<p>Yeah, that was frustrating for them. That is why I think it will be more relevant. I don’t think it will be too political or inflamatory, but more than the penny.</p>
<p>Does anyone have links to released practice MC exams? I already exhausted my Kaplan.</p>
<p>I have seen others advertising them on other threads.</p>
<p>How about free ones?</p>
<p>how about a little advice on MC</p>
<p>This are some strategies that I found very useful. They are from Cliffs Notes.</p>
<p>1. First, skim the question to find out what you should concentrate on. Skimming the questions before reading
the passage helps you focus on what the test-writers found important. Skimming involves a very fast reading
speedapproximately 1,000 words per minuteso be aware that during this skimming, you are really just glancing
at the questions. Ignore any generic questions, such as ones that ask you the authors main purpose or main
point; instead, try to find approximately five specific ideas that you can look for while you read the passage. Do
not try to memorize the questions; youre just glancing at them to help you focus on the passage while you read.
This technique works well, but you must practice it frequently enough before the test for it to become second nature.
You should look for the specific content of each question. For example, dont merely note that a question asks you to
draw an inference. You must also focus upon the specific content included in the inference. Prior practice is essential
for you to become comfortable with the strategy of skimming the questions prior to reading the passage.
2. Read each passage actively and visually. Active reading means that you should underline and mark key words
and ideas (just the few most important ones) as you read. Dont sit passively and merely let your eyes move
across the page. Scientific studies support the idea that active readers gain higher immediate retention than do
passive readers, and immediate retention is all you need in this case. You wont be concerned at all with long-term
memory on the day of the exam.
Visual reading means that you should picture any action of the passage in your mind; create a movie, if you
will. Visual reading is a most valuable tool for eliminating distractions while reading. It gives your brain a task to
perform and helps keep your mind on the content of the passage. Most people are visual learners; they remember
more after they have seen something, even if its in their imagination. Both of these strategies enhance your
immediate retention and concentrationjust what you need the most on this test. Practice these skills daily and
watch them become more effective with continued use.
3. Paraphrase while youre reading. This technique also helps your immediate retention and understanding of the
authors ideas. By definition, paraphrasing means that you can articulate the authors ideas in your own words.This is an essential skill for comprehension, and, like visual reading, it gives your brain something to do that is on
task while you read. Every question that asks about a passages main ideas or an authors point can be answered
correctly if you paraphrase accurately. For any given passage, paraphrase each paragraph as a unit, and then paraphrase
the authors overall point that covers all of the paragraphs. Practice by writing down your concise statement
of an authors point immediately after reading a paragraph or a whole passage. Later, you can develop this
skill to the point that its internalized, and you can paraphrase very quickly. Youll find that, eventually, you can
paraphrase effectively while youre reading.
4. Read the question carefully after youve read the passage. Dont assume from an earlier skimming that you
know each question well. You must understand exactly what youre being asked. Students frequently choose the
wrong answer because they have misread the question, either by reading too quickly or by not being sure whats
actually being asked.
5. Read all the answer choices carefully. Eliminate a wrong answer choice as you read it by crossing out that letter
in the test book. Never waste time rereading the wrong answers. Make sure that your answer choice is accurate
according to the passage and that it answers the question.
6. Leave the most difficult questions until the end of each section. From your practice on the test, you can learn
to recognize which questions are harder for you and which ones you can do accurately and quickly. Then use this
knowledge as part of your personal strategy to get the most correct answers you possibly can. Remember to treat
each passage as a unit and try to answer all the questions you can for that passage within your time limit before
going on to the next passage.
7. One way to increase your score is to always analyze the questions that you get wrong on the practice tests.
Try to identify the specific reason why you selected each incorrect answer choice. Did you misread the question?
Did you misread the answer? Did you work too quickly? Try to detect any trends; for example, a certain question
type may always be the hardest for you. Then you can study, analyze, and understand why the correct answer is
better than your choice. This analysis will help you to stop repeating the same mistakes.
**8. Practice!**With extensive practice, youll increase your familiarity with the question types.</p>
<p>Serafina: are Kaplan problems substantially easier than the real thing? Or is it quite accurate?</p>
<p>Kaplan’s practice SATs are pretty accurate, so I bet their AP tests are too</p>
<p>Does anyone have an idea of the common rhetorical terms that appear on MC?</p>
<p>I saw “antithesis,” “oxymoron,” “apostrophe,” (NOT the usual meaning), etc.</p>
<p>^antecedent
colloquialism
hyperbole
imagery
parallelism
simile
theme
tone</p>
<p>all of these appear quite frequently in the MC.</p>
<p>how about rhetorical strategies/analysis prompts.
those are beasts. :(</p>
<p>helpful hints: be radical in your stance with the argumentative and synthesis.
the multiple choice are like a slightly harder version of the SAT questions.</p>
<p>My teacher wanted to be sure we knew the different types of sentences like periodic, compound, etc. And logic stuff- syllogism, ad hominem, whatever.</p>
<p>Does anyone know if we can use novellas as examples for the essays. A lot o the essays say “No shirt stories.” but are novellas okay?</p>
<p>5 Tomorrow!!</p>
<p>millancad: as far as i know, it’s better if you use literary, as in ANY literary references. they help to raise credibility and for argumentative, if you analyze the situations/stories of books it raises up your essay score too. ;]</p>
<p>You can even use Disney movies; anything as long as it supports your point.</p>
<p>I took the test last year. Two pearls of wisdom:</p>
<p>1) Kaplan’s MC were WAY harder than what was on the test. We did Kaplan MC in class all the time as practice, and I struggled to get my score up over the course of the year from maybe 45% to around 70%. The questions on the actual test were VERY easy, at least comparatively. I was counting on my essays to carry my sub-par MC, but my essays really weren’t that great, so I think it must have been the other way around. I got a 5.</p>
<p>2) If the argumentative essay presents an opportunity for you to use something from outside, go with something literary. No AP grader is going to be impressed that you can compare Harry Potter or some stupid TV show to the prompt. It probably won’t strengthen your argument, but it probably will come across as if a) you aren’t taking the test seriously or b) you’re kind of vapid. (I say this as someone who likes stupid TV as much as or more than the next person.) Also, go over AP prompts from the past couple of years, because the argument essay seems to have taken a weird turn recently. We did lots of practice argumentative essays in class last year and they were all philosophical in nature, but then on the test it was about corporate sponsorships – not so much with the philosophical. The 2007 test was the same way – their argumentative essay was about offering incentives for charity, which is a little more philosophical, but could go either way. Anyway, be prepared for either kind – I know Form B’s question last year was more like the ones we practiced in class.</p>
<p>Good luck tomorrow, everyone!</p>
<p>what is a qualified negative?</p>
<p>test tomorrow ;(</p>
<p>My teacher passed this on to us:</p>
<p>I. Multiple choice questions. These questions test your skills at reading short passages and identifying the elements of writing therein (tone, structure, diction, syntactical patterns, rhetorical strategies, etc.) This section is worth 45% of the exam and is 60 minutes long.</p>
<p>Advice:</p>
<p>A. Go after the passage with your pencil! Underline and make brief notes to yourself in the margins. </p>
<p>B. If the passage is difficult to understand, keep reading and look for a clue. Sometimes youll find a clue, and then the passage will make sense. If you are completely lost, glance through the actual questions after the passage. Sometimes looking at the questions will trigger an understanding for you. </p>
<p>C. Use the process of elimination, crossing out answers that dont work. When you decide on an answer, write the letter to the side of the question. Finish the answers on an entire page, and then transfer them to the bubble sheet in a group, rather than doing them one at a time. </p>
<p>D. Be careful to weed out these types of distracters:
Answers that sound good, but arent in the actual passage
Answers that are partly true, but disqualified by a specific word or phrase
that doesnt fit
Answers that might be true of the whole passage or another part of the
passage, but dont pertain to the lines or paragraph(s) the question
specifies
Overstatementsanswers that are too extreme
Word definitions that are too obviousoften there are unusual word
usages in these passages; make sure your answer matches the
context</p>
<p>E. You will receive 1 point for every correct answer, and lose ¼ point for every wrong answer. Therefore, if you can eliminate two or more possible answers, the odds are in your favor to guess. As weve noticed, a common experience is to find that you can eliminate all but two answers. If you get to that point, you should definitely take your best guess.</p>
<p>I’m still getting fours on the Open Topic essay–has anyone got tips for that one in particular?</p>
<p>Thanks. Any predictions?</p>