SAT Test Taking Tips

Posted in Test Tips, Tips on May 21, 2011

The SAT is the most popular standardized test used for admission into colleges and universities in the United States.  It includes three sections: math, critical reading, and writing.

General Tips

  • In each section of the SAT, the questions start out easy and become increasingly difficult.  Answer the questions that are easiest for you first.
  • Be careful about guessing.  For most questions, you don’t lose a point for omitting an answer, but you do lose a fractional point for a wrong answer.
  • Don’t spend more than one or two minutes on any one question.
  • Mark the test book in any way that will help you.
  • Keep track of time.
  • Bring water and healthy snacks to renew your mental and physical energy during breaks.

Math Section Tips

Most of the items in the math section are multiple-choice questions.

  • Use a calculator as needed.  (Be sure to bring a calculator.)
  • Use the test booklet for scratch work.
  • If stuck, try substituting the numbers given as answer choices for the variables in the question.

Other questions require that you come up with your own answers and fit them into a grid.

  • Since there is no penalty for wrong answers here, take your best guess if you can’t figure out the answer.
  • The answer cannot be a negative number.  Do the problem again if you come up with a negative number.
  • The answer cannot be a mixed number.  If your answer is a mixed number, convert it to an improper fraction or a decimal.

Critical Reading Section Tips

Some of the questions require you to read a sentence containing one or two blanks. You are required to select the answer choice that correctly completes the sentence.

  • Read the sentence and try to complete it before looking at the answer choices.  If what you come up is one of the answer choices, select it as your answer.
  • Read all the answer choices before selecting one.  Don’t just select the first one you come to that you think might be correct.
  • Be especially careful when sentences include negative words (e.g., not) or prefixes (e.g., un).  These change the meaning of a sentence.
  • When a sentence contains two blanks, do not select an answer choice unless you are certain that both words in the answer choice are correct.

Other questions require you to read a passage and select the correct answers to questions about the passage.

  • Read the passage before reading the questions.
  • As you read a passage look for the main ideas.  You can always go back to look for details.
  • Pay the most attention to the first and last sentence in a paragraph.
  • Some passages are presented in pairs.  In this case, read the introduction first to see how the passages are related.

Writing Section Tips

This section includes multiple-choice questions.  Some require you to improve sentences, others to find errors in sentences, and others to improve paragraphs.

  • Select an answer choice that seems simple and clear.  Do not select an answer choice that seems awkward and very complicated.
  • It is particularly important to read the questions and answer choices in this section very carefully.

This section also requires you to write a short, persuasive essay on an assigned topic within 25 minutes.

  • Because the score for your essay is based on the reader’s overall impression, express your ideas clearly using examples to back them up.
  • The standard five-paragraph essay is the best format to use.
  • Keep your writing as simple as possible.  Don’t be too “wordy.”
  • Focus on the organization of the essay rather than perfect grammar and spelling.
  • Avoid the use of slang.

 

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Direction Words In Essay Test Items

Posted in Essay Writting, Test Tips, Tips on March 16, 2010

Most essay test items are not presented in the form of a question. Instead, they are often presented as a statement that includes a direction word. The direction word tells you what you should do when you write your answer to the item. Look for the direction word and be sure to do what it tells you to do.

Here are the direction words that are most frequently used by teachers when they write essay test items. The meaning of each direction word is provided and is followed by an example of an essay test item using that direction word. Get to know what each of these direction words tells you to do.

  • Analyze – Analyze tells you to break something down into its parts and show how the parts relate to each other to make the whole.Analyze the factors that contribute to good health.
  • Compare – Compare tells you to show how two or more things are BOTH similar and different.
  • Compare the forms of government found in the United States and in China.
  • Contrast – Contrast tells you to show how two or more things are different.Contrast the Republican and Democratic political platforms.
  • Define – Define tells you to explain the meaning of something in a brief, specific manner.Define what is meant by “living life to the fullest.”
  • Describe – Describe tells you to present a full and detailed picture of something in words to include important characteristics and qualities.Describe what it was like to live in ancient Rome.
  • Diagram – Diagram tells you to illustrate something by drawing a picture of it and labeling its parts.Diagram a modern commercial jet airplane.
  • Evaluate – Evaluate tells you to present both the positive and negative characteristics of something.Evaluate the impact of rap music on American youth.
  • Explain – Explain tells you to provide facts and reasons to make something clear and understandable.Explain why the American Civil War occurred.Essay Tests, Student
  • Justify – Justify tells you to provide reasons and facts in support of something.Justify the need for the federal income tax.
  • List – List tells you to present information about something as a series of brief numbered points.List the ingredients needed to bake bread.
  • Outline – Outline tells you to present the most important information about something in a carefully organized manner.Outline what it takes to be successful in school.
  • Summarize – Summarize tells you to present the main points about something in a brief form.Summarize how Thomas Edison’s inventions have made our lives better.
  • Trace – Trace tells you to present the order in which something occurred.Trace the major events that led to America’s Declaration of Independence.

Recognizing these direction words and knowing what they tell you to do will help you do well when taking an essay test.

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