For this lesson, please print out Section 1: Reading of the sample SAT.
Often times, students feel that the SAT reading section ends up controlling them. Well, I want to flip the script and give you the power to control the test. I want to give you all the tools necessary to crush the SAT reading section. The first step to achieving this goal is to understand the reading passages:
The SAT reading section includes passages of a variety of genres: literature, social science (i.e.- psychology, sociology, economics) and laboratory science (i.e.- biology, chemistry, physics). If you've taken an SAT reading section, you've probably noticed that you prefer some passages over others. There may be a passage you find really easy and another that you find more difficult. A lot of this is subjective. If you enjoy the social sciences, then you may prefer the psychology or sociology passages. If you absolutely hate chemistry and biology, then you probably won't be a fan of the science passages. We all have different preferences.
Often times, students feel that the SAT reading section ends up controlling them. Well, I want to flip the script and give you the power to control the test. I want to give you all the tools necessary to crush the SAT reading section. The first step to achieving this goal is to understand the reading passages:
The SAT reading section includes passages of a variety of genres: literature, social science (i.e.- psychology, sociology, economics) and laboratory science (i.e.- biology, chemistry, physics). If you've taken an SAT reading section, you've probably noticed that you prefer some passages over others. There may be a passage you find really easy and another that you find more difficult. A lot of this is subjective. If you enjoy the social sciences, then you may prefer the psychology or sociology passages. If you absolutely hate chemistry and biology, then you probably won't be a fan of the science passages. We all have different preferences.
The first strategy we're going to talk about is perhaps the the simplest of them all: The strategy of choice. In other words, you don't necessarily have to do the passages in order. If you generally dislike literature passages and the first passage on the SAT is a literature passage, feel free to do it last! If you're a science person and prefer the science related passage, then go ahead and do it first! Maybe there's a passage in the middle of the test that really stumps you and you feel like you're going to be wasting valuable time. Skip that passage and come back to it.
Then again, you may be the type of person that's likes doing things in order and there's nothing wrong with that either. The whole point is that different students have different preferences and you don't need to feel like you're trapped using one system. You have choices in terms of completing the order of the passages.
You also have a choice when it comes to how you read the actual passage. Most students think that they first have to read the entire passage all the way through (from beginning to end) before answering the questions. Some students are avid readers and are good at quickly reading the passage and absorbing the information before attacking the questions.
Others students may be more deliberate and may have difficulty absorbing the entire passage all at once. If you fall into this category, you may find it easier break the passage up into the pieces and complete the questions as you go along. This is called the Piece-by-Piece strategy:
Pretend you're taking an SAT reading section and you skipped the science passage, because you found the other passages were easier to absorb. Once you finish the other passages, you come back to the science passage. Instead of reading the entire passage from beginning to end, imagine just focusing on the first couple paragraphs. By narrowing your focus, you instantly have less to absorb and can more easily digest it. Then you can scan the questions and see if any of them has to do with the first couple paragraphs. They are fresh in your mind and you can more easily answer the questions.
Then again, you may be the type of person that's likes doing things in order and there's nothing wrong with that either. The whole point is that different students have different preferences and you don't need to feel like you're trapped using one system. You have choices in terms of completing the order of the passages.
You also have a choice when it comes to how you read the actual passage. Most students think that they first have to read the entire passage all the way through (from beginning to end) before answering the questions. Some students are avid readers and are good at quickly reading the passage and absorbing the information before attacking the questions.
Others students may be more deliberate and may have difficulty absorbing the entire passage all at once. If you fall into this category, you may find it easier break the passage up into the pieces and complete the questions as you go along. This is called the Piece-by-Piece strategy:
Pretend you're taking an SAT reading section and you skipped the science passage, because you found the other passages were easier to absorb. Once you finish the other passages, you come back to the science passage. Instead of reading the entire passage from beginning to end, imagine just focusing on the first couple paragraphs. By narrowing your focus, you instantly have less to absorb and can more easily digest it. Then you can scan the questions and see if any of them has to do with the first couple paragraphs. They are fresh in your mind and you can more easily answer the questions.
This is the essence of the Piece-by-Piece strategy: Instead of reading the entire passage all at once, break it up into pieces and answer questions as you read.
Read the first piece and then refer to the questions and find the one's that you can answer. Then repeat with the second piece until you've read the entire passage. Answer the questions as you read the passage. It's easy to do, since the questions for the passages are usually chronological. In other words, the first several questions usually have to do with the beginning of the passage. The questions in the middle usually deal with the middle part of the passage. The questions at the end usually deal with the end of the passage. This pattern isn't necessarily true 100% of the time, but it's generally the case for most SAT reading passages.
...but how many pieces do I break the passage up into?
You don't need to be super scientific here...break up each passage as how you see fit. You can always change your approach depending on the length of the specific passage. For instance, there may be a short passage that you can easily absorb and prefer to read all at once. You may see another passage that is harder to absorb that you break into thirds. You may find yet another passage that you split up in halves. It's up to you.
Let's practice using the Piece-by-Piece strategy on the first passage of Section 1 from the following Sample SAT (since the SAT is a pencil and paper test, I recommend printing the passage). Remember that we're not going to answer the actual questions yet, but just simply practice how to break up the passage so it makes more sense. Take a shot at using the Piece-by-Piece strategy on your own and then take a look at the video below...
Piece-by-Piece Strategy Video
Now that you've watched the video, you may have found that I split the passage differently from you. That's okay! Not every student is going to do it the same way. The whole point of the this strategy is to break up the passage into pieces that makes it easier for you to digest.
Let's talk about one more important thing when it comes to reading the SAT passage in part 2. (remember to register for free access to the rest of the reading lessons).
Read the first piece and then refer to the questions and find the one's that you can answer. Then repeat with the second piece until you've read the entire passage. Answer the questions as you read the passage. It's easy to do, since the questions for the passages are usually chronological. In other words, the first several questions usually have to do with the beginning of the passage. The questions in the middle usually deal with the middle part of the passage. The questions at the end usually deal with the end of the passage. This pattern isn't necessarily true 100% of the time, but it's generally the case for most SAT reading passages.
...but how many pieces do I break the passage up into?
You don't need to be super scientific here...break up each passage as how you see fit. You can always change your approach depending on the length of the specific passage. For instance, there may be a short passage that you can easily absorb and prefer to read all at once. You may see another passage that is harder to absorb that you break into thirds. You may find yet another passage that you split up in halves. It's up to you.
Let's practice using the Piece-by-Piece strategy on the first passage of Section 1 from the following Sample SAT (since the SAT is a pencil and paper test, I recommend printing the passage). Remember that we're not going to answer the actual questions yet, but just simply practice how to break up the passage so it makes more sense. Take a shot at using the Piece-by-Piece strategy on your own and then take a look at the video below...
Piece-by-Piece Strategy Video
Now that you've watched the video, you may have found that I split the passage differently from you. That's okay! Not every student is going to do it the same way. The whole point of the this strategy is to break up the passage into pieces that makes it easier for you to digest.
Let's talk about one more important thing when it comes to reading the SAT passage in part 2. (remember to register for free access to the rest of the reading lessons).