<p>Critical reading was my weakest point on the SAT with a 420. Is there anyway to improve to a 700+. I really need to get to a good college because my family are really poor. Any prep book to recommend.</p>
<p>Try this.</p>
<p>•Mark the passages. Underline sentences that reveal author intent, style, or attitude towards the subject.
•Circle words that may have questions about. In particulars, words that have multiple meanings.
•Write brief notes and words that summarize the main idea of paragraphs. Be sure not to make them too elaborate; one or two words are fine.
•Pretend to be interested. Even if the passage is about how bacteria eat, pretend to be interested because it will make you more focused on the passage.
•For the questions, have an answer in your mind before looking at the choices; then, choose the one that most closely matches your guess.
•Read carefully. One or two words can make a big difference. This is especially true when you have dual passage questions, and it asks for what the author of one passage thinks.
•Stay focused. Losing focus will often slow your pace, causing you to have to rush the last several questions. Thus, it is important to keep up a steady tempo.
•Circle questions you skip so that you know to go back to them. Skip questions when it’s taking too long to answer them.
•Go back to the passage, especially if line numbers are given. After all, the answers are in the passage.</p>
<p>Barron’s Critical Reading Book. Barron’s How to Prepare the SAT. all are downloadable online.</p>
<p>Vocab is important. Read Direct Hits, and find some vocab lists on quizlet for practice. </p>
<p>But the most important strategy for passage reading is Read. Read, read, read. Reading classic books help a lot. Find a reading list and select some of the classic books you are interested in, then start reading. Never give up. It’d be truly helpful and great if you develop a good reading habit and read at least 1 hour everyday. </p>
<p>Then, practice. Many QAS and OC, OG tests can be found online. Each time after you finish a test, be sure to check your wrong answers and understand why you’ve got wrong.</p>