found ing, rephrase the question, using your own somewhere near that line; but it still may be a few lines words. SAT questions are written in a very pre- away. This is when the words and phrases you have cise, “hyper-grammatical” style to eliminate any marked and the notes you have jotted in the margin will ambiguity. Unfortunately, nobody talks that way, come in really handy. so the questions can be confusing at ﬁrst glance. When you have a set of questions on two related Once you have marked the key words and passages, there will be several questions without line phrases, rearrange them in a way that makes numbers. Those questions will usually ask you to com- sense to you. Don’t be afraid to add new words to pare the two passages in various ways. Again, you will the question; just be sure the words are express- be glad for your marks and notes on the passages. ing the same ideas that are already in the ques- As you read each question, approach it as you tion and not changing the meaning of the would any other sentence. Underline or circle key question in any way. words and phrases that help you with the meaning of 4. Once you understand a question, try to answer it the question. Whenever you see a word or phrase such in your own words before looking at the answer as best, primarily, most closely, or most nearly, it alerts choices. Distracter answer choices often take one you to the likely presence of particularly good dis- of several forms: tracter answers. That is to say, there may be two or ■ are close to the correct answer, but wrong in more answers that reﬂect language from the passage or some detail that may be true about the passage. Rest assured, how- ■ are true, but do not answer the question ever, that with careful attention to the wording of both ■ use language found in the text, but do not question and answer choices, you can determine which answer the question correctly choice is truly best. 58
5658 SAT2006[03](fin).qx 11/21/05 6:42 PM Page 59 – THE SAT CRITICAL READING SECTION – 5. As with all the multiple-choice questions on the describe the relationship? If the passages are SAT, elimination is an important strategy for the opposed, what are the points of difference? Jot reading comprehension questions. Even if you these things down and refer back to them, if don’t know the answer to a particular question necessary. right away, you often will be able to eliminate 8. Expect to refer back to the passages(s) on virtu- one to three answer choices without even refer- ally every question. If you know the answer to a ring back to the passage. Then you know that one question without referring to the passage, ﬁne; of the remaining answers is the correct one, and however, it might be a good idea to check the you can spend your time more productively passage anyway, just to make sure you haven’t looking up those answers in the passage. fallen for a distracter answer. 6. If you know from your preparation and pretest- 9. Remember to read between the lines! You may ing that you don’t always have enough time to remember that you must be extremely literal ﬁnish each section, don’t hesitate to skip around with sentence completion questions and never the questions. Look them over and answer the read anything into them or bring in any ideas easy ones ﬁrst, coming back to the more difﬁcult that are not clearly expressed within the sentence questions. Remember, each correct answer is itself. That’s not true with critical reading ques- worth one point. You don’t get bonus points for tions. In fact, you will be called upon to interpret answering more difﬁcult questions. If you skip a almost every passage, to draw conclusions from question, though, mark it in your test booklet the text, and to extend the author’s point of view and come back to it if there’s time. to evaluate a statement that isn’t even in the pas- 7. When you encounter a two-passage section, read sage. That’s why it is so important to be actively the passages with their relationship in mind. Are engaged in reading each passage. Try to under- they in agreement? Are they opposed? Is there stand it as though you had written it yourself. some other kind of relationship? How would you 59
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5658 SAT2006[03](fin).qx 11/21/05 6:42 PM Page 61 – LEARNINGEXPRESS ANSWER SHEET – 4 0 Practice Long-Passage Critical Reading Questions Read the passage and the questions that follow it. As you form your answers, be sure to base them on what is stated in the passage and introduction, or the inferences you can make from the material. Use the answer sheet below to record your answers. ANSWER SHEET 1. a b c d e 21. a b c d e 2. a b c d e 22. a b c d e 3. a b c d e 23. a b c d e 4. a b c d e 24. a b c d e 5. a b c d e 25. a b c d e 6. a b c d e 26. a b c d e 7. a b c d e 27. a b c d e 8. a b c d e 28. a b c d e 9. a b c d e 29. a b c d e 10. a b c d e 30. a b c d e 11. a b c d e 31. a b c d e 12. a b c d e 32. a b c d e 13. a b c d e 33. a b c d e 14. a b c d e 34. a b c d e 15. a b c d e 35. a b c d e 16. a b c d e 36. a b c d e 17. a b c d e 37. a b c d e 18. a b c d e 38. a b c d e 19. a b c d e 39. a b c d e 20. a b c d e 40. a b c d e 61
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