EXPLORE TEST

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EXPLORE TEST

• READING STRATEGIES
• For 9th graders

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Be TEST-WISE

• You should write on SCRATCH PAPER!
• Dont do any of the work in your head do it all
  on the paper, so you can keep track.

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FIVE MINUTES LEFT

• Put answers down for all the questions you
  havent gotten to.
• Leave the one youre doing blank and three or
  four around it in case you have time to work on
  them after filling in all of the other bubbles.
• Use the same answer for all of them. (There
  isnt one that comes up frequently, so just do
  the same.)
• NEVER leave a bubble empty. No penalty for
  guessingthe people scoring your test dont know
  youre guessing.

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Reading--Background information

• 30 minutes long
• 3 Selections/30 questions
• Prose Fiction (uses inferences/read between the
  lines)
• Social Sci ence (present info in chronological
  order/easy to navigate)
• Humanities (present info in chronological
  order/easy to navigate)
• 10 questions per passage

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How does that break down?

• You have 10 minutes per passage that includes
  reading and answering questions. You shouldnt
  spend more than 5 minutes reading it.
• If that seems overwhelming, never fear--a
  strategy is here!

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Most people do the passages in order, then read
and finally answer the questionsDONT DO THAT!

• Take the first minute to read the blurb for each
  passage, then decide the order youll do them.
  Do the one that interests you first, and if none
  interest you, then save the one you hate the most
  for last.
• If you dont like any. . .Use what youve learned
  in class to connect to it or . . . Consider
  friendliness of questions and answer choices.

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Read each blurb and place quickly in order. (You
will be given 30 seconds.)

• Passage I
• -Prose Fiction This passage is adapted from
  the short story Elba by Mark Swick (1991 by the
  University of Iowa). Fran is the narrator.
• Passage II
• -Humanities This passage is adapted from
  Bharati Mukherjees essay A Four-Hundred-Year-Old
  Woman, which appears in the anthology The
  Writer on Her Work (1991 by Janet Sternburg).
• Passage III
• -Social Science This passage is adapted from a
  book titled How Courts Govern America by Richard
  Neely (1981 by Richard Neely).

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Youve picked the passage order. Now what?

• Ignore the passagego right to the questions!
• NO POINTS FOR READING THE WHOLE PASSAGE!
• Avoid regressing (going back over what youve
  already read)
• The majority of the passage is not even asked
  about in the questions.

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Order of questions to do first

• 1st Line/Paragraph Reference Lead Word
• 2nd Line/Paragraph Reference
• 3rd Lead Word
• 4th Reverse Lead Word
• 5th EXCEPT questions
• 6th Multiple Paragraphs or According to the
  Passage

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1st--Line/Paragraph Reference Lead Word

• The question gives you both a number location in
  parentheses and a key word or phrase in quotes .

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An example question from t he Social Science
passage

• As it is used in line 17, the word circumscribed
  means

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An example question from the Social Science
passage

• As it is used in line 17, the word circumscribed
  means

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2nd--Line/Paragraph Reference

• You know where the answer is in the passage and
  youre not shooting in the dark. Always read the
  2-3 lines before and the 2-3 lines after. Then
  compare your answer to the ones given.

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An example question from the Humanities passage

• When the author says that the people she writes
  about are culturally and politically several
  hundred years old (lines 75-76), she most likely
  means that her characters

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An example question from the Humanities passage

• When the author says that the people she writes
  about are culturally and politically several
  hundred years old (lines 75-76), she most likely
  means that her characters

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3rd--Lead Word Questions

• Given a key word like Norman Bel Geddes, so you
  scan the passage until you find them and start
  reading to find the answer. Names make for great
  lead words. (Typically 7-8 questions will have
  lead words.)

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An example question from the Social Science
passage

• According to Daniel Chiras, a failed technology
  is one that

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An example question from the Social Science
passage

• According to Daniel Chiras, a failed technology
  is one that

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4th--Reverse Lead Word

• Sometimes the questions dont have lead words.
  This happens when youre being asked to identify
  a particular person or place. No big deal. Use
  the answer choices as your lead words.

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An example question from the Prose passage

• The reason it has been a long time since Fran
  and Linda Rose have seen each other is because
• A. Linda Rose left to get married.
• B. Arguments between Fran and Linda Rose
  drove Linda Rose away.
• C. Linda Rose chose to live with her
  father.
• D. As a child Linda Rose was adopted by
  another family.

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An example question from the Prose passage

• The reason it has been a long time since Fran
  and Linda Rose have seen each other is because
  
• A. Linda Rose left to get married.
• B. Arguments between Fran and Linda Rose
  drove Linda Rose away.
• C. Linda Rose chose to live with her
  father.
• D. As a child Linda Rose was adopted by
  another family.

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5th-- Except Questions

• Save these for last because they involve finding
  three answers and one incorrect answer. (More
  work) Scan the passage for the names.
• Look for lead words in the answers.

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An example question from the Prose passage

• The passage states that the narrators mother
  finds all of the following aspects of shopping at
  the A P troubling EXCEPT the
• A. Orderliness of the place.
• B. Absence of carcasses.
• C. Hurried shoppers.
• D. System of paying for merchandise.

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An example question from the Prose passage

• The passage states that the narrators mother
  finds all of the following aspects of shopping at
  the A P troubling EXCEPT the
• A. Orderliness of the place.
• B. Absence of carcasses.
• C. Hurried shoppers.
• D. System of paying for merchandise.

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6th--Multiple Paragraphs or According to the
Passage

• Save these for last also!
• If time permits, select lead words out of the
  question or answers, scan the entire passage,
  then select the best answer.
• If running out of time, guess!

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An example passage of Social Sciences passage

• According to the passage, the common element for
  companies that want to be part of a food web is
  their mutual interest in
• A. Relocating their operations to a common
  geographic area in Europe.
• B. Providing industrial waste to private homes
  and farming operations.
• C. Eliminating the need for raw materials.
• D. Using industrial waste as raw materials.

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An example passage of Social Sciences passage

• According to the passage, the common element for
  companies that want to be part of a food web is
  their mutual interest in
• A. Relocating their operations to a common
  geographic area in Europe.
• B. Providing industrial waste to private homes
  and farming operations.
• C. Eliminating the need for raw materials.
• D. Using industrial waste as raw materials.

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Questions FOUR STEPS

• 1. Read the question--Put in into your words.
• 2. Process of Elimination (POE)--Cross off
  distractors, extremes, and answers that are too
  nice.
• 3. Find the answer in the passage--Use the line
  reference or lead word to locate the part of the
  passage with the answer in it.
• 4. Put the answers in your own words--You do
  this to confirm that you really understand what
  youre reading and to avoid falling for any traps
  that are waiting in the wrong answer choices.
• 5. Process of Elimination (POE)--Read the
  remaining answers and cross off any that dont
  agree with yours.

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If you feel you cant do this method, try. . .

• Do the questions with line numbers and lead words
  first.
• Next, scan all of the questions and identify lead
  words.
• Skim and scan the passage looking for the words
  youve identified.
• Answer the questions as you come across the lead
  words in the passage.
• Use POE with the answer choices.

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POE--Eliminate answers before going to the passage

• By crossing off these answers before going to the
  passage, you will have fewer lead words to look
  for
• Deceptive Answers
• Extreme Answers
• Too Nice Answers

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Deceptive Answers

• Distort the authors meaning by using familiar
  words from the passage but are rearranged to say
  something that has nothing to do with it.
• Switch the truth around by using sneaky word
  substitutions.

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An example of a question with deceptive answer
choices

• Primitive humans lived by the hunt, and
  modern nutritionists like to observe that with
  meat as a dietary staple, they were seldom
  iron-deficient as are many farm-based populations
  today.
• Relatively crude weapons of hunt were
  replaced by more refined farming implements. To
  be sure, farming is subject to the uncertainties
  of weather and climate, but ultimately allows
  humans a greater degree of control over their
  food supply and relieves them from the dangers of
  the hunt.
• According to the passage, a life based on
  agriculture,
• A. (Already eliminated)
• B. Provides humans with more iron than is
  provided by hunting.
• C. Offers a greater degree of certainty than
  does a hunting lifestyle.
• D. (Already eliminated)

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• Normally, we would save this question for LAST
  because it is an According to the passage, but
  because we have some time, we can go back to it.
  
• Weve already eliminated two of the answers, so
  we should only have to skim for two lead words
  IRON CERTAINTY.

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An example of a question with deceptive answer
choices

• Primitive humans lived by the hunt, and
  modern nutritionists like to observe that with
  meat as a dietary staple, they were seldom
  iron-deficient as are many farm-based populations
  today.
• Relatively crude weapons of hunt were
  replaced by more refined farming implements. To
  be sure, farming is subject to the uncertainties
  of weather and climate, but ultimately allows
  humans a greater degree of control over their
  food supply and relieves them from the dangers of
  the hunt.
• According to the passage, a life based on
  agriculture,
• A. (Already eliminated)
• B. Provides humans with more iron than is
  provided by hunting.
• C. Offers a greater degree of certainty than
  does a hunting lifestyle.
• D. (Already eliminated)

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B. Provides humans with more iron than is
provided by hunting.

• Primitive humans lived by the hunt, and modern
  nutritionists like to observe that with meat as a
  dietary staple, they were seldom iron-deficient
  as are many farm-based populations today.
• This is deceptive because it uses words from the
  passage but switches the meaning.

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C. Offers a greater degree of certainty than
does a hunting lifestyle.

• To be sure, farming is subject to the
  uncertainties of weather and climate, but
  ultimately allows humans a greater degree of
  control over their food supply and relieves them
  from the dangers of the hunt.
• Certainty is camouflage for control. Answers
  often use synonyms rather than using the exact
  wording from the passage.

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Extreme Answers

• Use wording such as always, invariably, never,
  completely, perfectly, absolutely
• Contain debatable words such as ever, ideal, all,
  perfect, cannot possibly, hopelessly

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An example of a question with extreme answer
choices

• The author believes that practicing
  psychiatrists
• A. Cannot possibly help patients unless they are
  completely objective.
• B. Are hopelessly confused over the genesis of
  mental illness.
• C. Are scientists notwithstanding the
  uncertainties that surround psychiatry.
• D. Should, for the time being, treat mental
  disease in terms of environment.

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An example of a question with extreme answer
choices

• The author believes that practicing
  psychiatrists
• A. Cannot possibly help patients unless they are
  completely objective.
• B. Are hopelessly confused over the genesis of
  mental illness.
• C. Are scientists notwithstanding the
  uncertainties that surround psychiatry.
• D. Should, for the time being, treat mental
  disease in terms of environment.
• A B can be eliminated right away because they
  contain extreme/debatable words. Now you only
  have to skim scan for two answers.

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Answers that are Too Nice

• Appeal to your moral sense of right/ wrong or
  fair/unfair
• Check to make sure the statement was actually
  made in the passage

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An example of a question with too nice answer
choices

• In Sweden, for example, where the overwhelming
  majority of health care is funded by the
  government, patients over the age of 55 are not
  eligible for long-term life-saving renal
  dialysis.
• In Sweden, which of the following measures is
  designed to promote egalitarianism?
• A. (already eliminated)
• B. The Swedish government denies certain
  life-saving medical resources to older citizens.
• C. (already eliminated)
• D. The Swedish government attempts to provide
  the same health care to all citizens regardless
  of wealth or age.

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Beware of the people who created this test. . .

• They are playing on your anxiety by throwing out
  a large vocabulary word, egalitarianism, in the
  question. If you are saying to yourself, I have
  no clue what that word even means, they are
  hoping to trap you into selecting the too nice
  answer.
• Look at the passage and remember that any answer
  that sounds too good to be true--is!
• Also, see if you can identify an EXTREME word in
  the too nice answer.

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An example of a question with too nice answer
choices

• In Sweden, for example, where the overwhelming
  majority of health care is funded by the
  government, patients over the age of 55 are not
  eligible for long-term life-saving renal
  dialysis.
• In Sweden, which of the following measures is
  designed to promote egalitarianism?
• A. (already eliminated)
• B. The Swedish government denies certain
  life-saving medical resources to older citizens.
• C. (already eliminated)
• D. The Swedish government attempts to provide
  the same health care to all citizens regardless
  of wealth or age.

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An example of a question with too nice answer
choices

• In Sweden, for example, where the overwhelming
  majority of health care is funded by the
  government, patients over the age of 55 are not
  eligible for long-term life-saving renal
  dialysis.
• B. The Swedish government denies certain
  life-saving medical resources to older citizens.
• B restated the passage but uses
  camouflage(synonyms)
• Patients over 55 older citizens
• not eligible denies
• life-saving renal dialysis life-saving
  medical resources

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An example of a question with too nice answer
choices

• In Sweden, which of the following measures is
  designed to promote egalitarianism?
• A. (already eliminated)
• B. The Swedish government denies certain
  life-saving medical resources to older citizens.
• C. (already eliminated)
• D. The Swedish government attempts to provide
  the same health care to all citizens regardless
  of wealth or age.
• D plays on your sense of what is the right thing
  to do. No one wants to think of their grandma or
  grandpa being denied life-saving medical
  procedures.
• D uses all that is an EXTREME. You could have
  eliminated that and knew the answer without
  reading the passage.

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Difficult Vocabulary

• Eliminate any answer choices you know the
  meaning cannot be.
• Using the context, try to deduce the meaning.
• Use the words you recognize in the sentence to
  help you predict what the other words will be and
  what they will mean.
• Read 2-3 sentences before or after to determine
  the meaning.

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An example of reading around the word to figure
out the meaning

• As it is used in line 17, the word circumscribed
  means
• A. Technical
• B. Limited
• C. Entertaining
• D. Serious
• From the passage
• Furthermore, even with regard to high-visibility
  issues, significant communication between the
  electorate and public officials is extremely
  circumscribed. Most serious political
  communication is limited to forty-five seconds on
  the network evening news.

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An example of reading around the word to figure
out the meaning

• As it is used in line 17, the word circumscribed
  means
• A. Technical
• B. Limited
• C. Entertaining
• D. Serious
• From the passage
• Furthermore, even with regard to high-visibility
  issues, significant communication between the
  electorate and public officials is extremely
  circumscribed. Most serious political
  communication is limited to forty-five seconds on
  the network evening news.
• Even though the word serious appears in the
  passage, that is not the best choice
• Communication is circumscribed communication is
  limited

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Summary of STEPS TO YOUR APPROACH

• 1. Order the passages from most interesting to
  least interesting.
• 2. Skip the passage--go straight to the
  questions.
• 3. Order the questions do line/paragraph
  reference and lead word questions first!
• 4. Place the question in your own words.
• 5. Eliminate answer choices deceptive, switch,
  extreme, too nice, or appeal to your sense of
  fairness.

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STEPS CONTINUED

• 6. Be aware of your time--approx. 10 minutes per
  passage.
• 7. Guess on the ones you dont know.
• 8. Fill in the same answer for the remaining
  choices.