<p>Does anyone have any suggestions? This is the only part that I’m having trouble with.</p>
<p>I don’t do it. Everyone has their own way to do things, one way can work for you while it doesn’t for other people. Its just the way your brain works.</p>
<p>What I do is I first quickly scan all the questions for words/phrases in quotations and look out for line references. Then, I go back to the passage and quickly underline words or short phrases. For longer phrases (maybe 3+ lines), I use a square bracket because I find that they stand out more than round brackets. This all takes less than 1 minute for me to do (for a huge, long passage-for short ones, it takes me literally less than 10 seconds).</p>
<p>Then, I first read the entire passage. Because I’ve underlined/bracketed important lines, I pay more attention to them (when I read these parts, I try to see what the author’s tone is, what the purpose is, the meanings, etc.). This way, when I go to answer the questions, I can quickly pick out the best answer. </p>
<p>This is how I’ve done it. You can try different methods to see what works well for you. I have friends who don’t underline anything at all and do fine. Good luck (:</p>
<p>Depends on your function, I know people who ace critical reading by not even reading the passage and just looking for the answers and using context clues. I know others who read the passage first and answer the questions. It really depends, try w/ some practice tests and determine which strategy works the best for you.</p>
<p>Underline using the darkest lines possible! I can’t stress this enough! Otherwise, your pencil lines with blend in with the black ink on the paper, putting your underlining efforts in vain.
Also, make sure you underline A LOT. The more you underline, the easier it will be for you to search for key points in the passage.</p>
<p>“I know people who ace critical reading by not even reading the passage and just looking for the answers and using context clues.” … Raichu</p>
<p>How does one look for answers and use context clues without reading the passage? They read the passage. They may not read it in order and they may not read it all, but they read it.</p>
<p>^lol I was a bit confused by his/her post, too. I think Raichu <em>meant</em> to say “they don’t even read the passage in order”, or implied it (but wasn’t clear).</p>
<p>Look for Notiaperp’s (something like that) guide in the SAT Prep forum.</p>
<p>I think underlining and note taking is the key to doing well on the reading test. Many passages are long and boring. The last thing you want to do is read them again. So you should make every effort to grasp the gist of the passage the first time you read it.</p>
<p>You should get the EZ Solutions books for the SAT or ACT as these books has all such suggestions plus everything you’ll need to know. Also get the Official Guide to practice real test questions.</p>