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The #1 Critical, Fundamental Strategy

of SAT Reading

Posted by Samantha Lindsay | Jul 6, 2015 9:00:00 AM

SAT READING

There are many di erent strategies out there for solving SAT Reading questions, but
1 succeeding on this section really only requires mastery of one fundamental rule.
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That rule is this: There’s only one 100% correct answer choice, and all the others
can be eliminated without any ambiguity.

Read on to nd out how this applies to your test-taking strategy and how you can use
the rule to improve your scores.

Reasons for the Fundamental Rule

In this section, I'll go over some background information on the rule and explain why
it makes sense.

Why Is There No Ambiguity in Answers on the SAT Reading Section? 

As you know, the SAT is a standardized test. Standardized tests market themselves as

objective measures of academic skill; without this objectivity, they lose their
relevance. 

Even a subject like reading, where answers are typically more subjective, must
be tested using questions that have only one objectively correct answer. The
test would be greatly weakened if people could challenge the questions all the time
and argue convincingly that more than one answer could be correct. The College
Board would have to throw out all the questions that were disputed, leaving them
with less data to calculate scores and a reputation for unreliability.

How Does the College Board Make Sure Ambiguity Never Happens?

The answer to every reading question can be found directly in the text of the
passage. Since the College Board can’t allow any room for interpretation, questions
must nd ways of restating information that’s already in the text.

Questions might might use phrases like “most nearly means” or “is best described as”
to trick you into thinking more ambiguously about the answers and giving too many
of them a fair shot.Don’t let this happen to you! Always remember: ONE ANSWER
CHOICE TO RULE THEM ALL.

 
Types of Wrong Answers

Let's go over the four types of incorrect answer choices you might see on the test and
how to spot them!

Type #1: Extra Information or Slightly O

Be a sleuth for extra details in answer choices that aren't backed up by the passage.
Even one unsupported descriptive word can make an answer incorrect. 

Sometimes, an answer will have two parts. If one part works and the other part
doesn't, you still need to eliminate it! Make sure you look at both parts of the
answer carefully and cross it out if you think either part doesn’t t. 

Type #2: Opposite

Even if you don’t know the exact answer to the question, you will be able to tell if
relationships in the passage were reversed. These answer choices can be tricky
because if you’re reading quickly, you might not catch that things are in the
wrong order. That's why it’s so important to double check your answers!

Type #3: Irrelevant or Concept Jumble

Irrelevant answers can be tricky because they prey on students’ tendency to

overthink the question and twist any choice into a plausible answer. If something
seems unrelated to what you read, it’s wrong. Don’t doubt yourself!

Similar to these are concept jumble answer choices, which create weird amalgams of
stu you read in the passage but don’t actually say anything relevant to the
question. Again, if you’re going too fast these can be a problem for you. Never
choose an answer just because it contains key words. 

Type #4: Plausible Interpretation

These ones can be tough to eliminate, especially if you’re used to viewing literature in
the context of English classes where many interpretations are valid. Again, you
should only rely on direct evidence to answer Reading questions.

Even if the answer seems like it could represent a valid perspective on the passage, if
it isn’t supported directly by the text, you need to eliminate it.

ALWAYS.

Process of Elimination in Action: Sample Question

Now let's take a look at a real SAT Reading question and gure out which three
choices can be eliminated. Here's the section of the passage you'll need to read to
answer the question: 
To give a bit of background, the passage as a whole is discussing the position of
women in English society. It was written in 1938, soon after women began to join
men in the workforce in large numbers. This question asks us to identify the
purpose of lines 72-76 in the passage. Remember, we need to nd concrete
evidence for the answer we end up choosing.

Upon reading these lines and the lines immediately afterwards, it appears that they
are meant to emphasize the need for women to continue to critique the society
they nd themselves in even as more barriers to their full participation are
lifted ("Where in short is it leading us, the procession of the sons of educated men?").
Now we can go through the choices and gure out which ones to cross out:

Choice A: This is an example of a plausible interpretation answer. While it's true

that the challege that women face at this period in time is a novel one, lines 72-76 do
not exist speci cally to emphasize that fact. Notice that there is no reference to the
fact that this is a new challege either in those lines or in the rest of the paragraph.
This choice can be eliminated.

Choice B: This choice is promising. The lines emphasize critical re ection for
women who are now joining male-dominated professions. The main point is that
even as women join the professional ranks, they should continue to question the
nature of the society as a whole. They should keep in mind that it is shaped by its
long tradition of excluding women from the public sphere. As the author says, "Let
us never cease from thinking - what is this civilization in which we nd
ourselves?"

Choice C: This is another plausible interpretation answer that is just too broad to
be the correct choice. The purpose of the lines is not speci cally to emphasize the
complexity of the political and social issues of the day, even if the fact of this
complexity is brought to the forefront by the passage as a whole. We're looking for a
more narrowly focused answer that deals speci cally with the lines in the question.

Choice D: This is an irrelevant answer that borders on an opposite answer. It

misses the point of these lines entirely. They are not meant to emphasize the
multitude of new career prospects for women. Rather, the passage encourages
women not to step blindly into these new elds without examining why they do so
and whether they should carry on the traditions of a society that originally took shape
with their exclusion in mind. 

Ok, based on my notes about each answer, choices A, C, and D can all be eliminated.
That means choice B must be the correct response! Choice B has direct evidence
backing it up, and it matches our original interpretation of the lines perfectly. 

 
Let’s Review

The fundamental rule of SAT Reading is that there is only ONE absolutely correct
answer choice, and the rest can be eliminated!

There are two types of SAT Reading questions: passage-based questions and
sentence completion questions. 

You can detect incorrect answer choices by watching for:

Answers that contain extra information or are slightly o

Answers that represent the opposite of the relationship described in the passage

Answers that are irrelevant or are just a mish-mash of concepts found in the

passage

Answers that are plausible interpretations of the passage, but are not supported by
any direct evidence

As long as you remember that the correct answer must restate something in the
passage, you should be able to eliminate three out of four answer choices on most
Reading questions and end up with a great score!

What's Next?

If you're interested in more tips on raising a low Reading score, take a look at this
article!

Also check out our advice on how to read passages e ectively and stop running out
of time. 

If you already have a good Reading and Writing score, but you want to make it great,
read our article on how to get an 800!

Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points? 

Check out our best-in-class online SAT prep program. We guarantee your
money back if you don't improve your SAT score by 160 points or more.
 Our program is entirely online, and it customizes what you study to your
strengths and weaknesses. If you liked this Reading lesson, you'll love our
program. Along with more detailed lessons, you'll get thousands of practice
problems organized by individual skills so you learn most e ectively. We'll also
give you a step-by-step program to follow so you'll never be confused about
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Check out our 5-day free trial:

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