<p>Above question. Especially passage based reading.</p>
<p>It’s a skill usually acquired over long periods of time and is not very concrete. </p>
<p>It’s not something that you can “just get better at”. </p>
<p>Well, you can. It’s just typically harder than say math.</p>
<p>Have you tried Erica Meltzer’s website and/or her book The Critical Reader? They may help.</p>
<p>Reading takes a long time to hone. </p>
<p>Also, the questions are not as black and white as math or even with grammar. </p>
<p>It’s why I highly recommend to all students to do as much reading as possible AND as early as they can. It doesn’t have to always be painful - I would say a mix of 50/50 of interest based reading and more difficult texts. </p>
<p>In terms of how to change it here in the short term, definitely challenge yourself and read as much as possible from: </p>
<p>Scientific American
National Geographic
The New York Times
Boston Globe Ideas
The Wall Street Journal
The Economist
Humanities Magazine
Wilson Quarterly
The New Yorker</p>
<p>Beyond just reading though, truly understand the author’s purpose and what supports it and truly break down the articles as much as possible. </p>
<p>This list comes from Meltzer who @CHD2013 recommends. I would definitely second CHD’s thoughts. </p>
<p>With Math and Writing (referring to the multiple-choice portion), you can master a set of individual concepts and do very well. For example, on the Writing section, they basically test the same 12 concepts again and again. If you learned the 12 Math section question types you most often miss, that would be a huge help as well. However, the same cannot be said of the CR section.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, you are not alone. My students say the same thing when they come in. Though I’m biased because I don’t teach the Math section.</p>
<p>It’s funny. I know there are many people who say that CR is one of the hardest sections. However I raised my CR score from my PSAT to SAT by ~80 points. I didn’t have that much time to study it. Maybe only like two months or so? There are plenty of Critical Reading books you can purchase. I highly recommend Barron’s SAT 2400, Barron’s Critical Reading Workbook and Gruber’s Complete SAT Critical Reading Workbook. They not only familiarize you with the format but also help you understand the strategies to tackle the sections. </p>
<p>Also, vocabulary is really important. Well, I mean, I presume you’re taking the recent SAT and not the newly revised one. But even if you are taking the newer SAT, you shouldn’t slack back on vocab study. </p>
<p>I wish you the best of luck!</p>