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SAT Reading section techniques, strategies & approaches: Difference between revisions
SAT Reading section techniques, strategies & approaches (view source)
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** social media and other technological challenges to modern society | ** social media and other technological challenges to modern society | ||
** libraries, academics, and information technology | ** libraries, academics, and information technology | ||
== Vocabulary == | |||
* SAT Reading measures contextual vocabulary not strict vocabulary knowledge | |||
=== Contextual vocabulary approach & strategy === | |||
* read the surrounding paragraph/s for context | |||
** read more than just the immediate sentence | |||
** frequently, an answer is clarified by prior or subsequent sentences | |||
** see Practice Test 1, Reading question no. 12 | |||
*** to answer this question, the student must read two sentences ahead | |||
*** to identify the contextual meaning of "ambivalent," the student must identify that the "ambivalent feelings" result from both that "Many relish the opportunity" and ... "many dread the thought" | |||
**** notice, also, the transitional phrase, "At the same time": | |||
<pre> | |||
This frequent experience of gift-giving can engender [ambivalent] feelings in gift-givers. Many relish the opportunity to buy presents because gift-giving offers a powerful means to build stronger bonds with one’s closest peers. At the same time, many dread the thought of buying gifts; they worry that their purchases will disappoint rather than delight the intended recipients. | |||
</pre> | |||
* identify the part of speech of the vocabulary word | |||
** usually it is a noun, adjective, or verb | |||
* identify how that word interacts grammatically with the surrounding word/s: | |||
{| class="wikitable" | |||
|+ | |||
!If it is a... | |||
! | |||
! | |||
! | |||
|- | |||
|noun | |||
|is it modified by an adjective? | |||
|is it the subject or object of a verb? | |||
is it the object of a non-finite verb (i.e., is it part of a participle or prepositional phrase)? | |||
| | |||
|- | |||
|verb | |||
|is it modified by an adverb? | |||
|what is its subject and object or other complement (i.e. what is the full predicate)? | |||
| | |||
|- | |||
|adjective | |||
|what is the noun it modifies? | |||
| | |||
| | |||
|} | |||
* if there is a similar word type in the sentence, use it to identify a parallel meaning | |||
** ex. from Test 9, Reading question no. 10 | |||
** the vocabular term "clean" must be similar in use to "pure" | |||
** both adjectives describe a "sound" that the narrator heard | |||
<pre> | |||
"And listen to this.” And I heard a sound as [clean] and pure as a small silver bell. “The high-pitched tone tells you that the soot is very fine, as smooth as the sliding banks of old rivers." | |||
A) complete. | |||
B) skillful. | |||
C) distinct. | |||
D) upright. | |||
</pre><blockquote>A) complete does not match "pure"; also, sounds are not "completed" | |||
B) skillful < sounds may be skillfully created, but the sound itself cannot be skillful | |||
C) distinct > correctly matches "pure" | |||
D) upright < sounds cannot be "upright"</blockquote> | |||
* next, identify the "type" or characteristic of the word: | |||
* is it used for... | |||
** people | |||
** ideas/ concepts | |||
** things | |||
** animals or plants | |||
* eliminate according to that "type" that it is (noun), does (verb) or is like (adjective) | |||
=== Useful vocabulary === | |||
* '''merely''' | |||
** = "only" | |||
** the SAT frequently measures student comprehension of this word | |||
** note that "merely" is different from "a little," "a few" or "few" | |||
== Comprehending difficult text == | == Comprehending difficult text == | ||