Eliminate Wrong Answers

Weve already said that if you can eliminate one answer in a question, the scoring odds are in your favor, and you should guess. This means that you shouldnt skip a question juts because you realize you dont know the right answer. Before skipping any question, check to see if you can at least eliminate an answer. For every question, you should go through a checklist of priorities: First priority: Answer the question correctly. Second priority: If you dont know the answer, try to eliminate answer choices and then guess. Third priority: If you cant eliminate any answer choices, move on to the next question. On most questions, there will be at least one or two answer choices you can eliminate. There are also certain styles of question that lend themselves to particular processes of elimination.

Classification Questions
The weakness of classification questions is that the same five answer choices apply to several questions. Invariably, some of these answer choices will be tempting for some questions, but not for others. Questions 13 relate to the following molecules: (A) phospholipid (B) carbohydrate (C) protein (D) DNA (E) RNA 1. Contains the nitrogenous base uracil 2. Acts as storage for long strings of sugars 3. One side is hydrophilic, while the other is hydrophobic For instance, you can be pretty sure that uracil doesnt appear in protein, carbohydrates, or phospholipids, since nitrogenous bases are only found in RNA and DNA. Another point that may help you guess in a pinch: youll rarely find the same answer choice being correct for two different questions. True, the directions for classification questions explicitly state that an answer choice may be used once, more than once, or not at all, but on the whole, the ETS people shy away from the more than once possibility. This is by no means a sure bet, but if youre trying to eliminate answers, you might want to eliminate those choices that youve already used on other questions in the same set. If youre wondering, the answers to the above questions are 1 E, 2 B, and 3 A. Dont worry if you didnt know these answers. After reading this book, you will. The same goes for the following example questions.

EXCEPT Questions
EXCEPT questions are five-choice multiple-choice questions that contain a bunch of right answers and one wrong answer. The questions always contain an all-caps EXCEPT, LEAST, or some other, similar word. Even if you arent sure of the answer (which is actually the wrong answer), you should be able to identify one or two of the answer choices as true statements and eliminate them. Most birds are characterized by all of the following EXCEPT (A) four-chambered heart (B) strong, heavy bones (C) powerful lungs (D) eggs protected by hard shells (E) evolved from reptiles

Perhaps youre not sure which of the five answer choices is wrong. But you should be able to identify that birds do lay eggs protected by shells and that they evolved from dinosaurs. Already, youve eliminated two possible answers and can make a pretty good guess from there. If youre interested, the answer is B: the bones of birds are extremely light. Heavy bones would make flight much more difficult for birds.

I, II, and III Questions

I, II, and III questions are multiple-choice questions that provide you with three possible answers, and the five answer choices list different combinations of those three. A population of animals is split in two by the formation of a river through their territory. The two populations gain different characteristics due to the different natures of their new habitats. When the river disappears, the two populations can no longer interbreed. What has occurred? I. Natural selection II. Convergent evolution III. Speciation (A) I only (B) II only (C) I and III only (D) II and III only (E) I, II, and III Theres an upside and a downside to questions like this. Suppose you know that the scenario described by this question does involve speciation, but you arent sure about natural selection or convergent evolution. The downside is that you cant get the right answer for sure. The upside is that you can eliminate A and B and significantly increase your chance of guessing the right answer. As long as youre not afraid to guessand you should never be afraid to guess if youve eliminated an answerthese questions shouldnt be daunting. By the way, the answer is C: changes in organisms characteristics due to changes in habitat are a result of natural selection, and the inability of the members of a former population to interbreed after being separated for a long time is speciation.

Taking a Practice Test

Through the example of Marie Pasteur, weve shown you why studying practice tests is an extremely powerful stratgey. Now were going to backtrack and explain what you should do while youre actually taking a practice test.

Controlling Your Environment

Do everything in your power to make the practice test feel like the real SAT II Biology. The closer your practice resembles the real thing, the more helpful it will be. When taking a practice test, follow these rules:

Time the test.

Dont give yourself any extra time. Be stricter with yourself than the meanest proctor you can think of. Also, dont give yourself time off for bathroom breaks. If you have to go to the bathroom, let the clock keep running; thats what will happen on the real SAT II.

Take the test in a single sitting.

Training yourself to endure an hour of test taking is part of your preparation.

Find a place to take the test that offers no distractions.

Dont take the practice test in a room with lots of people walking through it. Go to a library, your bedroom, a well-lit closet, anywhere quiet.