Is there any way to improve critical reading score?

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
1

<p>No matter how much I practice the CR section on the SAT, I always score lower than a 600! My WR and M scores are okay 730 and 700 respectively, but it's my CR score that is lowering my score</p>

<p>is there any way I can improve my CR score to at least the mid 600s from now to the october test? please list some strategies that you guys use.</p>

2

<p>Direct Hits + Read a lot (magazines, books, online articles, ANYTHING)</p>

<p>Also do as many practice tests as possible to get used to the questions.</p>

3

<p>sry, but what is direct hits?</p>

4

<p>It’s a popular book of assorted SAT vocabulary. Most people here swear by it because it’s (and one person here actually did a study) one of the most accurate (as in, the words you learn from that book are likely to show up on actual SATs).</p>

<p>Reading a lot does help, but it’s a vague way to boost SAT scores and is something that should be done anyway to help critical thinking in general.</p>

<p>A few tips that really helped me once I realized them (CR is my weakest section too):

  1. Even though CR is the most subjective section (except maybe the essay), be as objective as possible; try not to let your own experiences influence your answer based on what you think is politically correct.
    There is almost always supporting evidence in the document towards a correct answer, and something in the wrong-answer-that-seemed-right that explicitly makes it wrong. Also, one word can turn an entire answer wrong, and it’s not always an obvious word.
  2. Just because an answer is true doesn’t mean it’s the right answer to what the question was asking.
  3. Find out, specifically, what you need to improve on. As in, very specifically. Time: struggling to finish/have plenty of time? Which is more urgent to improve upon, vocab or passages? What kind of passages (time period based, passages you find boring, compare and contrast, shorter or longer) are most difficult for you/have the most wrong answers? Are you getting easier questions wrong due to a certain reason?</p>
5

<p>Develop a strategy. For me, it’s reading the questions and annotating the passages simultaneously as per the questions (such as underlining the lines mentioned in the questions), and then reading the passage closely while annotating “anchor” details.</p>

<p>These “anchor” details basically sum up a couple sentences or a specific section in a couple of words. For me, they somewhat help when I answer the questions. However, the whole annotation/close reading process pretty much nails the passage into my head, and I can answer most questions without referring back.</p>