<p>It seems whatever I try, I cannot break 700 in reading. I usually get about 6-8 wrong is reading which is right about 700 but on the more recent SATs, it seems that that is not enough. On the January one I got 7 wrong and I got a 670! And on the March one I got 8 wrong and got a 680! It seems that I cannot depend on the curve and therefore have to reduce my mistakes as low as possible. I feel as my problem is missing a question or two on a few passages (they add up quickly!)</p>
<p>I usually get 1-2 vocab at most and the rest is all passage based. When I review the test afterwards, I realize how stupid my answers were and cannot justify what provoked me to put that as my answer. </p>
<p>Does anyone have any methods of perfecting this section?</p>
<p>Go with your instincts. I find that when I read a passage well, I can go through the answers and just select the answer I feel is right. I dont overthink it, I just do it. And when I do that I never miss them. I mean, theres always 1-2 per test that I just dont know right off the bat so I have to really think and analyze.</p>
<p>Yea I thought of trying that but that usually only works for me in writing. Trying to be ruthless in reading is harder. Any tips?</p>
<p>look up noiteraperp’s cr method and see if it helps you</p>
<p>^ can’t agree more</p>
<p>Thats the method I used to get to where I am. I went from 580 to 680 but it seems that I have plateaued.</p>
<p>Keep it at 6 mistake (-7.5/-8) or less, and you will get 700+. It was 720 in March.</p>
<p>Yea I got 8 wrong so I just need a couple more points to reach my goal. Did anyone else have this problem?</p>
<p>Not sure if its on notitaprep’s guide, but cross out the definitely wrong answers, generally there’s going to be 3 junk answers and one maybe and one correct answer. The wrong answer will usually be an inference that you made unconsciously or assuming something that can be judged as relative (like elephants are small, but the natural tendency is to call them big compared to the norm). At the end of the day, the answers are always in the text; if its not in the text, its not an answer.</p>
<p>CR (passage reading) is the least democratic. It seems to me that at a very young age some are blessed with great reading skills and some are not and all the practice in the world will only help a little. Just my opinion.</p>
<p>I can narrow down the answer choices to 2 but I can’t differentiate between the them. What I hate is that when I review the test, the answers are very clear to me. So frustrating…</p>
<p>Thats the part you have to practice, and you have to practice it a lot.</p>
<p>The most important thing is that the answer is always in the text. If the answer includes information not stated in the text, then its wrong.</p>
<p>MedicalBoy, can you identify what types of RC questions you usually get wrong? I’m not sure if you know what I mean by that, but how are they worded? Because if you have a weakness on 1 or 2 particular types of questions, that may be something you can address.</p>
<p>Well I get about 1-2 vocab wrong and then a couple of vocab in context. These have nothing to do with my lack of vocabulary. I have studied a lot of vocabulary but its the logic 2 blank questions and me over thinking on the vocab in context. Then 1-2 actual reading comprehension.</p>
<p>My problem is mainly those silly mistakes and over thinking. I can clearly see the right answer after reviewing the test. I just need a boost of 2-3 questions to reach my goal and secure a respectable reading score. </p>
<p>It also seems that the recent curves haven’t been in my favor either. What’s also interesting is that no matter how hard or easy the test is, I still get the same number wrong…</p>
<p>Well the easiest fix is just to take a really hard SAT with a tough curve! On a more serious note, for the vocab-in-context I would just say that you really have to pay attention to the context. Often the right answer is not the primary definition of the word; there has to be something in the passage that indicates or at least implies what the meaning is in that particular context, so don’t rush to judgment based on what you know the word means. </p>
<p>More generally on RC q’s (this won’t apply quite as well to SC, which is really more about vocab), understand, if you don’t already, what I like to call the principle of no ambiguity. To most people, verbal questions seem somewhat ambiguous, especially compared to math questions, which are clearly black and white (there is obviously only 1 right answer and 1 wrong answer on a math question). But on a standardized test, the same really must be true of verbal questions. People who think they need to find the “best” answer are doomed, because that is a misunderstanding of the question type. Just like math, there is one right answer and 4 demonstrably wrong answers. </p>
<p>In fact, sometimes the right answer isn’t even that great, but the other answers are definitely wrong, so the remaining answer must be right. So when you are going through RC questions, try to make sure that you not only have good reason to believe that you have the right answer, but that you also have good reasons to eliminate the other answers. If you don’t, then you may want to leave a questionable answer in play and then compare it to the one you thought was right. If they both seem right, you are missing something - that is the ambiguity that can never happen. That might allow you to look a bit harder or notice something that you misread that is causing that ambiguity and that is preventing you from seeing definitively why one answer is wrong and the other right.</p>
<p>I almost imagine that picking the “right” answer without definitively eliminating the “wrong” answers is almost like walking on a tight rope without a safety net. There is nothing to catch you if you make a mistake. So if you need to shave off some of those wrong answers, this may allow you to be a bit more consistent since it will force you to arrive at an answer with close to 100% certainty.</p>
<p>I completely agree with reasonsat. Play the devil’s advocate on the answers, find evidence in the text for support. But don’t overly scrutinize the answers because it often leads to you “seeing” evidence for support. Feeling this problem personally right now. :(</p>