Foundations: Information and Ideas Flashcards
What are “textual evidence” questions?
On the Reading and Writing section of your SAT, some questions will introduce a claim about an unfamiliar subject. The question will then ask you to identify the piece of evidence that most strongly supports that claim.
What are the 2 types of textual evidence questions? And explain what it mostly consists of and what is our task for each one of them.
1)Scientific evidence
A hypothesis will be presented about a subject in science or social science, usually in the context of new research or experimentation.
Our task is to interpret the researchers’ hypothesis, identify the research outcome that would support that hypothesis, and then select the choice that offers that outcome.
2)Literary evidence
the passage will make an argument concerning a particular literary work, like a poem or novel. The choices will then offer a set of quotations from that literary work.
Our task is to evaluate whether the content of each quotation serves as direct evidence for the argument identified in the question.
How to approach textual evidence questions? Give a top tip
step 1: Identify the argument
ex: research hypothesis, or interpretation of a literary text
step 2: rephrase that argument in the simplest terms possible. The best choice will make this same argument
step 3: Read each choice while keeping your test phrase in mind. Does the choice say something different than the test phrase? If so, eliminate that choice. Once you find a choice that makes the same argument as your test phrase, you’ve found the answer. You can select that choice with confidence.
Tips: Eliminate choices that broaden or blur the argument you’re meant to be supporting and If a choice “almost” or “kind of” feels like evidence, you can likely eliminate it
What are “quantitative evidence” questions?
On the Reading and Writing section of your SAT, some questions will provide you with a graph or table that presents information about an unfamiliar topic. The question will then offer some context for that information and ask you to complete a sentence by effectively using data from the graph or table.
How to approach quantitative evidence questions?
1) Skim the graph. You can read the title, the labels, the units, and the key. Those should give you a good idea of what the graph contains without taking up too much of your time.
2) The text should be your main focus. It will tell you what data to look for.
3) Read the choices and check them against the information in the graph. Are the choices true or false?
If they’re false, eliminate the false choices. If they’re true, proceed to step 4.
4) Take your summary of the argument and test it against each remaining choice. Only one choice will provide direct support for that argument. You can select this choice with confidence.
Top tips:
Use your finger/cursor to read graph data
What are “central ideas and details” questions?
On the Reading and Writing section of your SAT, some questions will present a short passage for you to read. The passage may be excerpted from a work of literature or from a scholarly essay.
Once you read the passage, you’ll be asked either to identify the main idea of the text or to answer a specific question based on the text.
How to approach central ideas and details questions ?
Step 1: Summarize the text in your own words.
Step 2: Determine the task. The question that follows the passage will reveal your task. Does it ask about the “main idea”? Or does it ask about a particular piece of information (detail)?
Step 3: Revisit the text
Step 4: Predict and eliminate
Once you predict the answer in your own words, finding a match among the choices should be pretty easy. If you’re still unsure, you can eliminate your way to the answer by eliminating choices that contradict the passage or introducing new ideas.
What are the top tips when answering a “central idea and detail question”?
1) Stay specific
Don’t stray beyond the focus of the passage. Eliminate choices that broaden or blur the ideas discussed in the text.
2) Keep your prediction as short and simple as possible
If your prediction is just as long as the passage itself, it’s not simple enough! Keep simplifying it until you can summarize it in one brief idea, then use that prediction as a test.
3) Use keywords as a map
When a question asks about a detail from the passage, it will often do so by referencing keywords and phrases from the text. Find those words in the passage: they’ll direct you toward the answer you seek!
What are “inferences” questions?
On the Reading and Writing section of your SAT, some questions will provide an unfinished passage that introduces information about an unfamiliar topic. Based on that information, you’ll be asked to select the choice that most logically completes the text.
How to approach inferences questions?
Step 1: Separate the text into bullet points. take each idea in the passage and turn it into its own bullet point. This will create a step-by-step progression for the argument being made and allow you to see where any gaps might exist.
Step 2: Examine the argument
Consider each piece of information offered in the passage. Then consider how those pieces fit together. Do they add up to something? What’s the connection between them?
Step 3: Explore the choices
Look at the choices one by one. Ask yourself if the information contained in the choice completes the argument in the passage. Eliminate any choices that stray from or disagree with the points made in the passage.
Step 4: Select the choice that strengthens the argument
The choice you select, when combined with the rest of the passage, should make the argument both clearer and stronger. Once you find such a choice, you can select it with confidence!
