SAT CRITICAL READING

PART 5

BUILDING YOUR VOCABULARY

Tips on Building Your Vocabulary

TIP 1

Read Widely to Develop Your Feeling for Words

There is only one effective long-range strategy for vocabulary building: READ.

Read—widely and well. Sample different fields—physics, art history, political science, geology—and different styles. Extensive reading is the one sure way to make your vocabulary grow and to develop your feeling for words.

The Sunday edition of The New York Times contains special sections on travel, literature, and the arts. Tuesday’s edition contains a special science section. The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal offer excellent coverage of the arts and sciences, as well as current events.

Try to develop an interest in as many fields as you can. Sample some of the quality magazines: The New Yorker, Smithsonian, Scientific American, Natural History, Harper’s, Newsweek, Time. In these magazines, you’ll find articles on the whole range of fields touched on by the SAT. If you take time to acquaint yourself with the contents of these magazines, you’ll soon be in command of an expanding vocabulary.