<p>I just cant seem to grasp the full meaning of the passage. Im getting most of the questions wrong. Maybe these books arent helping me. I only started reading them yesterday. I only got a 510 in June</p>
<p>You can't just start reading passages and in one day expect to magically reach a zen-level comprehension of the passages. I don't mean to sound condescending, but a 510 indicates that you got about half of the questions wrong. This tells me a few things: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>You need to slow down! Don't take practice tests timed at this point -- you need to develop general reading skill then speed later. </p></li>
<li><p>You need to look up words. The #1 cause of CR failure is having an inadequate vocabulary. When you read the passages, write down what words you're not completely sure of and look them up. See if you can understand the passage then. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Prep-books are not the holy-grail of techniques; just reading prep books gets you absolutely no where. Keep practicing, keep learning, and your score will go up. It's the only way your score will go up, in fact.</p>
<p>What did you get on your CR?</p>
<p>I have a 760 on critical reading.</p>
<p>Did you use any review books?</p>
<p>Oh, yeah. Blue book and 10 Real SATs.</p>
<p>how did you put the blue book to work</p>
<p>BB is the last book that you take. It only has practice tests with the answer keys and do not provide explanation.</p>
<p>What's the exact title of the Blue Book? Are there more than one? How many practice tests are there? Is there a Blue Book for each section? If so, then the practice tests are only for the specific section?</p>
<p>Ashraf is right; before taking any practice tests, you need to work on your "general reading skills." To do so, make a habit of reading challenging material—not necessarily "great literature" or even literature, but perhaps newspapers/magazines (New Yorker, New York Review of Books, Wall Street Journal, Economist, Commentary come to mind), non-fiction, etc. Basically, material that forces you to think about what you have just read and, of course, COMPREHEND it. These skills can't be learned over a short period of time, but if you make an effort to become an active and acute reader, you will acquire them and raise your score.</p>
<p>BTW, I got a 740 on CR (not quite as good a score as I had expected :()</p>
<p>its the collegeboard book</p>
<p>oh ok, that makes more sense. I was wondering why I'd never heard of "the blue book"</p>
<p>yea, its probably the best book because it has concepts and practice tests</p>