What Is on the SAT? The SAT has approximately 160 questions divided into nine test sections. There are: ■ 3 critical reading sections (two 25-minute sections and one 20-minute section) ■ 3 math sections (two 25-minute sections and one 20-minute section) ■ 3 writing sections (one 25-minute multiplechoice section, one 10-minute multiple-choice section, and one 25-minute essay) Your scores on these nine sections make up your total SAT score, which is worth 2,400 points. In addition, there is one more section—either critical reading, multiple-choice writing, or math—that is used as an experimental, or equating, section that does not count toward your SAT score. Thus, you will have a total of ten sections on test day. The first section will always be the 25-minute essay, and the last will always be the 10-minute multiple-choice writing section. The other sections can appear in any order in between. There is absolutely no way to determine which of the test sections is the experimental section, so it is important to do your very best on every part of the test. Most of the questions on the SAT are in a fivechoice multiple-choice format. The exceptions are the essay and the math grid-ins, questions for which you must generate your own answers and enter them in grids on your answer sheet. The ten grid-in questions and the essay are the only questions on the SAT that don’t show you a list of possible answer choices. The good news is that about 160 questions give you the correct answer. You just have to determine which of the answers is the right one. Chapters 3, 4, and 5 contain lots of strategies for choosing the correct answer from the choices provided by the SAT test-makers. –INTRODUCTION TO THE SAT– Critical Reading Questions There are three critical reading sections: two 25- minute sections and one 20-minute section. There are three types of critical reading questions: sentence completions, passage-length critical reading questions, and paragraph-length critical reading questions. All of them are multiple-choice questions with five answer choices, a–e. In Chapter 3 of this book, you will find detailed discussions of all three types of critical reading questions, including sample questions and lots of strategies for choosing the correct answer. Sentence Completion questions test your vocabulary and your ability to follow the logic of complicated sentences. Each of these questions has either one or two blanks within a single sentence.Often, the sentences are long and difficult to follow, but with practice, you can learn to master them. There are approximately nineteen of these questions. Passage-Length Critical Reading questions test your understanding of fairly difficult passages, such as those you might encounter in college. The passages, typically several hundred words in length, are drawn from writings in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. You will have to analyze the passages in sophisticated ways, such as making inferences from the authors’ statements, interpreting rhetorical and stylistic devices, and selecting the correct meaning of one of the words used. Again, practice will make perfect—or nearly so. By the time you finish this book, you will understand how best to approach these questions. That’s a good thing, because there are about forty of them on the SAT. Paragraph-Length Critical Reading questions test your ability to analyze shorter texts.Most passages will be 100–200 words long, followed by two to five questions— a sharp contrast to the half dozen or more questions that follow the long reading comprehension passages. Like the reading comprehension passages, these texts will contain college-level material, and you will be asked about a range of reading comprehension issues. Also, every SAT will have at least one (or more) pair of related short passages. You can expect there to be about eight paragraph-length critical reading questions on the exam. Math Questions There are three math sections on the SAT: two 25- minute sections and one 20-minute section. There are two types of math questions: five-choice and grid-ins. For the grid-ins, you come up with the answer yourself instead of choosing from a list of possible answers. The good news about the math on the SAT is that it is not necessary to have aced every math class you’ve ever taken to do well on the test. Nor do you have to remember a lot of formulas from geometry. The SAT is designed to test how well you can apply the formulas, as well as how well you can work with them. In fact, the ETS supplies you with a section of formulas relevant to the problems you will be working on. Of course, you still have to know what to do with the formulas, and this book will help you. Note that the test contains algebra II, but it does not include quantitative comparison questions. For the multiple-choice math questions, you will be given five answer choices. Questions are drawn from the areas of arithmetic, geometry, statistics, and algebra I and II; and you will be asked to apply skills in those areas to the LOGICAL solution of a variety of problems, many of them word problems. Remember: Learn to notice a word in all capital letters, such as the word logical here. If you can think logically, you can prepare to do well on the math portion of the SAT. About 80% of the questions on the math section will be multiple choice. Writing Questions The writing section has three parts: the essay (25 minutes) and two multiple-choice sections (25 minutes and 10 minutes). If the thought of writing an essay makes you cringe, don’t worry. First, it’s only one essay, and a short one at that (after all, how much can you write in 25 minutes?). Second, your topic will be very general. Third, the SAT is looking for a very specific kind of essay. The multiple-choice section has three types of questions: ■ Identifying sentence errors ■ Improving sentences ■ Improving paragraphs These questions test your knowledge of grammar, usage, and general writing and revision strategies. Dr. Ahmed Ezzat SAT Math Instructor 01001600522
Posted on: Sun, 13 Jul 2014 18:20:08 +0000