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SAT Digital Reading and Writing Test quick start guide: Difference between revisions
SAT Digital Reading and Writing Test quick start guide (view source)
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'''Quick start guide for punctuation & grammar rules for the new 2024 digital format SAT Test''' | '''Quick start guide for punctuation & grammar rules for the new 2024 digital format SAT Test''' | ||
* see [[SAT Writing section techniques, strategies & approaches]] for more detailed instructions (related to the pre-2024 paper test) | * see [[SAT Writing section techniques, strategies & approaches]] for more detailed instructions (related to the pre-2024 paper test) | ||
Welcome to the Quick Start guide for the digital SAT. This entry covers all the Reading/Writing skills measured by the SAT test and equips students with the tools to build those skills. | |||
Please note that the SAT Reading/Writing is an evidence-based exam, so students are to develop the most effective and efficient approaches to the texts and questions about them. Although language is not as rules-based as mathematics, in that reading comprehension is a holistic skill, there are specific rules that students can master in order to approach the test using those rules. | |||
These rules include identification of paragraph and sentence construction, pronouns, modifiers, subject-verb matching, prepositional phrases, etc. -- and punctuation. You will find the punctuation rules at the bottom of this article entry, as punctuation follows and does not precede those other rules. Nevertheless, students should MEMORIZE the punctuation rules, just as they would a math formula, and then apply the other skills towards understanding their use. | |||
'''Abbreviations''' | '''Abbreviations''' | ||
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=== Skills === | === Skills === | ||
* Vocabulary | * Vocabulary | ||
** contextual identification,especially for parts of speech and word "type" | |||
** word definition anticipation | |||
* Reading comprehension, including | * Reading comprehension, including | ||
** paragraph construction (esp. topic and concluding sentences)0 | |||
** contextual purpose of a sentence | ** contextual purpose of a sentence | ||
** main point | ** main point | ||
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* Grammar & punctuation, including | * Grammar & punctuation, including | ||
** verb tense | ** verb tense | ||
** participle phrases | ** clauses and phrases, especially participle phrases | ||
** pronouns | |||
** modifiers, especially determiners ''(such, this, one,some, any,'' etc.) | |||
** punctuation of phrases, dependent clauses and independent clauses | ** punctuation of phrases, dependent clauses and independent clauses | ||
= Elimination = | |||
* On any multiple-choice question, the test-taker is presented with | |||
** a set of wrong answers designed to fool the test taker | |||
** a single correct answer similarly designed to fool the test-taker. | |||
* thereby, the test-taker must employ an elimination strategy that approaches every possible answer '''with distrust'''. | |||
=== The correct answer is not the best answer: it is the only answer that has no error === | |||
* wrong answers are designed to fool the student into making an incorrect association with the evidence | |||
* correct answers are designed to hide the correct association with the evidence | |||
=== Eliminate for errors, do not select for correctness === | |||
* make every possible answer account for itself | |||
* test it against the evedience | |||
* do not infer what is not there | |||
=== Inference === | |||
* is... given certain evidence we can conlude that... | |||
* is not ... given certain evidence we can insert new evidence | |||
=== Elimination types === | |||
{| class="wikitable" | |||
|'''Evidence''' | |||
|states | |||
|suggests | |||
|concludes | |||
|- | |||
|'''Inference''' | |||
|suggests | |||
|infers | |||
|draws | |||
|- | |||
|'''Degree''' | |||
|error of specificity | |||
|error of generality | |||
| | |||
|} | |||
= Reading Strategies quick start guide = | = Reading Strategies quick start guide = | ||
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* an apostrophe is a single hash mark that 1) creates contractions or 2) indicates possession | * an apostrophe is a single hash mark that 1) creates contractions or 2) indicates possession | ||
** contractions: cannot --> can't; they are --> they're; it is --> it's | ** contractions: cannot --> can't; they are --> they're; it is --> it's | ||
*** note: the SAT will never measure use the contraction 's with nouns other than "it" and "they" | |||
**** i.e., will not test use of the apostrophe such as "something's happening" for "something is happening" | |||
** possesion: | ** possesion: | ||
** <u>note</u>: | ** <u>note</u>: | ||
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**** ex. ''dog's bone'' | **** ex. ''dog's bone'' | ||
*** if a verb, preposition or adverb follow the possessive noun it is wrong | *** if a verb, preposition or adverb follow the possessive noun it is wrong | ||
**** note, hyphenated words do not use possessive form | |||
***** i.e., "the tradition is centuries-old" as opposed to the incorrect "century's old" or "centuries' old" | |||
*** an adjective may follow a possessive if that adjective is modifying the possessed noun | *** an adjective may follow a possessive if that adjective is modifying the possessed noun | ||
**** ex. ''dog's juicy bone'' | **** ex. ''dog's juicy bone'' | ||
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* note: use of an apostrophe to create a contraction with a noun and the verb, "to be" is informal and not measured on the SAT | * note: use of an apostrophe to create a contraction with a noun and the verb, "to be" is informal and not measured on the SAT | ||
**ex., "winning's good" for "winning is good" is informal | **ex., "winning's good" for "winning is good" is informal | ||
== Hyphen - == | |||
* a hypen does one thing: combine words | |||
** (a dash is used to combine or set aside sentence parts) | |||
* "hyphenated words" are words that are created by combining two distinct words with a hyphen | |||
** ex, ''friendly-looking, first-born, two-year-old, off-campus'' | |||
** the hyphenated word acts grammatically as a single word | |||
* the SAT generally does not measure use of hyphens | |||
= Punctuation and "restrictive elements" quick start guide = | = Punctuation and "restrictive elements" quick start guide = | ||