<p>I really need to bring up my CR to like 750+. Normally, I only miss 1 or 2 vocab questions. However, I fail at the actual reading part. Should I just take practice tests and review my errors? I use the annotating method currently, but I can change if there is a more efficient technique. Any and all advice will be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Two maxims:</p>
<p>Four of the five answers you read are wrong.
The answer is in the passage.</p>
<p>If you ever doubt an answer or are deciding between/among answers, think of those two statements. Play Devil’s Advocate - Try to convince yourself that an answer is wrong, not that it is right. There will always be one answer that can’t be proven wrong, or maybe slightly wrong, but to a far lesser degree than any other answer.</p>
<p>I’m just about positive I got 800 on the May 1st SAT CR, and I got 750+ to 800 on all my later practice test CR’s. For short passages, I would just read the passage then look at the questions. Boom. A minute a passage, 90 seconds at the most. For longer ones/comparison of two passages, I would skip general theme questions (and circle them to remind myself not to forget them) and go to the first question that had a line number in parentheses, then read up to and a bit past those lines, then answer the question. Rinse, repeat, then theme/“what would the author say to…” questions. Ka-boom. Done in 15 minutes.</p>
<p>For those last view bothersome vocabulary words, use any knowledge you have of Latin, German, or any Romance language. If two words look similar, odds are they have similar meanings. Secondly, and perhaps more dangerously, if you are completely floored by a vocabulary question, look at the words and choose entirely on intuition and what thoughts come to mind when you see the word. This is entirely last ditch, but it’s better than nothing and may provide that spark to clue you in on the right answer.</p>
<p>If you’re that close to perfect, never leave anything blank. It’ll haunt you later. But if you keep the two principles in your head at all times and apply them to every answer you’re unsure about, there’s no reason you can’t get an 800.</p>