<p>wow, i cant help but notice all the amazing SAT scores many of yall got and i admit im a little jealous! mine wasnt so great but i would LOVE some tips in critical reading since thats what im doing worst at!! All yall 700+ CR people share tips!! what do you do? read a lot of books?? how do you practice? share anything that you think has helped you and also tips while you're taking the test(time managment, skimmin etc..)!</p>
<p>I got a 740...</p>
<p>I used to read a lot...I just absorbed English...I dunno...</p>
<p>In taking the test, the best way to approach it is to answer the specific questions first. Don't even begin reading the passage (ex. In lines 21 - 22...or In line 23, the word "thesis" most nearly means).</p>
<p>Then, answer a little more general questions, but not overall idea questions (answers to these can be found in a paragraph or section of the passage).</p>
<p>Finally, after answering those questions, you will have a general understanding of the passage...they're mostly a bunch of cliches...like moving into a new neighborhood, cultural ancestry, stupid things like that. It's not hard to get the basic idea of what's going on. So answer the main idea questions now, and you're good to go. Time efficient and accurate.</p>
<p>For the fill-ins, I don't have any tips...just know your vocab? Vocab was never a problem for me, but I'm pretty sure the few that I missed were on the fill-ins.</p>
<p>I did what lolok1214 did, which involved looking at the specific lines and answering those questions.</p>
<p>I recommend a lot of reading. I already do read a lot, so I can't really offer anything there, since I didn't prep, but I would say read a few articles of the NYT a day, and also read some short stories or novels from the nineteenth century/early twentieth century, and look through the science pages of news magazines (like Time, for instance, which has a Health section and things of that sort at the very end).</p>
<p>I like reading Discover magazine and then asking myself, "What process are they describing or What on EARTh are they talking about??" That way of thinking really preps you for the SAT. I think it's not so much what you read (though that is important, I agree with sarazlig's advice) it is how you are thinking about the writing and interpreting it. Ask yourself questions as you read.</p>
<p>Concentrate.</p>
<p>CR: 740</p>
<p>I actually disagree with what's been said above. Skimming the passage might work for some people, but not me. I read through each passage quickly yet meticulously and do the questions in order. This method may not get you results on PR practice tests (650's), but it sure does on the real thing (690 on an extremely hard PSAT and 740 on the real thing). Also, reading a lot helps. However, if you have a stellar vocabulary, you will pretty much dominate.</p>
<p>CR 780</p>
<p>I did the Rocket Review method of Instant Messaging. That is I read five lines, rephrased it in the margin using IM speak. Then read the next five lines and paraphrased it. When it came time to do the questions I simply re-read my quick notes and breezed through the CR.</p>
<p>CR- 800</p>
<p>Whether or not you should actually read the passage first is up to you- for some people it helps, for some it doesn't. I went with reading the first sentence or two of each paragraph just to give myself a general idea of what the passage covers, and then move on to the questions. What I'd recommend is that you do some practice sections trying out the different methods that have been suggested and figure out which one works for you.</p>
<p>Also, a good thing to remember with CR is that the SAT is a first-instinct test. It's very easy to overthink questions, so don't get too caught up thinking about any one question. If you're ever in doubt, go with your first instinct.</p>
<p>750</p>
<p>Don't study vocab! I didn't and I am glad I didn't waste the time. For the passages, I just answered the questiosn as they came up...I skipped the general ones and did all the line specific questions, and by then I had read the whole thing so I could do the general ones. Short passages just read the whole thing and then answer. Also don't doubt yourself because I thoght I was agetting a 690 or so on the CR</p>
<p>Don't study vocab?</p>
<p>I heard people talked about the SC was very difficult.</p>
<p>CR - 800 on new SAT (composite 2400/March 05), 800 on old SAT (1600/April 2000)</p>
<p>Frankly there's some questionable/inefficient advice in this thread. I'm going to repost what I said before, with some additions. I apologize if anyone's read this twice.</p>
<hr>
<p>"Reading" alone will not help you that much -- focused review will. Sure, reading the NYT every day will help after a year or two but A) you probably don't have that kind of time B) passively absorbing information will not noticeably help your reading comprehension, unless you meticulously take notes and pay careful attention to tone and style (which you won't.)</p>
<p>Drill vocab like a maniac. Analogies are gone but vocab is still absolutely critical. Use vocab software or online vocab drills because flashcards suck and won't track your progress and problem words.</p>
<p>Learn the method for sentence completions (isolate core words, positive/neutral/negative connotations of words, etc) and again know your vocab! There are more advanced techniques I won't get into here.</p>
<p>For CR passages: Read the passage once, slowly enough to absorb small details but not unusually slowly. You don't want to skim the first time because while answering questions you'll waste a lot of time rereading various parts, and will only get a hazy sense of the big picture.</p>
<p>After each paragraph, pause, and force yourself to think to yourself "What is the point the author is trying to make? How does he/she sound (tone)? Are they using any notable techniques -- figurative language, analogy, etc." ASKING AND ANSWERING THESE QUESTIONS IS ABSOLUTELY KEY TO YOUR UNDERSTANDING. Otherwise, you'll just gloss over the material and be forced to waste time and reread.</p>
<p>For detail-oriented questions, go back and locate the exact couple of lines that justify your response. On bigger picture questions, <em>then</em> you can use skimming techniques such as rereading the first sentence of each paragraph.</p>
<p>Learn the traps that appear on CR passage questions; learn each genre of question and how to attack it. Be on high alert for CR passage answers that "sound good" but aren't SPECIFICALLY SUBSTANTIATED within the passage (I used to be a total sucker for these.) Conversely, for each CR question that asks "what would the author think" or "agree with", be able to point out a specific line or two that justifies your answer. The answer is always somewhere within the passage even if it's obfuscated. Learn how the politics and structure of the tests, and the external pressures on CB and the test-writing process can help you eliminate certain answers right off the bat (this is an advanced technique.)</p>
<p>The best practice is to take tests. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise -- the SAT is a game and you should practice the game. The blue book is pretty good (though their CR techniques are awfully simplistic) and has 8 tests. After each test, pay <em>close</em> attention to what you missed and figure out <em>why</em> you missed it. Don't just blindly plow through the tests. Figure out how you can work to not miss that genre of question again. Make a notebook of missed questions and record vocab words you've encountered that you are hazy on or don't know.</p>
<p>You can do all of these things yourself with a notebook and a pencil. Classroom courses will help you with general techniques but you'll still have to do a lot of work on your own to find and overcome your own weaknesses. I personally did not use a classroom course, but used a couple books and wrote some software to help me drill certain things. A good tutor can speed up the process and help you with some of these things ($$$) but frankly a good online course can do a lot of the pinpointing and legwork for you. Unfortunately no <em>good</em> online course exists, well, yet ;)</p>
<p>The way to succeed is to be so numbingly used to these tests that <em>nothing surprises you</em> -- meaning you know every single kind of CR question and how to deal with it, and know the meanings of every or nearly every word you could encounter on the test. Then nothing shakes your confidence and you're not distracted or panicked. Build up your stamina, by taking full tests in one sitting, so that you're used to being focused for 3 1/2 hours. The new test is noticeably longer than the old one -- sitting through it was a pain. (I took the 3/05 SAT and the old one in 2000 when I was going through this madness myself.)</p>
<p>There are some other more in depth techniques, but the above should be a good start for most disciplined students.</p>
<p>Good luck --</p>
<p>-fren</p>
<p>I got a 770.
I have to disagree a little with the last poster on passage reading technique. Some people do better reading the passage, then answering the questions; other people prefer to read the question, then look for valuable info. That is the method I used and apparently it worked pretty well. But do whatever works for you!
Also, don't think about the questions too much. That sounds stupid, but in the thread the day after the test when everyone was talking about it, people were making the silliest cases for their chosen answer. For example, one question had something to do with whether a woman in a passage had sensory or creative skill (I can't remember the other choices). Well, the whole passage talked about smells, textures, and sounds in cooking, cleaning etc. That's obviously sensory. But people were overanalyzing and thinking of reasons why the other answers were better. Just go with what your instinct sometimes.</p>
<p>guess well</p>
<p>Did you guys use any specific prep books to boost your grades, or did you use the Xiggi method? I consistently score in the 650 range on practice tests, which makes me so mad. SC is no problem, but passages are what kill me. I'm aiming for at least a 750, so if you've made such a jump, please speak up. Thanks.</p>
<p>No prep boooks....really the only "tip" I can give you for CR is READ READ READ. That's pretty much it, sorry :) Just read a lot of books and pay hella attention in english class.</p>
<p>Please tell me the Kaplan/PR practice tests are harder than the real thing.</p>
<p>I did the course that collegeboard offers. It's not great but it helped.</p>
<p>cooljoe - I went from 610 to 710, so a 100 point jump is possible (granted, for the first test I didn't have time to study as I went as a standby).</p>
<p>I'm aiming for about 770 so fingers crossed.</p>
<p>But yeah, learn vocab. VOCAB VOCAB VOCAB!
And practice...</p>
<p>the one tip that helped me do well on this june CR was MAKE SURE ALL YOUR ANSWERS ARE SUPPORTED BY THE PASSAGE.</p>
<p>most people here make connections when reading these passages, but to choose the best answer, you must be able to find lines in the passage that actually show that the answer you chose was correct.</p>
<p>this helped me a lot on june compared to april. in april, although i did good, i missed 3 or 4 questions because i wasn't basing my answers from the passage, but instead on the own connections and inferences i made. </p>
<p>this way of reaching an answer will give you more confidence towards any question.</p>
<p>Thanks, guys. Could you recommend some books with good vocab lists?</p>
<p>I got a 770. To tell ya the truth, I think mine was wayyyyy easy. I'd recommend practicing the SAT test prep book a couple times to get a really good feel of the format and questions...even if you've taken it before. Those tests in the practice books ALWAYS seem harder to me. For instance, on the practice book tests I was getting 730 on the reading repeatedly.<br>
As for test day, I read the passage ONCE only, but you better hope like hell the topic holds some sort of interest to you, and if not I have to read it slowly. After that, just read the questions and refer back to the sections. For a lot of my questions the answers were literally written in the passage, which is why I thought it was so easy.</p>