SAT Test Strategies

1. SAT Test Strategies Sentence Completion, Reading Comprehension, Writing, and Essay

2. SAT Sentence Completion Strategies

3. Cover the answer choices

4. Uncover the choices and use the process of elimination to find the word most like your word

5. For sentences with two blanks, pick the blank that seems easier, write in a word, and use the process of elimination to find the word in the answer choices

6. If you can’t solve the problem with only one word, go back and repeat for the second word

7. Look for trigger words that keep the idea going in the same direction or reverse the direction:

8. Same Direction: And ; : Furthermore In addition/additionally So, thus Consequently

9. Reverse Direction: But However Although/though While/whereas On the other hand Despite/inspite

10. Look for time trigger words that begin in one time period and end in another—these trigger words help you understand complex sentences:

11. Once, initially, eventually, later, then, now, first, originally, among others

12. If it’s too hard to come up with a word to write in a blank, determine whether the word connotation is negative (-), positive (+) or neutral (0)

13. Then eliminate answer choices that don’t have the connotation you are looking for

14. Two-blank sentences are even easier with this method; sometimes you will see immediately that you need + + or - - or + -. It is very easy to eliminate choices that don’t work using this method

15. Often, the answer can be found in part of the sentence

16. The dramatist was _____ over his inability to sell any of his plays, and his letters to his wife reflected his unhappiness

17. The italicized portion of the sentence can be re-used to fill in the black

18. The questions get progressively more difficult

19. SAT Critical Reading Strategies

20. Read the “blurb” carefully; it explains what the passage is about

21. Consider using the Blurb-2-1-1-F method:

22. Read the blurb, the first two sentences of the first paragraph, the first sentence of all other paragraphs, and the final sentence. Then begin answering questions

23. Paraphrase the question to make sure you understand what it is asking

24. One type of question is “search and destroy.” You MUST go into the passage to find the answer

25. In order to make sure you understand the context, read roughly five lines before and five lines after the specific lines the question directs you to

26. Although not every search and destroy question directs you to specific lines, the answers are in chronological order, so it is easy to figure out where in the passage to look

27. The other type of question is “general.” It asks you to make a judgment about the passage overall

28. Answer these questions last when you can use what you’ve learned answering the search and destroy questions

29. If you can’t answer a question quickly, skip it. You can come back to it later if you have time

30. For vocabulary in context questions, treat like sentence completions: come up with a word before looking at the answer choices

31. Beware of the Joe Bloggs trap:

32. If it’s a vocabulary question, don’t fall into the trap of choosing the most obvious answer. Chances are, if it’s an easy word, it’s being used in a less obvious way

33. For dual passages, answer all questions for the first passage, then all questions for the second passage, and save the questions that deal with both passages for last

34. Eliminate answers that are extremes—they can be proven wrong with only one exception. For example, don’t choose such answers as the following:

35. Everyone loved Picasso. Avoid words like must, each, every, always, totally, all. Look for qualified answers instead, with words like may, can, sometimes, some

36. Be aware that questions with capitalized EXCEPT/LEAST/NOT questions are asking you to find the one answer choice that is not true

37. Identifying Sentence and Paragraph Errors

38. Review Characteristics of Effective Writing. If you understand these characteristics, you will be able to identify all of the errors in this section

39. Review the parts of speech

40. Noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, interjection

41. Review the parts of the sentence

42. Subject, verb, direct object (with action verb), subject complement (with linking verb), modifiers

43. Some of the time, as much as 25%, there will be no error

44. In these cases, you need to have the confidence to answer “no error” if you can’t find an error that is related to one of the Characteristics of Effective Writing

45. Do not rely on whether something “just doesn’t sound right.” Develop the ability to identify which Characteristic of Effective Writing is involved with the error.

46. Essay strategies

47. Review the scoring rubric. Scores of three and below represent unsuccessful essays

48. The first important step is to deconstruct the prompt: Make sure you understand what idea is being presented. Identify every task the prompt is asking you to complete

49. The next step is to prewrite for five minutes:

50. Develop a position regarding the issue or idea; in other words, write a thesis statement