<p>I get A's in my english class in high school...so I was pretty complacent with my reading skills...</p>
<p>Then I took an SAT practice test...and I found I got 1/4 of the critical reading questions right???</p>
<p>Have any of you faced this type of scenario? If not, are there any recommended passages I should read to improve my reading comprehension???</p>
<p>If you read RocketReview Revolution, you will learn that in some instances, such as the one you are describing of getting A’s in English class, will mean little to nothing on the SAT.</p>
<p>A key part in the Critical Reading is to understand HOW the test makers create the questions, and to answer it that way. One major trap that gets many students is how they will create answers that seem ‘popular’, which in all actuality they are indeed wrong. </p>
<p>Make sure you don’t rush through the questions, which might be why you did not get as many as you wished to get right.</p>
<p>For sentence completion, simply build your vocab and get to a stage in which you can fully comprehend the questions without a second doubt.</p>
<p>For passage based questions, the best thing to remember is that the questions are IN the passage, you do NOT need any outside information to answer them. If you let this happen, you may choose answers that seem right in the real world, but are actually wrong since that answer is not stated in the passage.</p>
<p>Just remember, its a mind-game, don’t let it get to you. Just learn the way with the test, study hard, and that 1/4 of the questions right can surely go to all of the questions right.</p>
<p>KuriIchigo is correct about Rocket Review, but it is no longer in print and is very expensive on the used book market. </p>
<p>The Silverturtle guide at the top of this forum will be very helpful to you. Given your high English grades, you should be able to learn the strategies he outlines in the guides very quickly. After you have read it, then it is practice, practice, practice. The guide recommends books that Siverturtle and other CCers have found to be the most helpful. Good luck!</p>
<p>The price for RocketReview actually fluctuates a lot on Amazon Used section. Yesterday it I saw one for $30 WITH shipping, but right now it is around $55 with shipping. Honestly it is worth it since it covers a variety of strategies.</p>
<p>I suggest looking at this site daily, and when you find a cheap one in the $20-$30 range, buy it. If not after a week, then I would just go with the $50 one.</p>
<p>[Amazon.com:</a> Used and New: The Rocket Review Revolution: The Ultimate Guide to the New SAT (2006-2007 Edition) (Rocketreview Revolution: The Ultimate Guide to the New SAT)](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0451219465/ref=tmm_pap_used_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=used]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0451219465/ref=tmm_pap_used_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=used)</p>
<p>Looking into getting that book…thanks for the tip!!!</p>
<p>But just a few general questions: About how many times do you read each passage for the CR section???</p>
<p>and</p>
<p>Do you highlight or mark the passage as you read??? (I saw this advice on a SAT prep book, not sure if it’s useful or not.)</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>since time is always an issue for me during cr sections, i quickly read each passage ONCE, go to the questions and then pinpoint the answers. reading the passage more than once is higly unnecesary since it wastes time and you dont need to know all the minor details, you only need to know what the question is asking for. as for your second question, its all a matter of opinion; if you think it helps you, then by all means do it: just dont go on a highlighting frenzy</p>
<p>I feel you man. I usually need about 4 extra minutes on each CR section… By the way, it’s probably not a good idea to use a highlighter during practice. You might get used to using them; and when you wouldn’t be able take highlighters to your actual test, it would suck.</p>
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<p>Highlighters are banned from the SAT testing rooms, just so you know.</p>
<p>I’m not using a highlighter, I just mean like underlining.</p>
<p>I don’t mean using a highlighter to highlight just using my pencil to underline words.</p>
<p>Is this advised?</p>
<p>Of course. You could look at <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/750399-how-attack-sat-critical-reading-section-effectively.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/750399-how-attack-sat-critical-reading-section-effectively.html</a> if you want. It tells you how to mark and annotate effectively.</p>
<p>^^crouch88 has already given you the information, but I will add my thoughts if you want to directly see the information here. Underline important words that are relevant to the questions, but mark the passages sparingly; you will confuse yourself when you mark all over the passages, a mistake which will cost you time and mental energy to find information in the passage.</p>
<p>OP, I have some tips. I found these patterns recurring in the wrong answer choices of the SAT, and the list is as follows:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Veers off from the main point. The answer choice may sound right but the extra information makes the answer choice careen off from the author’s main point, argument, etc. which makes the choice a wrong answer.</p></li>
<li><p>Irrelevant. The answer choice may introduce something not mentioned in the passage[s]. If so, cross off this answer choice. It is WRONG.</p></li>
<li><p>Contradictory. The answer choice is the direct opposite of the passage, and in any case, you should cross the contradictory answer choices as well.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I hope this information helped.</p>
<p>Make sure you read the answer choices VERY carefully, this has hoped me so much.</p>
<p>Oh! I found something the other day that has helped me somewhat with tone questions. Take a look at <a href=“http://teachers.cmsfq.edu.ec/high/english/Department%20Resources/Poetry/10%20Tone%20vocabulary.doc[/url]”>http://teachers.cmsfq.edu.ec/high/english/Department%20Resources/Poetry/10%20Tone%20vocabulary.doc</a>. If you read as rarely as I do, you probably aren’t with words like rueful, wistful, sardonic, or ribald.</p>
<p>Wow crouch88, that is a very helpful link. My D is taking AP Literature this year and the SAT.</p>
<p>I hate this section too but i found out that if you approach a subject with such disdain, you are bound to fail. You just have to read the passages slowly(not too slow) and carefully; imagine every thing the passage is saying in your head and try and establish the author’s mood. Is it an arguement? A narrative? A refute? A paradox? Just try and establish these things in your head as you read. Also, read the questions CAREFULLY. I’ve made silly mistakes by just skimming through the passages and not reading the questions carefully. Hope i helped, good luck.</p>
<p>I wish SAT CR and SAT W was as easy as SAT M. The math section is a joke. I usually get 800 on practice tests.</p>
<p>Don’t go in too over confident about the math. It is easy to make a mistake and the scale is usually very harsh. A friend of mine missed 2 problems on the March test and got a 740.</p>