In this section you read passages and then answer questions based on the text. This portion may seem tedious with all the reading and subjective with main idea based questions, but there's a secret about this test that I learned from the book SAT Prep Black Book: The Most Effective SAT Strategies Ever Published. Because this test is multiple choice, Barret says that, "The only way to talk about a text without interpreting it is to restate it without changing the meaning...In other words, believe it or not, every answer to the Critical Reading section of the SAT is spelled out somewhere on the page" (Barrett 41). When I learned this I was very surprised. But nevertheless, while I was taking one of the practice tests for this section of the SAT I kept referring back to the text as I was looking at questions. 
Another factor about the Reading Test of the SAT that people may find difficult is that this test is timed. During 65 minutes you need to answer 52 multiple choice questions. In my book I learned a strategy to help save time: Knowing that every answer is within the text, one can skip reading the text if they wish. (That's crazy, right?!) The way to go about it, if you skip the passage, would be to answer all the in-text citation questions first and save the generalized questions for last (Barrett 47-48). During my practice test I applied this method, only looking at the passage for answers when the question directed me to a certain line in the text. 
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| Obviously I haven't perfected my test-taking skills for the Reading Test yet, but I'll keep practicing. |
What strategy do you prefer: reading the whole passage and then answering questions or just referring back (through citations) and skipping the passage entirely?
Also, would anyone be interested if I went in depth in another post about how to answer questions on the test? (As in how to spot wrong answers and what different types of questions are asking for)
Barrett, Mike. SAT Prep Black Book: The Most Effective Strategies Ever Published. San Bernardino: M. Barrett, 2013. Print.
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ReplyDeleteI would be very interested in you going in depth. You better at least get 2300 when you actually take it! You just have the push yourself Jacqueline!
ReplyDeleteYour encouragement really makes me want to do well and I'll definitely consider doing a follow up then. Thanks!
DeleteBest of luck to you in your C++ programming. :)
I would NOT recommend skipping the passage entirely - some of those main idea/theme questions rely on your having read the whole passage. I like to do one quick read-through and then answer the questions that are easy, then go back to the questions that were more difficult and use the line numbers referenced in the questions to answer those. And yes, the answers are ALWAYS in the text.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the advice! Next time I'll definitively try skimming/quickly reading the passage first as I did run into a couple main idea questions that stumped me.
DeleteI generally don't skip reading the passage as, not only are some of the main idea questions very hard to answer when you haven't read the passage, but some of them are also very interesting, and can present ideas that I would like to learn more about. Of course, I am a very quick reader, so I wouldn't recommend reading the SAT passages for their content during the test to everyone. Thanks for the tips though!
ReplyDeleteCool! I think I prefer reading the whole passages too.
DeleteI would love if you go into depth on how to spot wrong answers because knowing myself I am a horrible test taker. (explains my grade in math >.>) I really like your idea of "skipping" the reading and trying to find it in the text. Maybe it could work for math. Ha Ha. But honestly this has made me rethink how I should take test. Thanks for the advise Jacqueline!!
ReplyDeleteYour welcome!
DeleteI'm happy that you like this different way of testing. :)
Though passages on standardized tests can generally be very boring and tedious to get through, I think that it's at least a little bit necessary to read or skim through the passage to make sure you don't miss anything. I'm one to usually second guess myself on multiple choice tests though, so answering based on the information presented in the questions would probably alleviate some stress and time. There's pros and cons about both methods. Thanks for the advice!
ReplyDeleteI agree that there are pros and cons for both methods of testing. But most importantly, I hope you can find the method that will help you the most. :)
DeleteThis is revolutionary! I never would have thought about skipping the text entirely, and while taking the PSAT, just finishing the test on time was a struggle for me. I think that implementing your strategy would have helped me to get a higher score by being able to finish on time.
ReplyDeleteGlad that this post helped you! :)
DeleteJust remember to try both ways of testing to see what works best for you.