SAT CRITICAL READING GUIDE/TIPS

How I got an 800 on the SAT Critical Reading (A Story and Guide)

Hi! I would like to share my story about mastering the SAT Critical Reading section to
help others achieve a great score on the CR. There are many great guides on College
Confidential and I have learned much from them, so not all of this information will be
new. However, there is much I have to say that I feel others can benefit from so I
will begin. The story begins with the second paragraph and continues to the end of
the third; the guide begins at the beginning of the fourth paragraph.
It started with the PSAT in my sophomore year of high school. I had eagerly taken it
to see how much I would have to study for the junior PSAT to earn National Merit
Semifinalist recognition. Scores arrived back in December and I opened the paper to
find out that I had scored a 203 composite with a 60 CR. I was worried over this
score and if I would be able to even improve it at all. Thankfully, I was allowed to
focus more on my schoolwork throughout sophomore year and the topic of SAT did
not come up until summerMy parents forced me to take an SAT prep class but my
Critical Reading section remained in the low 600s, not improving at all. It was when I
first entered the realm of College Confidential that I realized the vast abundance of
SAT preparation materials I had available. I quickly ordered a copy of the Official SAT
Study Guide and prepared to use the methods online to score 700+ on the CR.
Once I had received the famed Blue Book, I took timed sections of the Critical
Reading to gauge my score. I was ecstatic to find that I was already starting to
improve after taking a few practice sections of critical reading. I utilized strategies
from CC such as underlining sentences from the passages as shown in the questions
asked. I tried to complete the questions as quickly and accurately as I could so I
would have more time on the real SAT. I was improving, but I was stuck in the high
600s to low 700s range, becoming more and more frustrated with my score. I was
sometimes extremely knowledgeable about all of the vocabulary words on the
practice SAT, while at other times I was clueless with 5 or more vocabulary words on
another practice SAT. Time flew byI had been studying for 2 months and the
October 9 SAT was just a few weeks away. I panicked; I had not been able to raise
my CR score much since getting it to the low 700s range. I was wondering why the
famed Critical Reading strategies on College Confidential were not helping me as
much as I thought they should. In the end, however, I realized that the best strategy
would not be a specific one-size-fits-all strategy, but a blend of favorite strategies to
merge into a personal strategy. At the end of this practice with my new, personal
strategy, I was more confident going into the real SAT and I finished off my SAT
preparation with an 800 on the Critical Reading section.
Now for the technical matters of how I improved my SAT score. I bought the Official
SAT Study Guide and did about 7 of the practice tests from there. The number of
practice tests taken will vary from person to person, but one will usually have to do a
good number of practice tests to achieve a high score on Critical Reading and other
sections. Also, just a reminder, but remember that no one strategy will work for
everyone! If this strategy doesnt work for you, try another one until you develop
your own personal strategy that is the best for you.

1) I took one or two practice sections of CR from the Blue Book daily. I timed these
to simulate the real testing situation since one may get nervous on the real day and
use up more time on the questions.
2) I looked over my correct and wrong answers and tried to rationalize why the
correct answer is correct for my wrong answers. After I did this I would then check
the official explanations provided by College Board on their website.
3) For the Sentence Completions, I did NOT memorize a lot of vocabulary from Direct
Hits or any other book, but I did learn the vocabulary that I did not know on the
practice SATs from the Blue Book. I also learned strategies to determine the correct
answer for the sentence completions. For example, I would look to see if the
definition of a word was in the sentence, or if the sentence wanted words that were
similar or contrasting by watching out for key words such as although, however,
like, etc. However, if you are missing several words on the sentence completions, it
would be beneficial to learn more words than just those available on the Official SAT
Study Guide. This depends on how much time you have to study for the SAT.
4) For the Reading Comprehension, I read the passage first if it was short and then
looked at the questions, and I read the questions first for line numbers if the passage
was long. I always read the short summary in the beginning of the passage to get
some background information about the topic and what I should be reading about.
5) For short passages, I just sped through the text and answered the questions with
the text, choosing the answer directly supported by the text.
6) For longer passages, I looked forward to the questions to see if line numbers were
mentioned. For the questions that did mention lines, I made sure to go back in the
passage to bracket the line numbers. Doing this let me read the passage up to that
certain part and look to the question to see if I could answer the question with the
information I had just read.
7) For the main idea and big picture questions, I answered those after reading the
whole passage or paragraph, depending on if the question was asking about the
overall passage or a paragraph.
8) I made sure to predict an answer for the question by using the information solely
in the passage. Please keep out your personal biases when answering the questions.
Even if you dont agree with the viewpoint of the author, just accept it as if it is the
given truth.
9) Lastly, I played devils advocate a lot on these questions. When I narrowed the
question answers down to 2, I would ask myself, Why is this answer choice clearly
WRONG? I looked directly into the passage and if there was no support at all for the
answer choice, I would eliminate it. Doing this helped me improve from the low 700s
to the high 700s. Earlier on, I had been stuck between two answer choices and had
chosen the one that I had felt was better. This is wrong. If the answer choice is not
directly supported in the passage, it is incorrect.

10) With all that being said, time management is a crucial part of this. The sentence
completions should take less time (30 seconds or less) so you have more time to
read the passages and answer those questions. Also, I like to bubble in my answers
in my answer sheet as I go along, but others like to answer all the questions and
then bubble the answers in the answer sheet. I think that bubbling in the answers as
you go along is better so you dont run out of time while bubbling in the answers in
the last-minute frenzy, but this is up to you.
11) Overall, my best piece of advice that I can give you is to read this strategy, try it,
and merge it or adapt it if it doesnt work out the best way for you. No strategy can
fit all people, so the best strategy will be your own developed strategy.
I was doing the Blue Books practice SATs and my Critical Reading scores were
staying around 700. Somehow it just clicked after another test and I started
understanding the reading comprehension questions a lot more.
Once you have marked up all the line references as fast as humanly possible, then
the real art begins. You must read the passage. There is no way around reading
every single word. But HOW you read it is the true art. Read the unmarked sections
quickly yet efficiently, absorbing it briefly but not truly pausing to analyze. ONCE you
hit a marked section, slow down and absorb it. If you feel that it would not disrupt
your flow to answer the corresponding question, do so. If not, keep going a little
more. A vast majority of the line reference questions (even complex ones such as
inferences) can be answered after reading from the beginning to the point of
reference. In a few instances, it may help to read past the point of reference, but
NEVER read the whole passage through without pausing to answer questions.
For long paired passages, do mark up #1, read#1 while doing specific questions #1,
do general questions #1, do mark up #2, read #2 while doing specific questions #2,
do general questions #2, and last do general questions that cover BOTH #1 and #2.
Again, I think this approach is the best, because you are answering questions at the
points during your attack when you are most focused on the relevant sections.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SAT CRITICAL READING TIPS II

I started out getting 520s on CR...but I started reading (i love to read) books- not
just any book that you can read, but really hard books to read.
The more I read, the more my reading comprehension grew, and I became used to
reading higher level writing-This kind of skill is paramount in defeating the minatory
CR passages the SAT throws at you.
So my suggestions are: Buy Barron's/Gruber's and the blue CB book
Read higher level material: Newspapers, magazines, books
Suggestions for higher level reading: anything by Ernest Hemingway, Consider the
Lobster and other Essays by David Foster Wallace, A Temple of Texts by W.H. Gass

Critical Reading Advice

Hi all,
Since I am officially done with the SATs, I want to pass on some advice/tips that
helped me go from a 60 (psat) to a 770 (only 3 wrong) on the real SAT! I hope this
advice will be helpful to all.
I know many people fear the dreaded CR section of the SAT, I did too, for the simple
reason that its pretty difficult to study for. Unlike the Math (which calls for some
Grubers review-I highly recommend it btw) and Writing (just studying the main
rules/repetition), Critical Reading requires a lot of practice and knowing the tricks,
and recognizing patterns. So here is my take on it: to do well on the CR section of
the SAT, one should practice in addition to learning to read well.
First, on the point of practicing. Like many people say, the answers to the questions
are ALWAYS in the passage. There is always some small hint, if not blatant clue, to
show you which is the right answer. So when I had started studying for the SAT, I
had the Blue Book and I took a practice test. After I was done, I looked at the
correct answers and my answers. For EVERY single question, even the ones I got
right, I looked back in the passage to find clues/evidence to support the right
answer. It is important to note that on the CR, you can't make inferences or
assumptions, because the answer to every kind of question is always in the passage.
Remembering this is key to doing well on the CR section.
Another tricky thing about the CR section is that sometimes the passages can be
rather dry, which ultimately makes it hard to read/pay attention. So it's important to
read alot to counter this. Even if the passage is boring, if you focus then you can ace
the questions. First thing I suggest is to just to a lot of reading, any kind of
book/magazine/etc. and be able to really absorb what you just read (very
important!). Also, for extra help, if I find a passage really boring, I underline and
circle the important ideas and look at the questions first. But really, some may say
its a waste of time but there is definitely enough time to read the whole passage and
check your answers, so don't stress out! Just practice a lot and read a lot.
Finally, I really think that its a good idea to learn some vocab. Learn, and not
memorize! It will help you in the SAT and in your writing in general. And its the
summer, and if you have free time, why not? Again, I recommend Grubers for vocab.
They have a huge list of words, and you don't have to memorize them all, but if you
just look at their condensed list, its definitely enough.

Most of the time, the evidence is pretty clearly stated in the passage (usually the
answer is/uses synonyms to reiterate what the passage just said). i think the fastest
way to find the clues is to look at the context of the question. If they ask a question
about something in line 34, for example, then look at the sentences before and after
the specific part of the passage. For me, it's helpful to look at the questions first and
then read the passage and underline if I find something that relates to the question.

The fastest way for me is (it varies for different people) to just read the passage and
answer the questions as I go. If I see a question I can't answer, then I'll keep
reading till I find the answer in the passage, that way you don't have to go back and
re-read it. sometimes the evidence is less straightforward. For instance, the
questions that ask 'what is the tone of this passage?' usually don't have one specific
clue. But for those questions I try to look at the author's choice of words and
descriptions. Depending on how 'strong/heated' the choice of words are, you can
deduce what stance and tone the author has.
I personally didn't try RR, but I've heard nothing but great reviews, so by all means
try that. With CR, the more practice the better.
And when I say learn the vocab not memorize I mean actually take the time to know
the words and their meaning/roots/examples of how the words are used in
sentences, as opposed to simply trying to memorize massive stacks of flash cards. If
you take the time to 'learn' the words, you'll start to recognize and get better with
roots which will help you in CR if you ever come across some esoteric (SAT word!)
words.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

RK33 ADVICE
The only thing I didn't quite follow was the vocab part. I memorized about 300 vocab
words, but I had a pretty good method to my madness. I didn't look at roots (unless
you mean stuff like cron, cred, etc) but I actually learned the words for what they
were. My key to doing that was to learn the definition, but than use my own
definitions as much as possible when studying. Plus, I found all of the words that I
learned that were on the SAT were exactly like I learned them (or extremely slightly
different, but still pellucid (SAT word!, another thing is to do that, use the words you
learn ha)). I haven't gotten my results back yet, but I'm pretty sure I didn't miss any
vocab questions; I didn't miss any on the last 4 BB tests I took at least.
If anyone cares to know my memorization method just ask and I'll look for way I
posted it the other day. Great advice though, I don't think a lot of people realize how
much analyzing your wrong answers on practice tests helps!

that's exactly what I mean by 'learn' rather than memorize!

When I say look at the roots, that's what I mean. For instance, one word that I didn't
know the definition of was anachronistic, and by knowing that chron had to do with
time, I was able to deduce the right answer. And also, like I said before, if you learn
the different ways the words are used in sentences/learn the different meanings/and
like you said-come up with your own definitions-you will do a whole lot better on the
SC questions.
xAAAx, the vocab list in Grubers complete guide was definitely comprehensive! (I got
grubers for math, but its vocab sections were good as well). I don't remember how
much it costs, but their are a lot of free vocab lists online (i know Sparknotes has a
good one, for example). good luck to all trying to raise their scores in CR!

PaPaH ADVICE
Also, a general rule for the Critical reading question is that the answer is always supported by the
text. When looking at answer choices, try to find textual support in the passage that explicitly
supports your answer. When you look at the answer choices, ask yourself: "Is this answer beyond
the scope of the passage" "Is this answer suggested in a different paragraph than what the
question is asking about" and "Is this answer too extreme" to eliminate distractor answers.
Finally, learn SAT vocabulary if you want to improve your sentence completions. I found that
knowing SAT vocabulary even helped me with the passages, since they use some SAT words
that are indirectly tested.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CurseItToHades ADVICE
Probably the one thing that helped me (it made a 190 point difference on my CR
score) was the tip I got from an SAT book that there will always be some evidence
for the correct answer. I may sound obvious, but it is really easy to make inferences
about the passages, and they don't expect you to do that. If the passage contains
solid evidence for one answer, that is probably the answer.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SPARKNOTES VOCAB WORDS TIPS

Dealing with Words You Dont Know

No list will ever cover all the vocab words that might appear on the SAT. There are just too
many words. In fact, we can pretty much guarantee that somewhere on the new SAT, youll
come across a word you havent studied or just cant remember. No problem. Well show you
what to do.

Word Roots: The Building Blocks of Words

Lots of test-prep companies advise students to study Greek and Latin roots of English words
to help figure out the meaning of an SAT vocabulary word. Some students even take Latin in
high school with the sole aim of using it to learn vocabulary roots for the SAT. English words
are often made up of bits and pieces derived from Latin or Greek, which we call word roots.
For example, lets say you come across the wordantebellum on the SAT and dont know what
it means. The word root ante means before, and bellum means war, so you might think
that antebellum means before the war. Youre correct! Heres a list of the 28 most common
word roots thatll help you puzzle out the meanings of unfamiliar SAT words.

Word Root

What It Means

SAT Vocab Words

ante

before

antebellum, antediluvian

anti

against

antithesis, antipathy, antiseptic

auto

self

bene

good, well

chron

time

circum

around

con, com

with, together

contra, counter

against

cred

to believe

dict

to speak

dis

not

disperse, dissuade, distemper, disarray, disjointed

Word Root

What It Means

SAT Vocab Words

autocratic
benefactor, benevolent, benediction
anachronism, asynchronous
circumnavigate, circumference, circumlocution,
circumvent, circumscribe
convene, concatenate, conjoin, companionable
contradict, counteract, contravene
credo, credible, credence, credulity, incredulous
verdict, malediction, dictate, dictum, indict

equi

equal

equidistant, equilateral, equilibrium, equinox,

equitable, equanimity

out, away

emit, enervate, excise, extirpate, expunge,

exonerate, exacerbate

flu, flux

flow

effluence, effluvium, fluctuate, confluence

hyper

above, over

in, im

not

inter

between

intermittent, introvert, interdict, interrogate

mal

bad

malformation, maladjusted, dismal, malady,

malcontent, malfeasance

multi

many

neo

new

omni

all

per

through

sanct

holy

scrib, script

to write

inscription, prescribe, proscribe, ascribe,

conscript, scribble, scribe

spect

to look

circumspect, retrospect, prospect, spectacle,

aspect

tract

to drag, to draw

trans

across

transduce, intransigent

vert

to turn

extrovert, introvert

ex, e

hyperbolic
inviolate, innocuous, intractable, impregnable,
impermeable, impervious

multitude, multivalent
neologism, neophyte
omnipotent, omnivorous, omniscient
persuade, impervious, persistent, persecute
sanctify, sanctuary, sanction, sanctimonious,
sacrosanct

protract, detract, intractable

Noitaraperp: How to Attack the SAT Critical Reading Section Effectively

I'm not allowed to post links, but if you want to see a better formatted version that's
easier on the eyes you should just google "How to Attack the SAT Critical Reading
Section Effectively". Keep in mind that I can edit/update the eHow but I can't edit
this CC page after a while. My approach is somewhat more conceptual and I hope
this method helps you. Please make any suggestions as you see fit - they're very
helpful. Sorry but I like to write in huge paragraphs. Here we go:
Do you want to learn the most infallible and least error-prone method of attacking
the SAT Critical Reading Section? Learn from someone who knows. I was accepted
into Harvard with a 2400 (that sounds pretentious but you should know where I'm
coming from). I first have to tell you that achieving a great score on SAT CR is not
easy and there's no single silver bullet. As with everything, this method requires
repeated practice and experimentation before results can show. Please read on as I
share with you my successful method of tackling CR.
Step 1. Let's start with the approach. You have probably encountered people in your
daily life who snidely demean the SAT or at least the experience of taking the SAT.
However, you must approach this important experience with a fundamentally
different mindset. Okay, perhaps the SAT is a test full of tricks - a test purely to be
gamed. If so however, learning to work within a system is a very valuable skill to
have in life. Furthermore, I believe that the fundamental basis of the SAT is not its
tricks, but its call for a rapid comprehension of certain situations, a supple
maneuverability, and a positive approach to the material. After all, a multiple-choice
test with any semblance of difficulty can be said to contain tricks. How good is your
knowledge if you can't manipulate it to a small challenge? Don't demean your
opponent - that's a recipe for disaster. The last quality, a positive approach to the
material, is the most important and the one you can control the easiest. However, it
does not come naturally (as can be seen with scores of grumbling teens) and takes
reinforcing.
Step 2. A second word about approach: You didn't pay CollegeBoard 45
bucks so that you could be nice. When you're faced with five choices on a
question, you've got to be ruthless. Stop internally justifying why one
answer could be right, and instead make the shift to asking yourself why
that answer could be wrong - play Devil's Advocate, as cliched as that may
sound. I can't tell you enough how much this shift in thinking has helped me
when I have been stuck between two seemingly correct choices. Despite
appearances, all choices ARE different and one is certainly the best, or else
CollegeBoard would be losing thousands of dollars to successful lawsuits.
Keep this in mind. You have got to find the right answer and I will show you
how.
Step 3. It is my intention to focus mostly on the long reading passages in this HowTo, since that is where the majority of the CR questions lie and since these questions
give many test-takers a higher level of grief. For sentence completions, my biggest
advice is to stop wasting your time on tricks, to buckle down, and to start attacking
vocabulary lists. Direct Hits is vouched for by many and proven to be most effective,
though I personally used Princeton Review's Word Smart I and II cover to cover

(perhaps not as efficient as the previously mentioned title). One problem is

retention, so what I did was that I made flashcards for every word I didn't know in
the book (it came out to about 1000 words). It takes a long time, but it pays off for
the SAT, your reading, your writing, and your life. Only if you really know the words
will you be able to confidently answer sentence completions (and consummately
schmooze at cocktail parties). For the short passages, it's all about absorbing the
small paragraphs as efficiently as you can before going on to answer the questions.
They're considerably easier if you keep your mind, and obsessing about the short
passages (going back to double or triple check) are a huge time drain. Most of the
time, it's a quick fact check paired with a tone question. If you practice a lot on long
passages, short passages will be an easy relief for you.
Step 4. Now, onto the long passages. I had loads of trouble with these before I
found this method. I am going to give you my step-by-step method of attacking
them, which I have found extremely effective, albeit somewhat more timeconsuming. Before anything, you MUST read the short blurb before the passage. It
gives you a sense (though always limited) not only of what the passage is going to
be about, but also of the position and possible tone of the author. You will then be
able to perhaps place yourself into the author's shoes. This is a good point right now
to tell you that you MUST love the passage you are reading. Force yourself to love it
- throw yourself into the passage with gusto. It works. Though it's quite ludicrous to
be super-enthusiastic about a boy and his alfafa patch, with your enthusiasm comes
retention, heightened focus, and an oddly vicarious interest in the passage. My
general mental approach was a huge contributing factor in my getting an 800 in CR
and a 2400 on the SAT.
Step 5. After you have read that thrilling blurb, don't start reading the passage yet.
Quickly jump to the questions, and as fast as you can, skim every question for line
number references (don't read the choices or the full question yet). On some
passages almost every single question has a line reference - on most others it's
about over half. Very rarely will you see a passage with question without any line
references (perhaps only rarely on a six question passage). Anyway, once you see a
line reference (In lines 23-25 of the passage, the author is saying that...), you
should bracket not the lines, but the sentence contained within the lines. This markup will allow you to focus in on that sentence once you begin to read the passage.
Based on the question, you want to make a small annotation. For this question: (In
lines 23-25 of the passage, the author is saying that...), you might make the
annotation MEANING next to your marked-up sentence. Other annotations might
include: SAYS THIS BECAUSE, REFERS TO, HOW SIMILAR TO PASSAGE 1, BACKS UP
WHAT BEFORE (think crude caveman notations - they're more efficient). Go through
all of the questions. Perhaps some of the references will not have any line numbers.
If you see (In the last paragraph...), just put brackets around the last paragraph
along with an annotation. If you see a general question referring to the passage as a
whole, on the question circle the number of the question with a large circle. This
means it's a general question and must be answered AFTER all the specific questions.
I find this is always a very comfortable way of attacking the questions based on how
CollegeBoard writes these questions.
Step 6. Once you have marked up all the line references as fast as humanly
possible, then the real art begins. You must read the passage. There is no way
around reading every single word. But HOW you read it is the true art. Read the
unmarked sections quickly yet efficiently, absorbing it briefly but not truly pausing to
analyze. ONCE you hit a marked section, slow down and absorb it. If you feel that it

would not disrupt your flow to answer the corresponding question, do so. If not, keep
going a little more. A vast majority of the line reference questions (even complex
ones such as inferences) can be answered after reading from the beginning to the
point of reference. In a few instances, it may help to read past the point of
reference, but NEVER read the whole passage through without pausing to answer
questions. Your retention will be terrible and it's much better to handle the passage
in small, manageable chunks. Also, when you answer a question, just circle in the
answer in the test booklet. DO NOT BUBBLE IN THE ANSWERS UNTIL YOU FINISH
THE ENTIRE PAGE, SOMETIMES EVEN THE PASSAGE. This is a huge time saver and it
prevents you from making bubbling mistakes. The time saved is not necessarily the
time difference in bubbling, but the time saved because it prevented you from
breaking your focus. This is very important in CR. Don't break focus. If you're very
low on time however, you can bubble as you go.
Step 7. Once you have tackled all the line and paragraph references ruthlessly, you
should have already finished reading the entire passage and because you had
focused in on the passage in numerous instances, you should also be well-equipped
to answer your circled general questions. I always find it's easier to answer these
general question at this point, seeing as how you hit up the passage numerous times
already along the way. Remember to never choose an answer unless you can truly
back it up with evidence from the passage. Even "inferences" do not stray far from
the text. If they did, then the "best answer" would be up in the air. Do not be misled
by the word "inference" - it's a misnomer. A large number of these can actually be
pulled straight from the passage. It's all about the passage - not what you think or
have learned thus far in school. Being one with a text and not extracting too much
from it is a valuable skill to learn. Don't put words into the author's mouth. Another
very helpful thing to remember when viewing the choices is that extreme choices
(including the words ALWAYS, NEVER, or BEST) are rarely ever correct because they
fall under the hard-to-prove category of generalization within inductive reasoning.
Though you've heard this tip many times and it sounds obvious, it is so helpful (yet
easy to forget) and you often find yourself internally justifying these kinds of
generalizing answers. Just say no (in a ruthless yet eternally positive way).
Step 8. My method of tackling long passages is somewhat time-consuming, but time
is something that can be reduced through assiduous practice. This method is so
effective in getting the right answer, and I fully vouch for it from personal
experience. What I also did during practice was that I gave myself twenty minutes
instead of twenty-five in the standard CR sections, and I rapidly tried to utilize my
developed method. It was extremely difficult to meet the twenty-minute deadline at
first but I got better and better at it through practice. While time can be addressed
easily through practice, a fundamentally bad approach to the passages cannot. You
should try out this method if you are having trouble with CR passages - be open.
This method was THE contributing factor for my rise from a 500 to an 800 in CR.
I was loosely using the phrase "Devil's Advocate" to illustrate the shift to an opposing
position in order to weaken a previous argument (this argument is a multiple choice
option which you were internally justifying before). By trying to weaken them, the
one that remains stronger is the one you should choose.
In summary, a student is stuck between A and C, and he is trying to say why A could
be right or why C could be right. My advice is to substitute the word "wrong" for

"right" - now you look for evidence to weaken a claim, w/c is far more time efficient.
Though this approach may be obvious, students hardly follow it originally.