<p>Some say to just dive right into the questions, and that may work if the first question or two asks about some table, but it doesn't really help if you read the question and realize you have to read into the passage a little(wastes a little time). </p>
<p>So should I read about 10-15 seconds just the actual passage, not the actual tables and graphs to understand everything? Some of the little facts that change the answer are hidden in the passage and I can't keep reading the passage for each question. What's a good balance?</p>
<p>i always just read the 2 or 3 sentence blurb at the top (in italics) and then dive right into the questions.. i never go into the passages or the information (tables and stuff) UNLESS it is a scientist 1 vs. scientist 2 passage.. on that one, i read both scientists’ stuff first (really quickly, though), and then go to the questions.. but on everything else, i just read the blurb and then dive straight into the questions without any second thought about what i’m doing</p>
<p>If you read the question first, you will know what to look for in the passage. If you spend 10-15 seconds reading it first, then you may not have read what you needed and would still need to spend more time finding what you do need in the passage.</p>
<p>Yeah, only read if its scientist 1 vs scientist 2… otherwise, you should get almost all of the answers by studying the charts/graphs/tables and if you need to do that, it will tell you to. If you have to read it, just read until you get a general understanding of the objective/procedure.</p>
<p>Thanks guys, I’ll try that today on the practice test. I just dont’ get why the curve for science is always so bad. I’ll see one test give a 32 for just getting 2 wrong, why isn’t it like reading?</p>
<p>yeah, science is usually harsh in terms of its curve… now, the june science section was VERY generous… -4 = 34 (what i got on it).. but that was because they made a mistake on the section and had a couple questions on there that required previous knowledge that was not in the passages at all.. but usually, it isn’t so generous.. i assume b/c it’s all in front of you, but it still is a pretty harsh curve nonetheless</p>
<p>Mistake? Is that the one where it asked for freezing point instead of melting point? I remember thinking about calling them up because that one more question would have given me a 30. </p>
<p>Unfortunately I didn’t get time to get to science today,but I did get a 32 in reading(31 last time). Some of them were really stupid mistakes, but I think I will take a break in the middle of each passage and quickly read through the questions. I definitely read better in chunks. Still with reading, the first passage took me 11 minutes and in the end I only had 6 minutes for the last passage. Definitely need to read in chunks to save time for questions instead of spending more time understanding the actual passage.</p>
<p>no, that’s not the mistake i’m referring to.. i’m referring to the two questions asking about which mitosis phase is which, and it asked a viscosity question w/o telling what viscosity is (i knew all three of them, but the mitosis ones slowed me down a little b/c i had to remember them from 9th grade biology.. so i missed 2 at the end b/c i had to guess on them [and i guessed wrongly].. if i hadn’t have missed those 2 questions, i would have had a 36 for my stupid composite b/c i would have had a 36 in science instead of a 34 (36 E, 36 M, 34 R, 36 S vs. what i got - 36 E, 36 M, 34 R, ‘’‘‘34 S’’‘’)… damn science section…)</p>
<p>If you have your test release form, I can’t remember which question but it’s the one with butanol and pentane and it has a table of melting and boiling points and it asks which has the lowest FREEZING point. The answer turned out to be the one with the lowest melting point, but they didn’t ever put freezing there. Think I could get them to change my score? I can tell them they don’t have to do it for everyone else, I just wouldn’t tell anyone about it, all they have to do is change one little # on their website.</p>
<p>At least your science still gives you a good score. I got 23 but had 31,32,31 everything else. Now I’m not even so certain if I can replicate the other scores. Composite was 29.25 I think. Whenever I get to that last practice test I’m going to read a little of the passage initially and then go into the questions.</p>
<p>melting point IS the freezing point… think about it.. if something is a solid below 50 degrees C, and it reaches 50 degrees C, then it starts to MELT… if something is a liquid above 50 degrees C and it reaches 50 degrees C, then it starts to FREEZE</p>
<p>so no, you can’t change the score b/c the melting point is the same thing as the freezing point</p>
<p>or think of water — it freezes at 0 degrees C… it also melts at 0 degrees C</p>
<p>Thanks that makes sense now. That’s what science is about though, being able to slow down to think logically like that. But if you came across a question that forced you to read into the passage, you would still take the time to keep reading throughout the passage until you find it? I always think some little fact that explains everything about a chart(ie you’re supposed to do something with the number you find in a chart) will elude me or something.</p>
<p>So I just took the practice test, only missed 4. I spent maybe 5 seconds just to know what I was actually reading about(rainforest, electricity voltage), but did dive right into the questions. Some stupid mistakes like looking at Figure 1 instead of Figure 2, but very satisfied! Curve was harsh, so it was an easier test but I had almost 10 minutes left over when I finished! I want to say I would have found some errors going back to check through, but that’s so much more better than when I missed about 15 questions and didn’t have time for the last section to get a 23! </p>
<p>That’s a really good confidence booster and now I know that science won’t bring down subscores like 31,32, and 31. I know it all depends on the curve, but I get the basic idea now by thinking more logically and to point with my pencil to where exactly I need to look. Thanks guys! Hopefully I’ll do better on the real thing, or maybe increase my subscores in English and Math.</p>