<p>For those of you that are killing the CR every time, I need some help.</p>
<p>Originally, I hit 650 on CR (it's my weakest portion), but on May 5th I dipped to 600. I'm going to retake the SAT once more, but I NEED to get 700+ on CR.</p>
<p>What are the best books to use to prepare for this bad boy?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I didn't use a book, but here's my strategy...</p>
<p>Prep:
1. Take tons of practice tests (just the CR sections)
2. Find all the sentence completion and passage words you don't know
3. Make flash cards
4. Learn all of those words. Only a few will show up on your test, but it is satisfying nonetheless to see a word you studied.</p>
<p>While you test:
1. Don't have ABBS (Anti-blank bubble syndrome). If you have no clue, leave it blank.
2. Don't spend too much time on the sentence completions. You can come back to kick yourself about them if you have time left over at the end.
3. When reading passages, find all the lines that are referenced in the questions (i.e. lines 23-25) and put a mark by them in the passage. Then you pay special attention there and can find them easily later.
4. Carefully read the passage.
5. Read the questions very carefully. I kicked myself for 10 minutes about a question, until I realized the character they were asking about was not the character I was trying to answer about.
6. Eliminate the "bad answers." There will usually be 2 OK answers left. Then try to think like the SAT maker. Which answer would the test maker want you to put down? Through lots of practice, you can refine the art of picking the right answer out of these two. If you cannot yet narrow it down to the "two good answers," you have a long way to go...
7. Pace yourself
8. Don't get too nervous</p>
<p>I followed this method and missed only 2 questions on the whole CR section, for an 800. Pretty good, if I say so myself...</p>
<p>What general questions should one ask themself if they have narrowed a question down to two choices? What kind of propensities do SAT test makers have?</p>
<p>Although I want to add "pick the answer you think the test maker would want you to put" can cause trouble. It might cause someone to, once they've narrowed it down to two, pick an illogical answer because they are not considering the passage, but only what "they think collegeboard would do." The answer is always justified by the passage. Practice, review questions you got wrong and UNDERSTAND why you got those wrong. And then practice some more.</p>
<p>Correction -</p>
<p>pick the BEST answer in every situation. On those few questions where there seem to be two equally good answers, try to think what CB would do. Even if two answers in a given question seem equally good, if one of the answers is, say, an almost-synonym for some word in the passage, that's probably what CB is looking for.</p>
<p>Just as an example.</p>
<p>I think my weakness was guessing on a few questions that I didn't have a clue on...</p>
<p>Everyone always tells me to ALWAYS guess and NEVER leave anything blank.</p>
<p>Read books. The people I know who did the best on CR never did prep but only read books. I think it's easier to remember words if you remember them in context of a storyline.</p>
<p>yea I agree- READ READ READ
I don't think it's a good idea to study vocabulary as there will only be 1-3 vocab questions you won't know- that time would be better spent on READING- Also take practice tests like others have said, they helped you get adjusted to the dry passages
For the test: just breathe get yourself amped up and MAKE the boring passages interesting. That's what I did ( and prayed lol) and got a 700 my first time-not great by CC standards but alrite by me.</p>
<p>My friend got an 800 and he said he read a paragraph at a time, answered all the possible questions about it, and then moved on...</p>
<p>Anyone ever tried that technique? Is it effective?</p>
<p>Yes..it's a great technique that can be used on the SAT since the questions are always chronological and they never ask you to put it all together..except for the main idea questions. There are very few standardized reading tests written this way, so you will not find this method effective on say the ACT's or GRE's...but it is the way to go on the SAT. Those students who find they have trouble focusing on the entire passage will really benefit since they only have to concentrate on one paragraph at a time. Plus it is the most time effective approach.</p>
<p>I agree that reading books helped a lot. My study approach helped my score a lot, but I also got an 800 because I am an avid reader (one of those stay-up-til-2am-and-not-get-any-sleep-because-I'm-reading people)</p>
<p>"My friend got an 800 and he said he read a paragraph at a time, answered all the possible questions about it, and then moved on..."</p>
<p>Woah, I never thought of attacking the passages that way before. Most of the SAT prep stuff I read say to "skim the passage and answer the questions, preferably line reference ones first". I think I benefit more when I read the passage first and answer the questions, but (1) I'm a bit of a slow reader, so I'll waste a lot of precious time if I go on and read the passage and (2) I never get to finish all the questions on time.</p>
<p>This technique sounds effective (and reminds me of how I normally treat double passages!) I think I'll try this one out.</p>
<p>"3. When reading passages, find all the lines that are referenced in the questions (i.e. lines 23-25) and put a mark by them in the passage. Then you pay special attention there and can find them easily later."</p>
<p>Ditto to this one too.</p>
<p>CR is my easiest, and I got an 800 on the May SAT. Here's my advice:</p>
<p>READ. The absolutely best way to become a good reader (and thereby also able to ace the CR section) is to read, and to read a lot. Basically, anything you read will help. Some of my favorite authors include Charlotte Bronte and Jane Austen, but the vast majority of books I read are not high quality. I devour books by authors such as Meg Cabot and other similar authors. Even if the books aren't that well written, they still train you in reading comprehention (which is basically what the CR section is). So, while you're having fun reading somehting enjoyable, you're unconciously learning how to be an effective reader as well. That said, reading "good" books and newspapers can help a lot too. I believe that its better to read what you want and enjoy it than to force yourself to read something you find boring, though.</p>
<p>Somehting that helps a lot is to take an article (or passage from an article) and write an analysis of it. It doesn't matter if you don't have questions, like you do on the SAT. Just write down what your interpretation is, and most imporantly, write down WHY it is what it is. Find sentences, words, passages that support your interpretation. Find EVIDENCE for why it is so. This is helpful because it trains you to always make sure you can back up your statement (or, find something that backs up one of the answer choices on the SAT). Personally, I think this excersize helps much more than simply doing practice test upon practice test, or trying to find ways to "outsmart" the test. Truly, the best way to do well on the CR section of the SAT is to learn to become and effective, critical reader. </p>
<p>As for all the techniques regarding how to approach answering the questions, that is really dependant on your own personal style. There is no one "best" way. I like to read the passage carefully first, then proceed with the questions (starting with the easy), re-reading relevant paragrapsh or sentences as needed.</p>