Checking That You've Nailed the Answer | The Complete SAT Course - Class 10 PDF Download

Avoid the Choices That Are True but Wrong

• These are all basically “true” statements. So how do you pick the right answer? Read the question carefully. It asks why the author uses the term “monstrosity.” Does the author think the museum is a monstrosity? No, because the passage as a whole praises the museum. The sentence in line 4 says that they—other critics—thought it was a monstrosity.
• Therefore, this word is being used to (B) characterize the opinion of certain critics.

Some choices may make statements that are true without being the correct answer to the question. Read the question very carefully to be sure you’ve answered what it asks. Carefully note the question type, as discussed in Lesson 5.

Underline Your Evidence

The SAT Reading section is designed to test your reading comprehension skills based on the information provided in the passage. The answers to the questions are always explicitly stated or implied in the text, and it's important to base your answer choices solely on the information presented in the passage. Underlining key words or phrases can help you stay focused and avoid making careless mistakes.

Keep Your Eyes on the Prize

• Keep your score goal in mind as you work through the questions.
• Don't spend too much time on difficult questions.
• If you can't decide between two answers, make an educated guess and move on.
• To break a certain score threshold, you only need to get a certain percentage of questions right (e.g., about 50% for a score of 500, about 66% for a score of 600, and over 86% for a score of 700).

In addition to checking individual answers, check that you’ve carefully attacked at least the number of questions that you should according to your “SAT Study Plan.”

Learn to Deal with “Space-Outs”

To combat this problem, try taking a short break and refocusing yourself. Take a deep breath, stretch, or look away from the test for a few seconds. Then return your attention to the passage and begin again. Also, make sure you’re well rested and well nourished on test day, and that you’ve given yourself enough time to get to the test center. The better prepared you are, the less likely you are to zone out during the test. Finally, if you find that you are zoning out frequently during practice tests, try developing a habit of active reading. This means engaging with the text as you read, asking yourself questions about what you are reading, and making notes as you go along. This can help keep your mind focused and reduce the chances of zoning out.

If you space out a little on the SAT reading, relax. It happens to everyone, and you’ll be fine if you don’t panic. Just calmly go back to where you left off, and reread normally. To minimize space-outs, just focus on answering the three key questions and summarizing each paragraph. When your brain has a conscious task, it doesn’t space out.