Reading and Writing for the new SAT

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Reading and Writing for the new SAT
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How much does this test mean to you?

• It is one of two gateways to a four-year school
  immediately after graduation. Do you plan to
  enter next fall?
• Have you consciously studied? (As far as society
  knows, no fairy godmother has ever appeared at an
  SAT testing site.)
• Are you planning to give yourself every
  advantage?

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Beware!

• This review is brought to you by -- vocabulary
  words!

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General Tips
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Guessing

• Never guess completely at random!
• Seek to eliminate at least one answer choice (or
  more) and then guess.
• Some answers will be just illogical.
• Some wont fit.
• Some just dont sound right.

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Order of Difficulty Applies

• The sentence completion questions are arranged in
  ascending order of difficulty.
• Critical reading are not , but they do appear in
  order in which the information was presented.
• The degree of difficulty reflects the percentage
  of test-takers who usually get that question
  correct.

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Stop Over-thinking!

• If a sentence completion is at the beginning, it
  will have an easy answer. Dont read too much
  into it that is the trap SAT expects you to
  fall into!
• Higher numbered questions will not have obvious
  answers! Another trap!

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Distracters!

• The SAT only want you to get right those that you
  deserve to get right namely all the easy ones,
  most of the medium ones, and none of the hard
  ones.
• To ensure you miss the hard ones, the SAT inserts
  distracters possible answers that will lead you
  astray.

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Distracters II

• These ONLY appear in the hard third of the
  questions.
• You will see opposites!
• You will see logical sounding words!
• Slow down, ready carefully!

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Antagonist

• The enemy opposition.
• Look inside find a-g-a-i-n-s-t mixed up in there.

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Which questions when?

• Good at vocabulary? Do the sentence completions
  first!
• Good at reading? Tackle short reading, then long
  reading.
• Watch where you are on your answer sheet!

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Writing oh my!

• Two sections with three types of questions
• Error ID
• Improving sentences
• Improving paragraphs

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Which when?

• Error ID take the least time do these first to
  get points!
• Then do sentences and finally paragraphs.

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Lets begin

• Each of the two 25-minute critical reading
  sections begins with a group of sentence
  completion questions.
• Each sentence completion contains a clue (just
  like Jeopardy!) to the correct word. Students
  who read too fast will miss it. Slow down!
  Underline! Focus!

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Sentence Completion
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Use the steps!

• First, read and underline in the question looking
  for the clue.
• Predict what word would most likely fit.
• Estimate positive or negative.
• Read the answer choices to find what fits.
• Eliminate and guess if you have to.

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Clamor

• Continuous noise that gives you a headache.
• Will you CLAM up? Im sick of the noise!

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Practice

• By means of her ______demeanor, Lucy calmly
  worked her way up to the position of head
  salesperson at the chaotic brokerage house.
• A. cunning B. serene
• C. frenzied D. gullible
• E. unstable

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Practice on your sheet!Clock is ticking
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Discussion

• The association agreed to _____one of its
  members when she was discovered to have _______an
  infraction of the associations rules.
• Discipline...prevented
• Denounce..impeded
• C. Censure..committed
• Honor..supported
• Promoteaided

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Again, work on your paper--

• During the ten-year period, Napoleon conquered
  most of the Baltic States and _________Spain as
  well.
• vanquished
• forfeited
• reiterated
• transcended
• refuted

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Trigger words

• These work with the clue to point you in the
  right direction.
• Some signal contradiction like but, although,
  despite, rather, yet, however, even though,
  though, on the contrary, in contrast.

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Triggers, cont.

• These signal a continuation or amplification
• And, in fact, not only, because, but also, indeed
  even
• CIRCLE all triggers when you see them!

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Practice

• During the height of the civil war, the
  diplomatic efforts by Sweden to enforce a
  cease-fire were regarded by both sides not only
  with _______ but also with derision.
• A. delight B. reverence
• C. scorn D. vigor
• E. yearning

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On those last ones

• If you have managed to get three answer choices
  eliminated by one way or another, always choose
  the more difficult word of the last two choices.
  Remember order of difficulty! Hard questions
  have hard answers!

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Double Blanks!

• Use positive and negative and eliminate!
• Although the food at the restaurant was usually
  ______, the main course was__________ by an
  overabundance of salt.
• A. blandenhanced
• B. indifferentsupplanted
• C. delectablemarred
• D. distinguishedelevated
• E. diversesuperb

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Discord

• Disagreement.
• Dis cord is mine no it isnt, its mine! What
  a disagreement.

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Pacing

• You should take about 40-45 seconds for each SC
  using a total of 5-6 minutes for the sentence
  completion questions.
• REMEMBER it is easier to eliminate wrong
  answers than to choose a right one. If you can
  eliminate at least one guess!

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Short Reading
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Only a paragraph!

• Using about 150 words, the SAT will try to get
  you to read for information.
• Could be pretty boring they are counting on
  boring you!
• Boredom makes you lose focus!

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Attack logically

• Read the question first but not the answer
  choices. Each passage is packed with facts, most
  of which are useless to you.
• Read what you need.

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Prodigious

• Impressive -- Youve heard of pros and cons?
  Well, this is all PRO (and you DIG it!)

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Question Types

• Information Retrieval use line references or
  lead words to take you where you need to be.
• The SAT will not always provide line references.
  Use a name, a date, or a term that will stand out
  as you read the passage.

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Next

• Inference Questions An inference is a statement
  that must be true based on the information
  provided in the passage.
• Dont try to infer on the inference questions
  stick to the facts!
• Look in the answers for lead words. Circle
  these. Go back to the passage, read for the
  lead, and select the correct choice.

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And more

• Main idea questions find the point of the
  paragraph!
• Eliminate answer choices that are too broad or
  too specific.
• Read the first and last lines of the paragraph.
  Get the gist.
• Eliminate!

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Conciliate

• To calm someones anger.
• Being angry is Silly (cili) so calm down

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Other question types

• Structure questions These ask how a particular
  sentence functions in the paragraph. Read the
  lines before and after it and ask, What does
  this sentence do? The right answer is always
  stated in the passage.

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More

• Vocabulary in context You will need to find the
  meaning of the word using the words around it as
  clues. These are filled with traps b/c the SAT
  uses the less popular meaning.

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Finally!

• Argument questions these require you to
  strengthen or weaken one of the authors points.
  These can be tough. Skip them if you can afford
  it.

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Last but not least!

• If an answer has words like always, never,
  impossible, all, only, it is a bad choice.
• The right answer is in the passage find it!

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Try the one on your paper
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Garrulous

• Talkative Loose lips sink ships (LOUS)

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Critical Reading
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Ameliorate

• To make better.
• Amelia Bedelia would always try to make things
  better!

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Your goal

• To answer the questions correctly in the time
  allotted in the easiest fashion.
• All questions are arranged in chronological order
  in the passage. Answer 3 falls between 2 and 4.
• Dont panic! Think of the long passages as a
  series of short paragraphs. The questions are
  specific to the paragraphs.

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Passage Types

• Social Science history, politics, economics,
  sociology
• Humanities art, literature, philosophy
• Science a discovery, controversy, theory
• Narrative excerpt from a noel of short story
• Dual 2 short passages with something in common

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Technique

• 1. Read the blurb at the top of the passage that
  sets the scene.
• 2. Read the questions (but not the answers) to
  figure out what parts of the passage you have to
  read.
• 3. Use line numbers and lead words to get to the
  location and answer the question.

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Question types

• Line reference or lead word
• Vocabulary in context
• General main idea, general purpose of passage,
  passage can best be described as, passage serves
  to, author uses example to (Save generals until
  last)

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Plethora

• A whole lot use the PLE to think PLENTY!

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Dual passages

• Read the questions to the first one find the
  answers in the first passage.
• Repeat for passage 2.
• Do questions related to both if you have time.
  If not skip them.

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Writing
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GRAMMAR!
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Questions types

• There are 16-30 error ID questions on the SAT.
  (About 20 of these questions have no error!)
• Sentence improvement Now you have to do two
  things ID the error and fix it!

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Erratic

• Wandering
• A rat wanders through a maze.

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Common grammatical errors

• Pronouns are a favorite of the SAT.
• They will check to see if it agrees with the noun
  it replaces and
• If it is in the proper case.
• Be careful that the pronoun is not ambiguous (You
  cant tell to whom it refers.)

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Practice

• Many photographers are coming to believe that
  color prints are as artistic as black and white
  ones because they reveal new definitions of art.
  NO ERROR.

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Dogmatic

• Stubborn think of a dog refusing to let go of
  your leg!

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Verb Errors

• Check for verb agreement.
• Check for tense.

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Practice

• Last year, as in years past, the majority of
  candidates are dropping out of the race before
  the actual election because they no longer had
  the funds or the will to campaign. NOERROR.

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Minor Errors

• Idioms these are combinations of words that
  must be used together, like responsible for.
  If you see a preposition underlined, check to see
  if it has been used correctly.
• Diction errors in word choice. Look for these
  if you cant finds anything else. Rare.

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Improving Sentence Errors
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Misplaced modifier

• When using a modifier, the noun being described
  must follow directly after the phrase. For
  example
• Running down the street, a brick fell on my head.
• Who is actually running here? It sounds like the
  brick.

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Parallel Construction

• When making a list if items, all items must be in
  the same form. Ricky wanted to finish his
  homework, taking a walk, and to be in bed by 10.
  What is wrong?
• If you are making a comparison, make sure the two
  things being compared have something in common.
  Johns drumming style is more explosive than
  Keith. What is wrong?

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Stuck? Do this!

• Avoid answer choices
• that contain the word being or other ing
  words.
• that are wordy or redundant
• that contain unnecessary or ambiguous pronouns
• that change the meaning of the sentence. The
  meaning MUST remain the same!

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Insipid

• Boring, dull think of needing a SIP of
  something to get through something insipid.

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Improving Paragraphs
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What do they want me to do exactly?

• Fix the grammatical errors, revise sentences, add
  transitions, and add or delete sentences. (Would
  you like fries with that?)
• Go right to the questions!

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Revision Questions

• Read the answer choices and eliminate.
• It is gone if it has a grammatical error
• It is gone if it changes the meaning of the
  sentence.
• It is gone if it has a parallel construction
  error.
• It is gone if it has a misplaced modifier.

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Flagrant

• Conspicuous think of flags being all over the
  item in question.

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Transition questions

• Go back to the passage and read the sentence
  before and the sentence after.
• Determine what direction the paragraph is going
  in maintaining the same topic or changing it?
• Choose accordingly.

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Content Questions

• You may be asked to rearrange or provide a title.
  Read only as much as you have to.
• Read the sentence you will be inserting. What is
  it about? Now read the answer choices to get rid
  of what wont fit. You cant change the meaning!

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The Essay Segment is brought to you by
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Dubious

• Doubtful think of leaving out the o.

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The Prompt

• Using about 80 words from a piece of literature,
  the prompt will touch on some issue or
  perspective. You will be asked to present your
  views on the subject.
• Your essay will be graded by two readers each
  giving a score between 2 and 12.
• It is worth 30 of the writing score.

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The grading

• Each grader can only read the essay once in
  about 1-2 minutes. It is a holistic grade based
  on
• Does your essay answer the question?
• Is it well-organized?
• Does your essay have specific examples?
• Is it free of grammatical errors?

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What to do with the prompt?

• Agree with it
• Agree with certain exceptions
• Disagree with it
• Disagree with certain exceptions

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The Introduction

• Is brought to you by

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PROPRIETY

• What is PROPER. You can see PROP inside the
  word.

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The introduction

• Restate the prompt and state your thesis.
• (Let the reader know what the topic is and then
  tell the reader what you will say about the
  topic.)

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Body paragraphs

• Each body paragraph should discuss only one
  example. Use a clear transition to get there
  from the paragraph before.
• Try these
• However Even though
• While Moreover
• Although Furthermore
• Another example Secondly
• Despite Therefore
• In addition

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Length of the essay

• It is sad to say, but length does have an impact
  on the score of your essay.
• Write clear, direct sentences but fill up the
  lines.

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The conclusion

• Restate your thesis and summarize.
• Take a deep breath.

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A good advance plan

• Start now thinking about current events,
  historical facts/occurrences, literature, etc.
  Have a bank of information that you can draw on.
  Although you cant take in a list, some of the
  ideas will stick in your head.
• Indent paragraphs, clean up erasures, write
  legibly, indent!

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Tips

• Check for grammar errors!
• Avoid using pronouns to avoid pronoun errors!
• No slang!
• No folksy writing the grader is not your buddy.
  Think formal audience.
• Use the same verb tense throughout.
• No misspellings!

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The end for this session, but the beginning for
you. Good luck!
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ACUMEN

• Keen perception. Accurate men have keen
  perception.