SAT CRITICAL READING

PART 1

INTRODUCING THE SAT: CRITICAL READING SKILLS

Nature of the Test
Overview and Content
The Critical Reading Sections
Before the Test
During the Test

Nature of the Test

What is the SAT? Educational Testing Service (ETS) says it’s a standardized test designed to help predict how well high school students are likely to do in their academic work as college freshmen. From your viewpoint, it probably looks more like one extra set of hurdles you have to jump before you get to the next level of the college admissions game.

This particular set of hurdles, however, doesn’t demand any specialized knowledge on your part, just general test-taking savvy. You’re not required to recall great chunks of history or literature or science. You’re not even required to recall most math formulas—they’re printed right in the test booklet.

Assessment tests are basically multiple-choice tests. Your score depends upon how many correct answers you get within a definite period of time. Speed is important, but so is accuracy. You have to pace yourself so that you don’t sacrifice speed to gain accuracy (or sacrifice accuracy to gain speed).