How to Answer SAT Critical Reading Questions without Reading the Passages
By | April 17, 2008
In my last post – How I improved my SAT Critical Reading Score By 150 Points – I emphasized the importance of focusing on the Questions and Answer Choices, rather than the reading passages themselves. In that post, I explained how to avoid some of the pitfalls in the reading comprehension questions by noticing indicators of poor answer choices. If you need to improve your Critical Reading score, I suggest you start there.
In this post, I’ll explain some of the factors of a good Critical Reading comprehension answer choice. But first, consider this. Did you know there are standardized test-taking experts who make a game out of taking SAT Critical Reading tests WITHOUT reading the passages?? Read the excerpt below from an article by Malcolm Gladwell that was published in the New Yorker:
Critics of the S.A.T. have long made a kind of parlor game of seeing how many questions on the reading-comprehension section (where a passage is followed by a series of multiple-choice questions about its meaning) can be answered without reading the passage. David Owen, in the anti-S.A.T. account “None of the Above,” gives the following example, adapted from an actual S.A.T. exam:
1. The main idea of the passage is that:
A) a constricted view of [this novel] is natural and acceptable
B) a novel should not depict a vanished society
C) a good novel is an intellectual rather than an emotional experience
D) many readers have seen only the comedy [in this novel]
E) [this novel] should be read with sensitivity and an open mind
If you’ve never seen an S.A.T. before, it might be difficult to guess the right answer. But if, through practice and exposure, you have managed to assimilate the ideology of the S.A.T. – the kind of decent, middlebrow earnestness that permeates the test – it’s possible to develop a kind of gut feeling for the right answer, the confidence to predict, in the pressure and rush of examination time, what the S.A.T. is looking for. A is suspiciously postmodern. B is far too dogmatic. C is something that you would never say to an eager, college-bound student. Is it D? Perhaps, but D seems too small a point. It’s probably E–and, sure enough, it is.
With that in mind, try this question:
2. The author of [this passage] implies that a work of art is properly judged on the basis of its:
A) universality of human experience truthfully recorded
B) popularity and critical acclaim in its own age
C) openness to varied interpretations, including seemingly contradictory ones
D) avoidance of political and social issues of minor importance
E) continued popularity through different eras and with different societies
Is it any surprise that the answer is A? Bob Schaeffer, the public education director of the anti-test group FairTest, says that when he got a copy of the latest version of the S.A.T. the first thing he did was try the reading comprehension section blind. He got twelve out of thirteen questions right.
The thing about these experts is that they don’t do this to prove how smart they are, or to prove how good they are at taking standardized tests. Most of these people are CRITICS of standardized tests! They do this to prove, or point out, the flawed nature of standardized test: the SAT Critical Reading Sections don’t really test for Reading Comprehensions.
So how do they do this? What they’re doing is simply pointing out what many high scorers on the SAT have known all along. Continue reading as I point out some of the indicators of good Critical Reading answers choices below.
Anatomy of a Good SAT Critical Reading Answer Choice
Have you ever noticed that many of the SAT Critical Reading reading comprehension answer choices is a matter of opinion? You ever think to yourself, “WTF, both the answers could be correct?” While in reality, you’re probably right; you could justify almost any answer choice on this test, you have to keep in mind that the SAT is a “standardized” test. That means that only the answer choices that can be justified “objectively” according to the CollegeBoard’s standards are correct. And since the Collegboard people are the ones who grade your tests, that’s what you’ll have to deal with. Well then, your goal should be to discern what types of answer choices the CollegeBoard wants. Remember, your goal is to learn to think like the creators of the SAT.
So without further ado, here are the Five factors that make a Good Critical Reading answer choice:
1. The Correct answer will always be the most defendable
Consider the following sentence:
- The recent findings on the uses of medical marijuana are the most controversial ever!
While such a sentence is typical of something you might read in the newspaper headlines, overhear in daily conversation, or even find in this blog, it’s too extreme to be the correct answer on an SAT test. As the extreme words “most” and “ever” suggest – as I pointed out in my last post – make this statement very hard to defend. How is one to objectively know that anything is the most controversial? And ever? That’s quite a timeframe to cover. This statement is more of an opinion than anything objectively measurable, and not likely something the author of a passage on the SAT would claim.
Good SAT answer choices on the other hand will be more defendable. They tend to have more moderate word choice and avoid the sweeping generalizations such as the one above. Rather than absolute ideas, they convey the ideas of more moderate terms such as may, might, can, or could.
2. Good answer choices are often paraphrased
The CollegeBoard people know that students will like employ the strategy of simply looking for keywords. A student may read the referenced portion of the passage, then look for keywords that appear among the answer choices. However, a choice that takes a lot of key words from the passage is often a trap.
On the other hand, the CollegeBoard people have gone through the trouble to paraphrase an answer choice, that is like to be the choice. For example, is a passage describes a character who is “sensitive to other peoples needs,” a correct answer choice may describe him as a “considerate” individual; a trap, on the contrary would may simply call him a “sensitive” person.
3. Good answer choices are often ones that are echoed in other questions
Ever realize that a few of the questions on pertaining to a Critical Reading passage point out the same thing? Well you should because it’s typical to see this in this section. It’s not that the test developers want to ask the same question over and over, it’s just that the question is pointing to one of the major themes of the passage! So if you think about it, while the questions may point to different parts of the passage, all the parts of the passage should serve the same purpose for the author: to further support his main idea.
4. Good Answer choices are politically correct
Not only are they politically correct, they’re in line with how society deems well-educated intellectuals should think. Ironically it’s probably not politically correct to be so crude in pointing this out, but my goal it’s simply true. This is what Malcolm Gladwell means when he more articulately points out “the kind of decent, middlebrow earnestness that permeates the test.”
5. Finally, Good Answer choices point out universal qualities of society and human nature.
This is especially true when the answer choice is in accord with my last point (#4). When both these qualities are found in an answer choice, it’s very likely the correct answer. Often times these answer choices will literally use the word universal – or a variation of it.
This concludes my tips on the reading comprehension question on the SAT. If anything is unclear, please comment below. I’d be glad to help you out.
Topics: Reading Passages, SAT Critical Reading |
3 Responses to “How to Answer SAT Critical Reading Questions without Reading the Passages”
Comments
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May 2nd, 2008 at 10:44 pm
Could you elaborate a little more in this section on the 5 things I should look for? 3,4,and 5 look a little underdeveloped. Thanks for all your work
May 13th, 2008 at 11:40 am
i want to be perfect at critical reading
November 30th, 2008 at 3:38 am
Hi, your tips have helped me enormously!
But, could you explain #4 and 5 with provided examples as you did for the previous tips?