SAT Critical Reading: How to Read a Passage
February 25, 2009 by Adam
Filed under All Posts, Critical Reading, Passage Reading, SAT Strategies
When reading an SAT Critical Reading passage, underline the one or two most important parts of each paragraph. Don’t worry about absorbing every detail of the passage. Just read each paragraph quickly and underline the most important parts.
Even if you are not sure what is truly important, always be sure to underline SOMETHING in each paragraph. Underlining keeps you focused on the passage as well as marks information that can help you answer the questions. Most importantly, the more you practice underlining, the better your reading comprehension will become and, believe it or not, the faster you will actually read.
Re-read the underlined parts of Long Passages. Before answering the questions, quickly scan your underlining to give yourself a mental map of the passage. This quick and easy strategy really helps put the various parts of the passage in context.
Tip: Always read the italicized introduction and any asterisked (*) notes. The introduction and notes are very helpful in giving context to the passage and filling in extra details that help you answer the questions more easily.
From my SAT training guide: SAT Unlocked.
Nice advice, Adam. Thank you. I would also recommend one more thing which has been extremely successful with a lot of my students. After you finish reading each paragraph, take a quick (1-3 second) break and summarize, in your mind, what you’ve just read. As you do each subsequent paragraph, as yourself how it connected to the previous one. By the time you’re done, you’ll have a really solid big-picture view of the paragraph and easily know where to find the information you need. It takes a little getting used to so don’t fret if the going is slow at first. Once you get the hang of it, though, it will very likely improve your comprehension.
Great advice Jay! Thanks.