Critical Reading! Help!

<p>Alright I Have A Question?! How Do You Do So Well On Critical Reading?!!!! I Am An Avid Reader! And I Have Been Reading Ever Since I Was Little! And Wt.... I Still Get The Worst Score In The World! I Mean I Do Well On Writing And Math! So It's Hard For Me To Get The Best Score Just Because I DoNT DO So Well On Critical Reading!</p>

<p>Lots of practice SAT reading tests and having a large vocabulary.</p>

<p>I'd advocate actively practicing critical reading outside of SAT Prep. For example, when reading a book for class or so, select specific passages and analyze what you think the author's purpose is based on his/her diction, imagery, etc. As for vocabulary, look up words that you don't know when you encounter them. A lot of the sentence completions that I probably got correct were words that I'd seen and looked up as I read different books. As well, follow your instincts. There were several sentence completions that I didn't know, but I followed my gut. Oh, and what does "cantankerous" mean by the way? :D</p>

<p>if you've been reading a lot for years, CR should be no problem. just practice and you should be able to get the hang of it.</p>

<p>i don't know how other people do it, but i usu just look for the central message the first time i read a passage. that message alone will eliminate most of the wrong answers for you. very handy.</p>

<p>Wait, when you guys take the CR part, do you guys go over the questions first then read the passage or just go straight to the passage and then go to the questions?</p>

<p>I read the passage first, but either way should be fine. Go for the passage if you're a quick reader, look at the questions first if you have time management issues.</p>

<p>Jenz -- 'cantankerous' is, to put it as simply as possible, 'grumpy and irritable'. :D</p>

<p>Yeah, I looked it up when I came home from the SAT, Noldo. But my instinct told me that it meant cranky.</p>

<p>Ha cantankerous..I saw that about 3 times on the actual test and it's one word I remembered the meaning for.</p>

<p>My son scored an 800 twice on the SAT in cr. Like you, he has been an avid reader since he was a child. He didn't take a formal prep course, just did practice tests. Also he liked the book, Rocket Riview. The author has a website that is helpful as well, rocketreviewrevolution. Also, he did review a list of vocabulary words which he found very useful since a few of them were on the test. Lastly, he firmly believes that you should NOT read the questions first, something I always did as a child. He helped another student improve his score more than 100 points on the cr, and that student said it was easier not reading the questions first. Good luck</p>

<p>I found that studying a lot of vocabulary was very helpful</p>

<p>CMA1, could you tell us which vocab list your son used?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

<p>Read higher-level texts that require you to use a dictionary every once in a while (no crap like TIME or Newsweek though); you'll develop a stronger vocabulary and improve your comprehension levels. </p>

<p>And Can You Stop Typing Like This??? kthx</p>