How to overcome innate habit in critical reading section?

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
1

<p>Hi,
Currently I am completing practice tests in the sat booklet and I’m periodically finding myself choosing the wrong answer from making an inference. This problem stems from reading the passages like one would read a book, visualizing the dialogue or the person acting as the narrator, and sort of “watching” the plot or narrative unfold through the “mind’s eye”. Unfortunately, through visualizing, I tend to allow what I see in my head to pervade, and consequently I mark the incorrect answer because there is no clear evidence in the passage. Do you guys have any suggestions other than just read the passage with more scrupulous attention?
Thanks.
-Zander.</p>

2

<p>Don’t read the passages.</p>

<p>Just look at the possible answers and work backwards.</p>

3

<p>DMOC’s Tip: Always “state” your explanations to questions in your head. For instance, when reading a question, I always think: “this answer is right because …” as if I were explaining it to someone. I find that helps me keep my focus.</p>

4

<p>My problem is that I could always extrapolate and explain three or more of the answers, so few were very clear, at least in the passage analysis.</p>

5

<p>Look for the answer that’s best supported in the passage. If it helps, go back and underline specific details that imply which choice out of the five is the correct answer. Even if you can come up with plausible explanations for three choices, only one of those choices will be directly supported in the passage.</p>

6

<p>I nearly always recommended reading the passage in its entirety (yes, like a book) *before *looking at the questions. This works for a vast majority of my students. The key is to find your answers in the text. Take yourself out of it and use the passage, and nothing but the passage, to answer the questions. I call this answering questions “contextually,” or using context. Here’s a tip that may help you:</p>

<p>TRY TO ANSWER QUESTIONS *BEFORE *YOU LOOK AT THE ANSWER CHOICES.
This is one of the best ways to answer questions contextually. This approach will force you to use the text to find your answers, and it will eliminate the temptation of picking answer choices that sound correct out of the context of the passage. You’ll only be able to do this with *specific *questions (ones with line numbers, for example), but this is usually over half of the questions.</p>

<p>Just remember: always use context. The answers are there. I hope this helps.</p>

<p>-Erik Klass is the author of The Ultimate SAT Tutorial</p>