<p>Does anybody have any good tips or strategies that they used in the past or do that helps you do well on your critical reading questions???</p>
<p>I really need help. My score is consistently only a 400and I really just don't know how to improve! I feel like I'm in a dark hole and the sun will never shine. </p>
<p>(ps, do I have to read a lot??? I usually never read and stinks at reading hard stuff.... If I do have to read, what types of books should I read</p>
<p>It really depends on what kind of questions you got wrong. Did you miss grammar? Or maybe vocabulary? Figure that out and study that part as much as you can. If it’s vocabulary, I make my own mnemonics. It’s basically just a phrase or image that I associate with the word. Example: cursory. It means “to the point.” I remember that by thinking, “people that curse get right to the point.” That’s the best I got. Hope it helps!</p>
<p>First, if you’re not a strong reader, I would try tackling the long passages by skipping the text and going to the questions that have line numbers in them. Usually you can answer those questions by only reading 2-3 sentences. As an added bonus, by the time you answer all of the line number questions, you’ve probably gotten a good handle on the text itself (which will let you answer the other questions pretty well). Another tip would be to watch for trap answers. The test will often include answers that are too broad, too specific, or general truths that are not actually addressed in the text. Hope that helps!</p>
<p>Don’t zone out while reading the passages. The best way to do that is by going through the Blue Book and doing untimed practice, attempting to get every question correct. If you don’t know how to answer a question, look at the answer and try working backwards. Ask yourself: Why is this the correct answer and why aren’t the others? This will allow you to practice a lot, while also familiarizing you with the mentality of the College Board (the types of passages they use, the types of answers that you should choose, etc.). For vocab, try Quizlet, a book like SAT Vocab cartoons or Direct Hits, or an app like Mindsnacks (Apple App store) or Test Your English Vocabulary (Android Google Play store).</p>
<p>When I did critical reading, it really helps to underline things. Go to the questions ad specify what line numbers they are addressing. Afterwards underline all the line numbers so as you’re reading you can go back and answer the question. Also, I read and, to be honest, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley helped a lot 
read a few pages, highlight the words you don’t know and look them up. Reading helps because you a
Low yourself to build context clues to guess what the word is.</p>
<p>The first part is just sentence completion; you need to know vocabulary. I HIGHLY recommend that you memorize your word roots rather than the words themselves. It would be impossible to memorize all the potential words the SAT is going to have, so memorize your roots, then you could make a really good educated guess. Barron’s Critical Reading Workbook has a good list. However, if you do get this book, don’t do the problems; Barron’s makes the test harder than it needs to be.
The second part is reading passages. You just need to find the answers to the questions in the passages. For the short passages, I recommend you read the whole thing thoroughly, then look at the question. If there’s a given number of lines, read one line before, that line, and the line after. For instance if the question tells you to go back to line 11, read lines 10,11, and 12.
Long passages are harder; I especially hate the double passages, which you have to compare the two passages and then answer. For the non-double passages, do the same with the short passages, except, instead of reading it thoroughly, skim is, and, instead of going reading one line before and after, read one sentence before and after. For the double-passages, skim over the first passage, answer the questions to that passage, then skim the second, answer for the second passage, then answer the rest.
It’s not too hard- it’s just that the time constraint is a beyatch.
Remember this: Never interpret the passage. Pretend you have perfect reading skills, but are extremely stupid and have no knowledge other than what is in the passage. And really, you shouldn’t guess. Why? Because the answer choices are in the passage.
If you’re interpreting, you need to stop. It’s messing up your score. Remember: plot summary, no interpretation.</p>
<p>“Remember this: Never interpret the passage. Pretend you have perfect reading skills, but are extremely stupid and have no knowledge other than what is in the passage. And really, you shouldn’t guess. Why? Because the answer choices are in the passage.
If you’re interpreting, you need to stop. It’s messing up your score. Remember: plot summary, no interpretation.”</p>
<p>Does interpreting mean relating the passage to common sense/knowledge?</p>
<p>@SATManiac98 Yes. If it comes from your own mind, then let that go. For instance, if the passages talks about dogs, and the author loves dogs, and you hate them, don’t think “Dogs suck.” You have to read what the author of the passage is saying.</p>
<p>Try to read…critically</p>
<p>Yours,</p>
<p>ckoepp127</p>
<p>Google Erica Meltzer’s guide online, it’s great.</p>
<p>You don’t have to read a lot, but IMO the only true way to get better at reading is to actually read…</p>