11/5/2020 10 Tips for Acing SAT Reading | SAT Reading Strategies & Tips

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10 tips for acing SAT reading

by Erica L. Meltzer | Sep 3, 2015 | SAT Reading | 2 comments

Note: this article is part of a two-part series. See also this post, which covers the
multiple-choice grammar section.

1) Take a moment to understand the question before you jump to

eliminate any answers

This is especially true when a question is worded in a complex/confusing way.

High scorers often lose points because they don’t take a few seconds to think
about what complicated questions are really asking. As a result, they are either

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unsure of what they’re looking for, or thinking in the wrong “direction” when
they go to look to look at the choices. Then they get confused.

Good rule of thumb: if you nd yourself saying “Huh?” after you read a
question or answer, you need to take a few moments and clarify.

2) Keep moving through the passages – and the questions      

Reading and re-reading confusing sections of a passage is one of the biggest

causes of time problems. If you nd yourself starting to loop over the same
section, you must resist the temptation to reread over and over again. That
section might only be relevant to a single question – or no questions at all. If
you spend a lot of time on it, you’re likely to end up rushing later in the section
and losing easy points.

As you work through the questions, you should be doing something – anything
– to work toward the answers at all times. If you’re so confused that you can’t
even gure out how to start working through a question, leave it and move on.
You won’t get the answer by sitting and staring. Very rarely do high scorers
have time problems because they’re spending too much time on every
question. More often it’s a couple of questions that drain all their time. If
you’re spot-on everywhere else, you can a ord to guess on a question or two;
you cannot a ord to rush and get two or three questions wrong per set. Figure
out where your weak spots are, and learn to work around them. 

As a general rule, you should spend the minimum amount of time possible on
easy questions while still working carefully enough not to make any careless
errors. Your goal is to leave yourself as much time as possible to work through
the hardest questions. 

3) Do not EVER eliminate an answer because it confuses you

I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. There is absolutely no relationship
between your understanding of an answer and whether that answer is right or
wrong. If you’re not sure about an answer, leave it.

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4) Be willing to go back and forth between the question and the passage
multiple times

The answer will most likely not reveal itself to you if you just sit and look at the
choices. You may need to go back and forth between the question and the
passage four or ve times, checking one speci c thing out at each go. Do not – I
repeat, do not – rely on your memory.

5) Read before/after the line references

A line reference tells you where a particular word or phrase is located – it does
not tell you where the answer is. The answers could be in the lines cited, or it
could be before/after. If you’ve understood the question and the section of the
passage referenced, and still can’t nd the answer, there’s a good chance
you’re looking in the wrong spot.

If you’re dealing with a function/purpose question, there’s about a 50% chance

the answer won’t be in the exact lines cited, but regardless of the question
type, do not ever start or stop reading in the middle of a sentence.

Likewise, if you’re asked about something close the beginning/end of a

paragraph, back up or read forward as necessary. Main ideas are usually at
the beginnings/ends of paragraphs – when in doubt, focus on them.

6) Answer questions in your own words

If you’re a strong reader, spot an answer immediately, and are 100% certain it’s
right, it’s ne to pick it and move on. When things are less clear-cut, however, it
would strongly behoove you to get a general idea of what information the
correct answer will contain, keeping in mind that it might be phrased in a very
di erent way from the way you’d say it. Even doing something as simple as
playing positive/negative can make the right answer virtually pop out at you.

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To reiterate: you cannot rely on the answers already there 100% of the time.
They are there to sound plausible, even if they’re no such thing. Defend
yourself.

7) Practice keeping calm when you don’t know the answer right away

If you stand a serious chance of scoring an 800, there’s a good chance that
you’re pretty good at recognizing correct answers. There’s also a pretty good
chance that most of the questions you’re getting wrong are the ones you aren’t
sure about in the rst place. When this is the case, one of the biggest
challenges tends to involve managing your reactions when you encounter
questions you aren’t sure about right away. This might only happen three or
four times throughout the test, but that’s enough to cost you.

From what I’ve observed, many students who fall into this category have a
tendency to freeze, then panic, then guess. Learning to keep calm is a
process; you have to practice it when you’re studying in order for the
there to be any chance of your doing it during the actual test.

Stop, take a moment, re-read the question calmly, and make sure you’re crystal
clear on what it’s asking. Once, you’ve fully processed what you’re being asked,
you can probably get rid of an answer or two. As you work through the
question, you might nd yourself getting a clearer idea of what it’s asking for. If
you don’t, pick one speci c aspect of each remaining answer to check against
the passage. If you’re stuck between a general and a speci c answer, start with
the more speci c one.

When you go back to the passage, pay attention to strong language and major
transitions and “interesting” punctuation (however, therefore, but, colons,
questions marks) since key information tends to be located right around them.
If you’re unsure about what you’re looking for, focusing on these elements can
make you suddenly notice things you missed the rst time around.

8) Be willing to reconsider your original assumption

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Sometimes you’ll understand a question, answer it in your own words, look at

the answer choices… and nd absolutely nothing that ts. When this happens,
you must be willing to accept that the answer is coming from an unexpected
angle, back up a couple of steps, and re-work through it from a di erent
standpoint.

Reread the question carefully, make sure you haven’t overlooked something,
get rid of answers that are clearly way o , and look at the remaining options
anew.

9) Ask yourself what you’re missing

When you can’t gure out the answer, you must be willing to turn things back
on yourself and ask yourself what it is you’re not seeing. Thoughts that start
with, “But I think that the author is saying xxx…” will not get you to the answer.
If you’ve understood the question and the answers and can’t connect one to
the other, the answer must be coming from an angle you haven’t considered.
You might need to read more literally, or you might have to consider an
alternate meaning of a word. Embrace that fact, because ghting the test won’t
change it.

10) Remember that the SAT can break its own “rules”

It’s undoubtedly a good idea to know some of the more common patterns of
the test, e.g. “extreme” answers are usually wrong. If you’re seriously shooting
for an 800, though, you must be willing to consider that on very rare occasions,
there are exceptions. Sometimes the correct answer may include a word like
always or never. You must nd a balance between using the patterns of the test
to your advantage and not getting so stuck on them that you let them override
what’s actually going on in the passage.

2 Comments
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rennay mcdermott on October 25, 2017 at 8:59 pm

Very good strategies. I will de nitely be coming back to this site

Reply

Kevin Liu on November 26, 2017 at 6:32 pm

Amazing took an online test and scored pretty high on it. Thank
you so much!!!

Reply

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