Hi @thetex , please don’t worry so much about the SAT critical reading section. I know it is important and can seem so crucial at times, but in the long run this won’t truly matter. I know you want to do well to give yourself a great chance at entering a good college, but please do not let this drag you down that much - it will not help, and I believe that you know this.
I would advise you on taking a short break from the SAT to clear your mind of it. If you’re consistently practicing right now, I would take at least a day or two off to focus on other things, and when you return, I would recommend going over old practice tests to review the questions and see how far you’ve come from when you started. This should help your mind retain what you have learned and help you.
Please let me know if I may be of further help, and I wish you the best of luck!
For everyone else I haven’t responded to, I will do my best to do so soon - I have been without internet for a while, but I do care about helping everyone here out, and haven’t forgotten. Thanks for your patience, everyone!
Hey @Apoc314 I keep consistently getting 11 wrong as a total of all three CR sections. That is good, but I’d like to cut it to 7. What are your tips? My only problem exists with questions about passages and those questions can have ambiguous answers. I really love your guide and would like to implement your great strategies. Thanks.
Hi @BeCambridge , when you mention your only problem is with questions about passages, do you mean questions about the main ideas of passages and big picture type questions? If this is the case, one thing that really helps me is to first check the question on a passage and see what it’s asking - if it is a big picture question such as “What would the author of this passage most likely support?” then I will go to the passage and write a short one sentence summary of what the passage is about before looking at the answer choices. I will then see which one matches my initial thought on it, and use the devil’s advocate technique to better ensure accuracy. Devil’s advocate is tip 9, and it really means to go through each answer choice and try to determine why is it WRONG based upon lack of direct evidence in the passage. If there is no direct support (assumptions and preconceptions don’t count), then you may eliminate an answer choice and check the next one until you get the right answer. I hope this helps, and if I’ve misinterpreted what you’ve said, please correct me so I may better help you. Thanks!
Yeah, you’re right. I think the most important thing is to understand the passage itself and the questions will follow. I tried reading the questions before answering and when I tried reading the passage straight, the latter seems to yield fewer mistakes.
I like your approach and I actually (coincidentally) discovered the same thing yesterday. There was a passage about how the author thought that even if zoos were breeding near-extinct animals, he still thinks that the animals being captive is wrong and dangerous in terms of evolution (which he doesn’t support with any scientific evidence). One of the questions asked about one of the “major implications” of the passage. I seemed to like an answer that said that zoos do a disservice to animals by captivating them. While I liked the answer, it was NOT EVEN SUPPORTED in the passage! Actually, are zoos even doing a disservice in the first place? That led to me creating the strategy Question the Answer in the devil’s advocate.
In another passage, ALL of the questions that I got wrong were supported DIRECTLY by the passage and I even wrote the line numbers of the evidence for the answers for the questions I got wrong. It was really helpful and as I was doing it I was just saying, “thanks Apoc!”
My main strength is that I read really fast (and I tend to not slow down even when I try to persuade myself). The questions that I still get wrong are the main idea ones, what the two passages are similar in, and what the two authors are likely to agree on.
Glad I could help, @BeCambridge ! Keep up your hard work and you’re on your way to success on the SAT! Keep on working on the devil’s advocate technique and writing down the main ideas of the passages before checking out the big picture questions. Hope you do well!
Definitely! I took it today and though it was brutally hard, I still felt that everything is at least supported by the text, and that is what truly matters. LOL, I remembered your advice while doing the test!
"I first became interested in arcana* when I was given a deteriorating leather-bound 1911 edition of the “Encyclopedia Britannica”. A dubious gift, I thought at first—then I started using it. The 1911 “Britannica” is said to be especially reliable in its literary and historical entries but outdated in its coverage of science and technology. I found both assessments to be off the mark. The literary and historical entries often turned out to be Western cultural imperialism at its worst, whereas the science and technology entries were a cabinet of wonders, a window into the ingenuity of the human mind when its information is insufficient and it must therefore chew more than it can bite off.
*Mysterious or obscure knowledge accessible only to the initiated
The narrator believes that the ''literary and historical entries'' (line 3) are
(A) factually correct and interesting
(B) controversial, but well-informed
(C) dated, but worth reading
(D) elegantly written, but esoteric
(E) extremely narrow and biased
Why is the answer E?"
Answer choice A is incorrect because the author writes that the assessment is off the mark in line 4 regarding the reliability in the literary and historical entries and is not “factually correct”.
Answer choice B is incorrect because the author says the entries are “Western cultural imperialism at its worst” and does not support the answer being “well-informed.”
Answer choice C is incorrect because the author is harshly negative against the literary and historical entries and does not directly recommend worth reading.
Answer choice D is incorrect because the author does not support the entries as being “elegantly written.”
Answer choice E is correct because the author says that the literary and historical entries that are said to be reliable is not reliable (“assessments to be off the mark”). It states that it is cultural imperialism and this shows that the entries are narrow and biased instead of broad and honest as a reliable entry would be.
“I am an international student and English is not my native language. I first attempted SAT on June and get a CR of 670. Now my practice scores are in low 700s, and most of the questions I did wrong is vocab in context or function questions like” the line XXX primarily serves to". I know a lot of words, (I did all the sentence completion right on actual test), but sometimes I do not know the exact meaning and usage of these words. Can you give me some suggestions that can help me get a CR of 750+? Thanks!"
Are you also taking the TOEFL? I know that is a useful exam for international students and encourage you to look into it if you haven’t as well as take the SAT. For vocabulary in context or function questions, I recommend that you carefully read the line number in question, read the surrounding paragraph and context, and then use the devil’s advocate strategy to ensure you eliminate answer choices not directly supported in the passage. Then, select the correct answer choice based on seeing direct support in the passage. Hope this helps! Let me know if I may be of further help.
"The many factors affecting a species’ abundance seldom act in _____; on the contrary, interactions between factors are commonplace.
A. Haste
B. Principle
C. Place
D. Isolation
E. Miniature
The correct answer is (D) Isolation. Can you help explain for me please. I’m very confused."
For this question, the sentence structure is a contrast one (as indicated by on the contrary after the semicolon). The last part says that interactions between factors are commonplace contrary to whatever the first part of the sentence says. This sentence suggests that it is common for interactions between factors to occur rather than being uncommon for interactions to occur.
Answer choice A is wrong because haste is not related to being commonplace.
Answer choice B is wrong because principle is not related to commonplace or uncommon.
Answer choice C is wrong because place does not make sense in this context.
Answer choice D is correct because isolation suggests that the factors do not interact commonly, and correctly contrasts with the second part of the sentence.
Answer choice E is incorrect because miniature has no relation to being common in interactions.
Hi @BethanyD , I recommend to continue practicing as you are and reducing your time once you feel comfortable with understanding the passages and answers. I recommend to focus mostly on reading comprehension questions (unless you are struggling much more with vocabulary questions) because those are the backbone of the CR section. Keep on practicing with the devil’s advocate method, and take a break once in a while to allow your brain to rest and absorb the information and learning. Hope I’ve helped!
@Apoc314 Hello I am a junior planning to take the SAT in december. I have done around 30 practice tests and I constantly get 800 on math and writing but score in the high 600’s or low 700’s for critical reading. I keep missing one or two questions on each long passage. Other than following the tips you gave, do you recommend that I do anything else? And would you recommend that I use any books other than the official blue book?
Hi @student326 , what seems to be the type of questions you miss on each long passage? Are they similar types of questions you have trouble with? I would recommend making sure you spend at least the same amount of time reviewing every single question and answer (especially focusing on those questions you struggled with and missed) as you do taking the practice section.
You may use other practice books like Kaplan, Princeton Review, etc. I have only personally used these two along with the official blue book, and I found the blue book to be the best help. Let me know if you have further questions and how I may be of service to you. Thanks!
@Apoc314 Hey I am a senior and I’m taking the my SAT Oct. 14 through my school and I have only two week to prepare. I know for a fact I can get through the math and writing section perfectly fine but the critical reading section always trips me up and badly. I almost completed my whole Blue Book and I’m not seeing much progress. I have two weeks to go and I’ve been experimenting with some knew techniques for the reading passages. When I try to quickly skim through the passages and get to the questions quickly, I barely get to answer the question and leave a lot blank because I don’t get the passage. The section with the double passages trip me up a lot. Any tips for being for efficient in this section ? And do you read the passage at all besides lines asked for by the questions? I currently and in the 550 region for critical reading… and that’s an improvement for 490…I want to get to at least 600.
@SATSADNESS , hello. I would recommend taking a look at the questions first so you know which sections of the passage to focus on - don’t skim through the passage first if that is taking up a lot of time. I do read the passage besides the lines if the lines referenced aren’t enough context to help me answer the question. My recommendation is to look at the questions, underline the relevant parts, make sure you understand those underlined sections, and then read the bigger passage if it’s not enough to answer the question. If you can do this and also implement the devil’s advocate technique, you should be able to improve your score - though you only have a couple weeks left, you might still be able to improve before then. Don’t worry too much about it, but keep on practicing and reviewing! Hope this helps!
@Apoc314 Thanks for the tips, they’ve really helped. I now have a strategy that I am comfortable with and I am able to get through all the questions, with time to spare!!! I look at the questions, mark off the lines that I’m going to need to look at to answer the questions, then I read the text and at every line I marked off I went back to the question and answered it. The devil’s advocate technique is also really helpful. My school issues the SAT tomorrow and I actually feel confident. I finished every section in my blue book, thanks for the tips!!!
Hi @Apoc314 I have around a good 15 days till my SAT. And I really just want a 650. I score like 530-580 range and I just dont know how to get better in these 15 days. What should I do like is it possible to get a 650 in these few days?
My scores were kind of disappointing
800m -0
750wr -2, 10 essay
700cr -6 or -7?
I took 50 practice tests and nothing ever clicked for me. I would get high 700s as flukes, I think.
Hi @thetex , that’s still a pretty good score (2250)! I know it may not be what you desired for CR, but the 700s is a great range to be in - are you planning on retaking it?