<p>I took the SAT for the first time last month and got 640 CR/740 Math/700 Writing and I'm retaking the SAT in March. </p>
<p>I'm pretty confident that if I pay closer attention I can pull an 800 in math and with a bit of work maybe 750+ in writing... but I still can't get past mid-600 in critical reading.</p>
<p>I'm generally well-acquainted with all of the vocabulary (read and memorized all of DH 1+2), however, it's always the passage analysis questions that kill me; especially the ones concerning the "tone" of the passage or a character in the passage or an alternate meaning of a word. </p>
<p>Any tips/advice for improving that section?</p>
<p>I was in the same exact boat last year w/ 660 CR, 800 M, 780 W and all the passages got me screwed, but I improved to 80 CR on PSAT with enough practice. What technique do you use? A technique I find useful is to underline/bracket all of the line references. Then after each paragraph you read, look at the questions that apply to it ensuring that you both remember and pay careful attention to the line references. Once having read the passage in its entirety, you can shift attention to general purpose questions and tone. For the line ref questions, treat it like a sentence completion and the words are rarely ever the most commonly known definition. For a question you are stuck on, keep re-reading the selection until you can find the answer, which is always in the passage. But the most vital piece of CR prep is practice, practice, practice. Start without putting a time restriction and going for 100 percent accuracy so you can analyze what you get wrong. Good luck!</p>
<p>Read the passage once to grasp the main idea. Afterwards, go to the questions. Play devil’s advocate and start eliminating answer choices: if any part of the answer choice is wrong, then the entire answer choice is wrong. Remember, there is no half-right; there is only right and wrong.</p>
<p>Also, memorize the important vocab words (direct hits) and the exact definitions of various tones, e.g. resentment, condescension.</p>
<p>afkatm, are there any links that have vocab words for the tone questions? I used DH, but sometimes I don’t know the word for the tone (I know the actual tone).</p>