<p>hello everyone..i am taking sat reasoning test this june and started preparing for it from the blue book. i solved some practice tests from the book..i am able to score more than 700 in math and 600+ in writing but my critical reading scores are terrible. i have not been able to score more than 500 in any of the practice test..is there any book i can refer in order to improve my scores..i am going to solve barron's sat 2400 after completing this book...should i solve any other book to improve my CR scores( like kaplan's CR workbook)..i don't really aim for a 800 in this section but i seriously want a 600ish score in it..please give me some suggestion</p>
<p>Critical reading is considered the toughest of the lot so don’t fret if you’re slow with CR. I don’t have more suggestions other than keep practicing under difficult situations… like give yourself 5 mins less than actual and then that’ll give you a breather… IDK if I made sense :3 but it worked for me. </p>
<p>@gaaries
CR is considered toughest by the Indian students, while Math the easiest.
First off, I’d like to say that there’s no one book that can improve your CR score because none of them have the basics of english covered, you’ll have to do that on your own. i studied from the Barron’s and was surprised to find that only around 30-35 pages were filled with content and the rest were either exercises or practice tests! It’s true that you’ll need a lot of practice but the thing in your case is that you’re not making careless errors, it’s just that you’re weak in English. Careless errors can be avoided by practice but not the lack of foundation knowledge.
I’ll recommend you a number of books, please don’t mind.
- Direct Hits (both Vol 1 & 2)
- Word Smart (both Vol 1 & 2)
- Sparknotes 1000 SAT Vocab booklet (free available from website, if you can’t find it, jut PM me your email and I’ll send it to you)
Vocabulary is a must for nailing the SAT CR, Word Smart would not only give you a list of words, but also techniques to improve your vocab as a whole. Direct Hits has around 300 words and most of them are tested on SAT. That’s why it’s such an expensive book. Plus it’s very easy to memorize those words due to the unique writing style of the author. Sparknotes booklet is of 75 pages that you can print out and carry with you all the times, moreover Sparknotes also publishes a list of 250 toughest words for the SAT which is included in the booklet, you can highlight those 250 words and concentrate on them more than the other 750.</p>
<ul>
<li>Word Power Made Easy </li>
<li>Blue book of Grammar and Punctuation</li>
<li>Wren & Martin highschool grammar and composition (s.chand)</li>
</ul>
<p>These books will help you in techniques of grammar and vocab respectively and are relatively cheaper, the grammar books will also help you with the writing section.</p>
<p>and Finally,
- real prep tests by college board,
^ Only practice with these and practice a lot (up to 30 prep tests)</p>
<p>Best of Luck.</p>