<p>I've noticed that a lot of CCers get 800 on Critical Reading. As for me, I've NEVER scored above 700 on Critical Reading. My SAT score in Janurary was 710 Math, 730 Writing, 610 Critical Reading. I'm aiming for 2200+, or at least 2100 at the very least. </p>
<p>I took the SAT on 4/1, but am going to cancel my score after doing HORRIBLY on the sentence completion with words like "vituperative." I also ran out of time with 4 unanswered questions on the passage about the Ethiopian daughter getting married. I've tried reading the questions first, going to the passage after, and the other way around with reading the passage first then going to the questions while takings notes. </p>
<p>Share your wisdom please. Any tips from all you Critical Reading masters?</p>
<p>I don't have any tips, but you can try searching the forums here for past threads on this topic if you are so impatient.</p>
<p>Thanks for the help mountain doo</p>
<p>lol....tell me about it
i stumbled on that ethiophian wedding too :P
i think i skipped about 3 or 4 questions on it</p>
<p>Wish I had your math score</p>
<p>i'm not awesome at CR, but i did fairly well (730)</p>
<p>anyways, the most important thing is to increase your reading speed
Read a magazine like Time, Newsweek, US News and World Report, etc. since those are designed for high school juniors</p>
<p>Once you have that down, just take a ton of practice tests and carefully go over why you got certain problems wrong.
For example, ask yourself questions like...
How did I arrive at this answer?
Why was my answer wrong?
Was my answer justified?
Did my answer rely too much on assumptions?
Was my answer not the BEST answer?
How might I have arrived at the correct answer?
...</p>
<p>As for vocab, I recommend grabbing a quick 500-word list somewhere and memorizing those. Studying roots of words should also help (though I never got around to that).</p>
<p>CR is hard because the questions are tricky. The #1 question to ask yourself when picking an answer is "can i justify it?" Pick the answer that can be justified most easily, because that will probably be the right answer.
Some common tricks:
1) too extreme
2) too broad
3) too narrow/specific
4) out of scope
5) everyday meaning (vocab-in-context)
6) mentioned in a different part of the passage</p>
<p>Honestly, I can't stress how important it is to just LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES. that's the best way to improve, to understand what you did wrong and go through the correct thinking process the next time. I went from a 670 (630-710) on 1/1 (blue college board SAT book) to 730 on 1/28, increase in 60 pts in less than a month!</p>
<p>FYI, the blue CB SAT prep book is awesome for CR prep; its CR sections are harder than those on the actual SAT (or at least for the SAT in January and those before)</p>
<p>Wow, thankx so much for your reply, azoverachiever ! Very thorough n detailed ;), it helps me a lot ! Yeah, I am in complete agreement with you that CR is often tough cos its questions are absolutely tricky. Often, we can eliminate at leasts two or three choices, but the left choices are traps... Any more to share with us ? :). I intend to take the SAT I in Nov :)</p>
<p>I don't think the CR multiple choice questions are tricky if you know what to look for. Seeking to justify an answer, as stated above, is an extremely effective tactic. You have to ask yourself, what in this passage is stated that could possibly make this answer true? The easiest answer to justify is often the right one. Practice from the CB Blue Book, and look up the vocabulary they use, as well. Increasing reading comprehension is critical, so reading helps a lot.</p>
<p>Thanks aznoverachiever and Murasaki ^^
Your advice will help me lots on studying.</p>