As you probably know, the new SAT test is more focused on practical, relevant skills and knowledge you acquire during high school and will need to succeed in college. Although previous versions of the SAT were never fundamentally about simply memorizing words and facts you’ll never use in the real world, the current version is even less like that. You don’t have to discover secret tricks or cram the night before to well on the SAT, but practice does help.
The SAT reading section is meant to measure how effectively you internalize information, interpret and digest it, and then use it to answer a question. The question in this section are always based on passages followed by multiple choice questions. You may have to interpret a chart, but no math is required, nor is any previous topic-specific knowledge or expertise. To learn about this section direct from the college board, click here.
In the video below, we discuss a range of ways to more effectively approach an SAT reading comprehension passage to increase the odds you’ll be able to arrive at the correct answer.
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Pay attention to the blurb at the beginning of the passage. This off-set section of text will provide background to help us navigate the passage.
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Approach the passage by breaking it into digestible chunks.
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Take brief notes on any pertinent information by summarizing each section, pay close attention to characters and actions. You don’t need a comprehensive summary of each section, just write enough to remember what took place. Therefore, you can skim any descriptions as they are less important than main idea/action sentences.
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Note any asterisks within the passage, these mean there is a definition provided which can be helpful in understanding foreign terms and answering the questions.
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Once you’ve completed the passage, move on to the questions using the notes you’ve taken to eliminate any answers which are definitively incorrect.
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Move briskly through questions and answer choices as you have spent a considerable amount of time reading the passage.
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When answering questions, always revisit the passage when asked about terms and their meaning on a specific line in the passage.
Use these tips to successfully navigate the passage and questions in the SAT reading section of the SAT.
About the Authors
Lisa Alvarado is a Managing Tutor for MyGuru.
