The sat critical reading section 4 doc

Part 2: Reading Is Critical

There are approximately 40 long-passage critical read￾ing questions on the SAT. Each Critical Reading sec￾tion contains at least one long passage, followed by

questions about the passage. Passages are excerpted

from writings in the fields of literature, humanities,

and social and natural sciences. There is no poetry.

Each passage is between 400 and 850 words in length,

and there will be between 5 and 13 questions after

each one.

In one critical reading section of the exam, there

will be a set of two long passages. These two passages

will complement each other in some way. Most often,

they will present either supporting or opposing points

of view. Some of the questions about these passages will

require that you be able to analyze similarities and dif￾ferences between the two passages.

Many of the reading comprehension questions

are vocabulary-related. You can think of them as a vari￾ation on sentence completion questions, asking you

to determine the meaning of a word or phrase in con￾text. Sometimes, the test-makers ask about fairly com￾mon words that have multiple uses and ask you to

choose the correct meaning or shade of meaning. Most

often, the answer will be a more obscure meaning of the

commonly used word.

Other reading comprehension questions test your

ability to understand what you read. SAT passages are

usually complex, densely packed with ideas; and many

are somewhat overwhelming at first glance. You will be

asked to extract information that may be stated explic￾itly or implied. In other words, a passage may contain

arguments with underlying assumptions, which you

will be asked to uncover. You will be asked about the

logical flow of the texts and about their consistency or

lack thereof. You may also have to answer questions

about the tone of the passages as well as their overall

theme or meaning.

Fortunately, the skills you are learning for the

sentence completion questions will also serve you well

for the reading comprehension questions. Additionally,

learning to make sense of complex passages will make

your college career even more successful.

Ready, Set, Read!

If you are already skilled at quickly reading and under￾standing dense prose, good for you! If not, try this

approach. Feel free to adapt it and change it to suit your

needs and temperament. There’s no one “right” way to

read. The right way to do all of these things is the way

that works for you; so as you practice, try variations on

the method to see what suits you.

Every reading comprehension passage has a short

one- to three-sentence introduction. This introduc￾tion will provide you with some context for the passage

as a whole, so read it first. Occasionally, there will be a

question that requires knowledge of this introduction,

so read it carefully.

Now you may want to skim the passage for its

subject matter. With practice, you will find that topic

sentences and key adjectives will practically leap out

and grab your attention. Be sure to keep your pencil

poised to write as you read. You will want to mark key

words and phrases as you see them.

Next, read the passage all the way through. As you

finish each paragraph, determine its main idea. Then,

jot a word or phrase that expresses that idea in the

margin of your test booklet. This is a note to yourself,

which will enable you to easily find sections of the pas￾sage later and quickly tie the separate paragraphs into

a coherent whole.

As you read the passage, mark any words or

phrases that seem particularly important or expres￾sive. Often, adjectives that set a mood or tone will help

you understand the author’s meaning, so underline

them or jot them down in the margin. It’s also impor￾tant to note the location of details that support the

author’s main point(s).

Of course, you were paying attention in English

class when the teacher discussed topic sentences, so

you know that most well-written paragraphs have at

–THE SAT CRITICAL READING SECTION–

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