<p>I was wondering how you can improve your critical reading.
I'm taking a prep course but I don't improve on reading because I always narrow it to the last 2 and then i pick the wrong one. HELP!</p>
<p>If you always pick the wrong one… just pick the one you think is incorrect.</p>
<p>Jesting aside, break down the answer choices and analyze individual words. Usually there are just one or two words in one of the choices that don’t quite work with the passage. Just remember that the correct answer must be completely supported by the passage. If one word is off, the whole thing is wrong.</p>
<p>Be more critical and look for answers that are stated (almost) word for word in the passage. Don’t infer anything and simply practice. After doing enough tests, the answers just jump out at you.</p>
<p>112358… I see your point but it’s missleading. People get the “I always pick the wrong one mentality” because they remember that they struggled between 2 choices. It’s much less likely to remember that you struggled between two choices if you got the answer right. jubilant’s response is also sort of misleading. the essay that jumps out at you and appears word for word… most likely isn’t the right answer. This is the SAT after all, not a reading Bee.</p>
<p>I practiced for the vocab section with ~500 notecards and ~ 800 words and the passage section should get easier with practice on simulation SAT tests.</p>
<p>p.s. no offense to the first 2 repliers</p>
<p>oh, but the SAT is just a reading bee. Most just don’t realize it. If it’s not stated implicitly in the text, it can’t be right. The SAT is not subjective.</p>
<p>No offense to you, but I don’t see how brute vocab studying will do anything for the reading passages.</p>
<p>Well vocab is part of the reading section. And the SATs are all about traps. If it was a reading bee, the questions and answers would be a lot more direct. I got a question. When a question asks to infer something, do you actually infer or does it have to be supported by the passage?</p>
<p>jubilant, my reponse clearly says that the vocab cards are for the vocab section. there’s no arguing it really… vocab study = better vocab. I studied mostly with homemade vocab cards after my first SAT and got my CR from a 650 to a 740, with significant improvement in the vocab section.</p>
<p>also, like needtogetin said, vocab helps with the reading passages.</p>
<p>the easier questions might be, read it and find it in the answer choices, but once again, I disagree with your claim that you should be able to find every correct answer in the passage. like needtogetin said, the SAT is about traps, inferences, etc.</p>
<p>@needtogetin - well an inference is based on evidence, so yes the correct answer will probably be supported, but nobody can say whether the SAT will pull one of those…</p>
<p>answer choice A: depressed
answer choice B: sad</p>
<p>…questions that will make you have to depend on your own judgement</p>
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<p>Those aren’t mutually exclusive. Every inference you are asked to make will have firm support somewhere in the passage.</p>