Tutor Yourself #7: The Reading Section
When I sat down to write this piece, I realized that most of my advice on the SAT or ACT reading section is: LOOK IN THE PASSAGE. That’s it. That’s all there is to it.
That’s it. Next up: ——
Just kidding. It’s harder than it sounds.
Standardized tests are under so much scrutiny, their questions must be inarguable. Even though they appear tricky on the surface, the reading questions almost always have the answer written explicitly in the passage. The hard part is figuring out where. Finding the answer requires a bit of reading comprehension, a bit of test-taking strategy, and a lot of practice.
Reading Comprehension. The first question I ask myself, when I start working with a new student, is: Can they read? Given enough time, can they get the right answer most of the time? Will the student recognize the answer when they find it?
If you are getting more answers wrong than right, and the issue isn’t time pressure or anxiety, it’s time to practice reading. Read anything, anywhere. Blogs, graphic novels, tv subtitles. Take part in discussions in English class. Listen to songs with lyrics. Get as many words into your brain per day as possible. Consider practicing reading comprehension on websites such as this. If you are really pressed for time, skip ahead to the other sections below, but improving reading comprehension is the best way to get a huge score boost.
If you are able to get most of the reading questions correct (when time pressure and focus concerns are removed), then the strategy is to learn the nuances of the test, whether it is the SAT or ACT. Learn the common types of questions: main ideas, author’s purpose, details, inference, vocab in context. Figure out where you’re missing the most questions and practice that type in particular. If you struggle on main idea questions, get more practice by reading a passage (from anything or anywhere) and asking yourself about the main ideas. What was the main idea of this paragraph? What was the main idea of this article?
Text Evidence. You don’t need to memorize all the details, but you need to be able to find the details you need. When you’re reading, make note of things that stick out. The more you practice SAT/ACT-type questions, the better you become at noticing these details.
Practice scanning the passage for key words. If they question asks about magnolias, see how quickly you can find the word “magnolia” in the passage. That is the best way to find the right line or paragraph.
You should always be able to point to a specific line to support your answer. Always. Practice finding that line. (As a bonus, this will help when the follow-up evidence questions on the SAT.) You are not expected to make assumptions. In fact, that’s a common trick: an answer choice will have an obvious assumption, one that your little brother would figure out, but if it’s not explicitly stated in the text, it’s not the right answer!
The only kind of question that will not have the answer explicitly stated is a question that asks you to infer. These questions, however, ask you to take one mental step. Not two. Not ten. One step. You should be able to point to a line in the text and explain the one teeny tiny step you took to infer the answer.
Time Management. The goal is to pick the reading pace that will get you the most correct answers.
Are you running out of time but getting earlier questions correct? Practice reading 10% faster. Keep adding 10% until you start missing questions or taking longer. Everyone has a maximum speed for reading comprehension. Anything faster than your maximum speed, and you risk missing details and wasting time going back to reread.
Are you finishing early, but still getting questions wrong? Practice reading 10% slower. Keep slowing down by 10% until you find the right pace that gets you the most answers correct.
Vocab in Context. The keyword here is context. The test doesn’t care about the dictionary definition or the definition you memorized in English class. The test doesn’t care about the definition in your vocab workbook or on your flash card. (You should not be studying vocab flash cards for the SAT/ACT unless you’re going for a near-perfect score.) The test wants the definition in that spot, in that passage. In fact, you’re more likely to find an answer that is not the most commonly used definition.
You should be able to fit the answer into the passage in place of the vocab word. If it doesn’t fit, don’t pick it.
Tips and Tricks. This is a good time to use your best test-taking strategies. Process of elimination is the best one. Here are a few more.
Read the blurb (the little bit of text above the passage). You can find useful information that can provide context for the passage or even a hint to an answer (for example, the main idea or the author’s intent).
Think about the scope of the answer choices. A common standardized test strategy is to have a correct answer, an answer that is mostly correct but too narrow, an answer that is mostly correct but too broad (often making assumptions), and an answer that is totally off base. If you practice identifying why answers are wrong, you will be more confident deciding which one is correct.
Look at the whole answer. The tests will often have answer choices that are 90% correct, but with one word that’s just a little off. Maybe there’s an “always” or “never” in there. Often, there will be a vocab word that looks great, just to distract you. Practice identifying their tricks and eliminate those answers right away.
Take the time to figure out what kinds of questions you are getting wrong. Take the time to figure out what the perfect reading speed is for you. Take the time to learn to identify the tricks you’re most likely to see.
Next up: The Math Section