asdfghjkl; Flashcards
interpreting words and phrases in context (if a question asks what a certain word/phrase means in that context)
plug in the answer choices and choose the one that makes sense
analyzing word choice rhetorically (if a question asks how/why the author uses a certain word or phrase and shapes the style of the test)
ask what exactly the word/phrase is doing, and come up with an answer before looking at the options. pick the option that matches what you predicted
answer questions such as “what evidence supports this” or “how relevant is this information”
think like an author, think of what an author would have done or how you would have written it.
support a certain claim with evidence from the passage
actually go through the passage to find evidence for the answer you chose. pick the one with the most evidence directly from the passage, not just your own thoughts
interpret data from a graph
read the graph and ask yourself what story it’s telling, what the axis and the data, and the title represent, and what it tells you. write this down in your own words and use it to get the answer
understand what evidence would strengthen an argument
identify the evidence that the author relies on most heavily, state the argument in your own words, and identify/make a prediction of what would make it better BEFORE looking at the answer choices
interpreting data presented in graphics
underline what you’re supposed to answer (written in the question) and only look for that
improving the passage’s structure, support, and focus
underline what you’re supposed to answer (written in the question) and only look for that, don’t just choose the answer that sounds best
analyzing word choice (questions that ask about the function of certain words, or what they do and how they create meaning and tone)
go through the indicated paragraph in the passage and ask yourself what the words do; make a prediction before looking at the answer choices and then eliminate the options that don’t match
analyzing text structure (questions that ask about text structure, order, and a line/sentence/paragraph as it relates to the whole passage)
rephrase the question (“how is the passage structured? what is the function of each paragraph?” etc.) and make a prediction before looking at the answers
take note of what makes each answer choice different from each other; whichever difference is supported by the text is your answer
analyze point of view (questions that ask about the point of view of the author or of the authors of multiple passages)
determine what the point of each passage is in your own words.
analyzing purpose (questions that ask about the purpose of a paragraph or passage)
look over the part of the text yourself and ask yourself what it does. predict an answer before looking at the options.
analyzing arguments (questions that ask about the central claim of a passage or the content and structure of an argument)
rephrase the question and formulate an answer before looking at the answer choices. pick the one that most matches your response
analyzing multiple texts (questions that ask for the relationship between two passages)
understand and say in your own words the points of each passage individually. write them down and then compare.
analyze quantitative information and how it relates to passages
focus on KEY WORDS in the questions. circle them, make sure you understand them fully, and determine where the information related to those keywords is located
SQ3R (while reading fiction in the SAT)
Survey (read the blurb and each question, skim the first sentences in each paragraph, underline keywords in each question) questions,
Question what the passage is about, what it’s trying to say, and why it exists
Read (summarize what you need to look for and then start reading, circling whatever is relevant to the questions as well as the claim, the ideas that are being supported/rejected, and any contrast words such as “but,” “although,” etc.),
Recite (summarize the sequence of events and main details of the story to yourself. after each paragraph, recite whatever info you learned)
Review (review the main purpose and ideas and go through the questions based on what you read)
while reading social science passages in the SAT
Read the blurb and comprehend it
Skim the questions and mark where in the passage the question discusses
Read the whole passage and answer the questions as you go. Summarize the main point of each paragraph every time you finish a new paragraph
reading paired passages
survey the questions.
read passage 1.
answer passage 1’s questions.
read passage 2.
answer passage 2’s questions
what is the most important rule for reading passages?
/find textual evidence for each answer you choose/, don’t just make a guess based on your poor memory!!
RIP-RAP for SAT reading questions
Rephrase If Possible (rephrase the question in your own words using how, what, or why to figure out what it’s looking for)
Read Around and Predict (answer it in your own words before looking at any answer choices. find concrete evidence in the text that supports this answer.)
what are the best answers for explicit information questions (questions that ask you to choose something that is explicitly mentioned in the passage)
the answer that paraphrases a statement from the passage, is relevant to the question being asked, and is directly supported by textual evidence
how to answer an explicit information question
eliminate any answers that introduce new information that wasn’t in the passage, and search for matching keywords within the question and the passage
how to answer an implicit information question (a question that asks for inferences/logical conclusions based on evidence in the passage)
choose answers that are completely relevant to the question being asked and have clear textual evidence. only make small leaps in reasoning and choose options with clear, factual evidence
how to answer a point of view question (a question that asks to analyze the point of view of the author, a character, or a researcher mentioned in the passage)
understand how extreme that person’s opinion is, make sure the evidence of the point of view is for the right person, make sure that the answer choice has clear textual evidence, mark positive and negative statements in the text, and read the passage in its entirely to understand the full scope of that person’s point of view
how to answer an analyzing relationships question (a question that asks for the relationship between two ideas that either agree or disagree)
identify how the two ideas are connected based on explicit information, specific word choice, and the tone of the author by choosing the option that is clearly supported by the text. make a prediction before reading the answer choices and then read the answers thoroughly to make sure that the ideas weren’t accidentally switched or almost right, while eliminating any new information introduced in the answer choices and searching for keywords
how to cite evidence/answer a question that asks for evidence
lines that provide direct evidence are better than lines that are near the textual evidence or in the same paragraph. in paired questions the information contained in the evidence needs to correctly answer the first question, meaning that the claim chosen in the first question also needs to be relevant and supported by clear textual evidence.
in paired questions, the first question should be rephrased, and the option chosen from the second question should answer the rephrased version of the first question.
how to answer “main idea” questions
focus on the big picture, not just a small part of the text.
use only information that is directly contained in the passage to figure out the main idea
make sure the answer you choose is supported by textual evidence
make sure you understand how extreme the point that is being made in the passage is
make a prediction of the answer to the question in your own words, skim through the passage (beginning and ending paragraphs or sentences in each paragraph) and then choose an answer based on your prediction
how to use analogical reasoning (answering questions that ask for similar scenarios or to identify similarities between different situations)
focus on the idea that’s being compared, not the details; make sure that every key word or phrase is exactly the same as the idea featured in the passage/question, use your own words to describe the situation but without minor details such as the people, place, topic, or items involved. find a pattern between the structure of the answer choices
how to answer questions about a passage’s overall structure
make sure the answer chosen describes the overall structure of the whole passage, not just a small part of the passage. make sure that the answer is also completely supported by textual evidence and that every word or phrase is valid. skim the passage for central ideas.
how to answer questions that ask for the main intended purpose of a paragraph or passage
focus on the entire passage, not just small parts of it. only identify why exactly it was written and nothing else. make sure the answer chosen matches the extremity (or lack thereof) of the author’s opinion and doesn’t draw any further conclusions. rephrase, track the flow of ideas, ask “so what,” and make sure you are answering the right question
how to answer part-whole relationship questions (questions that ask how one part of the passage serves the entire passage)
identify what their function is and what they’re doing. make sure you understand how extreme an author’s opinion is on the specific topic, that the answer chosen tells WHY the author included certain details, and that it is textually supported. use RIP-RAP for these types of questions especially.
how to identify words in context (questions that ask what a word is used for in a certain context)
choose only the definition that works best /within the context of the passage/ and applies to the thing that the passage is describing. summarize the sentence that the word is in and/or plug in the answer choice into the sentence.
how to analyze word choice (questions that ask what a specific word or phrase does or conveys in the passage)
make sure all of the details in the answer choice are relevant to the specific part of the passage where the word or phrase is found, and that you are interpreting the word correctly in context alongside how it affects the passage. focus on how they make the text feel but don’t stretch your imagination; make sure it it backed up by evidence.
how to evaluate evidence (questions that ask how a specific piece of evidence affects – supports/weakens – a certain idea on the passage)
make sure that all information in the answer choice is relevant and directly supports or weakens the author’s idea. make sure that the answer choice only refers to relevant information from the passage that the question asks you to focus on. make sure that the answer choice correctly identifies how the textual feature fits into the author’s argument. determine what type of evidence the author uses. rephrase the claim in your own words and then check to see what evidence supports or contradicts your version of the claim.
how to interpret graphs and data (Reading) (questions that ask what the data represents or how it relates to claims in the passage)
if the graph gives data about multiple topics, make sure you’re looking at the right information. make sure the answer chosen interprets the trend in the data correctly. make sure that the answer choice is also relevant to both the passage /and/ the figure. read the label and summarize the figure in your own words.
how to analyze paired passages (comparing and contrasting two passages)
make sure the claims that are being addressed occur in /both/ passages. read choices carefully and completely and make sure ideas aren’t flipped between authors or passages. read and finish all of the questions for one passage before moving on to the next one. think of what transition word would best connect two passages to each other.
how to mark up a passage on writing and language test
circle or underline important details of passages and questions, cross out extra words to simplify complex sentences, use process of elimination
while answering all sat questions, you should
mark any questions you aren’t 100% sure about so that if you have time, you can go back and re-check only those questions
how to set up ideas (questions that ask you to pick the choice that best sets up and prepares the reader to understand the information that comes next)
ask yourself what the main topic and purpose of the following information is, then choose the answer that matches topic and purpose.
eliminate all answers that are not directly related.
find the answer choice that glances over the topic that the examples go deeper into.
how to answer a strong support questions (questions that ask you to pick the choice that provides the strongest and most direct evidence to a certain claim in the passage)
only answer the question that is being asked; identify the exact idea(s) that is being supported
restate the claim and choose the answer choice that matches that idea(s). eliminate all irrelevant answer
how to answer questions that ask you to decide if an addition should or should not be made to the passage
first, narrow down the options by choosing yes or no.
focus on the immediate context, not the context of the entire passage
identify the purpose of the sentence to determine if it is useful and matches the context
how to answer questions that ask where a certain sentence should be placed
ask if the paragraph is structured chronologically, if ideas are explained before they are introduced, and if sentences need to be next to one another.
make a prediction of where it should be placed before reading the answer choices
focus on what transition phrases match which sentences
identify any unclear pronouns that you aren’t sure what they refer to
how to answer questions that ask you to identify/avoid transition word errors
identify the exact purpose that the transition is supposed to serve. if two answer choices seem to function in the same way, eliminate both of them
how to answer questions that ask you to pick a sentence that provides a transition and bridge the gap between two ideas
restate the information that comes before and after the gap in simpler terms so that you can understand what’s missing, identify the purpose of the information that comes after. understand exactly what you’re looking for
how to answer questions that ask you to provide an appropriate introduction or conclusion to a paragraph or passage
restate the main idea and find an answer choice that matches that main idea. figure out the purpose of the information you are introducing or concluding. have a prediction ready.
how to answer questions that ask you to interpret data from a graph or diagram
look at the graph first and keep in mind whatever measurements, units, and trends are present in the graph. try to find answers that match what you found.
focus only on numbers and quantities and eliminate choices that don’t match the clear data.
how to answer questions that ask you to identify/avoid word choice errors or pick the proper word choice
focus mainly on the context of the passage and the connotation of the word.
how to answer questions that ask about style, tone, and language of the passage
informational or scientific passages generally use plain straightforward language that avoids any slang, while friendly and conversational passages avoid overly elevated or technical language.
there are two categories: formal and informal. three of the answer choices will be in one category and the remaining one will be the correct answer. choose the answer that is the odd one out.
generally, unfamiliar words = formal. between two possibly correct choices, pick the shorter one.
how to answer questions that ask about using words in context that are frequently confused
make sure that the answer you choose not only uses the correct word, but is also grammatically correct and does not have any other errors unrelated to vocabulary.
how to answer questions that ask you to avoid redundancy and identify what would make a sentence more concise
identify compound verb phrases, listed adjectives, listed adverbs, and implied descriptors and remove the redundancies. shorter answer choices are better, and removing the repetitive parts of the sentence is usually the best option.
how to answer questions that ask you to identify and remove sentence fragments (sentences that lack an independent clause, i.e. they misuse words [subordinating conjunctions {since, although, because, etc.}, relative pronouns {who, which, etc.}] unnecessarily or they lack a subject/verb)
cross out nonessential phrases (ones that are between parentheses, commas, dashes, etc.) to find the error. look for -ing words that lack helping verbs.
how to conjugate verb tense and mood
use surrounding verbs as a guide and have a basic knowledge of english grammar
if a statement is true regardless of time frame, use present tense
how to answer questions that ask you to correct modifier (words/phrases that describe something or someone) placement
make sure that the noun that the modifier refers to is not being made possessive. change only the underlined portion of the sentence and nothing else.
how to answer questions that ask you to identify pronoun clarity errors (i.e. when a pronoun has multiple possible antecedents or no possible antecedents)
find the antecedent of the pronoun that is being used and be specific by replacing the pronouns with that antecedent.
how to answer questions that ask you to fix when a singular pronoun is paired with a plural antecedent or vice versa
identify the antecedent of the pronoun in question and make sure that you don’t overlook all pronouns in the sentence.
how to fix its/it’s or their/there/their errors
identify whether the noun being referred to is singular or plural. identify the antecedent. read out contraction words
how to fix errors with possessive (ends with ‘s or s’) or plural nouns (ends with s)
check every noun that is underlined in the question and make sure that your answer makes sense for all of them
how to fix errors with subject-verb agreement (making sure that the noun and verb both match in number)
identify when a plural noun is paired with a singular verb or a singular noun is paired with a plural verb. remove nonessential phrases or anything extra in between the subject and verb. remember that all collective nouns are singular. flip inverted sentences.
how to fix errors with noun agreements (making sure singular nouns aren’t used where plural nouns should be and vice versa)
ensure that plural nouns are used to refer to compound noun phrases and that descriptive nouns match the subject in number
how to fix errors with conventional expressions
study conventional expressions and use your instincts.
how to answer questions that ask you to identify errors in lists of two or more (in which the structure of an item doesn’t match the others)
different parts of speech should not be linked together in one list. avoid repetition within the list and modify what you can change (the part that’s underlined) to match whatever you can’t
rules about semicolons
a semicolon can only link two independent clauses when there is no conjunction (but, although, and, etc.) and separate list items when a comma cannot be used (because the list items contain a comma)
look out for commas to see if a semicolon would be a better replacement. look before and after semicolons to see if the clauses can stand on their own as complete sentences
rules about colons
colons are used to link a dependent and independent clause together, either for explanatory purposes/extra information or to introduce a list.
the part that comes before a colon should always be an independent clause: something that would make sense if the colon was turned into a period. a colon should be the /only/ thing introducing the information; words like “such as” should not be used after colons.
rules about lists and punctuation
commas should not be used in lists of two. they should be used to separate items in a list of more than two, but lists whose items contain commas can be separated with semicolons. commas come before the “and”/”or”
avoid choices that use colons or dashes within a list and be consistent with punctuation use across all items in a list. all items in a list should be separated with the same punctuation
rules about nonessential elements
nonessential elements (words or phrases that aren’t necessary for the sentence to make sense but are still used for descriptive purposes)
at the beginning or end of a sentence, they only need punctuation on one side (the right or left, respectively)
the punctuation used for nonessential elements needs to be consistent - both sides of the element should be surrounded with the same punctuation. semicolons or colons should now be used around a nonessential element.
rules about clauses
and independent clause can stand on its own as a sentence, a dependent clause can’t. comma splice errors are when two independent clauses are linked by a comma. in these cases semicolons or periods should be used instead. only one conjunction is needed in a sentence to link two clauses
interpret math scenarios
explain to yourself (in plain english) what all of the numbers mean. try to really understand the scenario that’s going on before solving anything
how to find a perpendicular line
get the slope of an existing line, then find the negative reciprocal of that slope, which will be the slope of the perpendicular line
solving function equations
the number of solutions for f(x) = k corresponds to the number of times the f(x) graph intersects with y = k
if we know that f(x) is supposed to have 4 solutions, then the line for k with the correct y-value will be the one that intersects f(x) four times
find the radius of a circle from a standard-form equation
the square root of the value of that equation equals the radius of the circle
exponents
divide the exponent by a number to get a smaller exponent. calculate that smaller exponent and then multiply the product by the number the exponent was divided by
ex: x^10 = x^2x^2x^2x^2x^2
(this equation should not be written as 5(x^2); that isn’t an exponent, it’s repeated addition)
prevent mathematical mistakes
write down every single step on paper so that you can review it. don’t go too fast; slow down. underline the question that is being asked and circle key words that will be useful in calculations.
time management on no calculator section
7 mins for the first ten questions, 7 - 10 mins for the last ten, skipping questions that take more than 70 seconds. this means that you have 6 - 9 minutes to check your work, review questions that were skipped, and review questions that you marked as being unsure of
eliminating incorrect answers on linear word problems.
if they switch variables, that answer should be eliminated. for example, $3 t-shirt and $15 backpack should always be written with the corresponding variables, for example 3t and 15b, so if the variables are swapped and it’s 3b and 15t, that’s the answer that should be eliminated first.
analyzing word problem questions
read the question that is being asked (usually towards the end of the word problem) so that you know what to look for and can circle important words.
using answer choices to solve math problems
before solving the problem, look at the answer choices and notice the similarities and differences they have with each other. if two of the answer choices have “x + 10” and two have “2x + 10” in them, you know that the choice between x and 2x is going to be an important one, and you should be extra careful when doing that part of the problem.
checking your work in math
if you have time, thoroughly check your work. number your steps so that you can track what may have went wrong
linear equations
finding the value of a variable in a simple equation (e.g. 2x + 1 = 5)
always treat both sides equally and combine like terms. if an equation contains only fractions, multiply each fraction by the least common multiple of all denominators.
when would the signs have to be swapped (> becomes < and vice versa) in an inequality?
solving an inequality in which both sides are multiplied or divided by a negative number
removing unknowns from a linear equation on both sides
in order to find out if an equation has no solutions, figure out what the equation would look like if the unknowns on both sides of the equation were equal (ex: if 3ax - 11 = 6x + 6, if 3ax was equal to 6x the equation would be -11 = 6 meaning there are no solutions)
rewriting absolute value equation |ax + b| = c
ax + b = c
ax + b = -c
