The TOEFL and SAT Tests- the Key to Academic Success

Preparation for the TOEFL and SAT is a strenuous process that requires strong motivation, determination and an investment of time, energy and dedication. There are several factors paramount in students’ preparation for the tests and their achieving optimal scores: effective management of time both during preparation period and the tests themselves; solid knowledge and proficient usage of English grammar, structure and lexicon; essential tools, academic language skills and test taking strategies necessary to achieve optimal scores on the exams.

About the TOEFL® Test

Undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate programs around the world require students to demonstrate their ability to communicate in English as an entrance requirement. The TOEFL test measures how well students use English, not just their knowledge of the language. Because it is a valid and reliable test with unbiased, objective scoring, the TOEFL test confirms that a student has the English language skills necessary to succeed in an academic setting. That’s why it has become the most popular and accessible English language test in the world.

Using the latest technology, the TOEFL test is given in an Internet-based format (iBT) that fully integrates all 4 language skills measured: listening, reading, speaking and writing. It emphasizes and measures English usage and communication ability in academic settings.

The new TOEFL iBT consists of four sections: Reading, Listening, Speaking, and Writing. The entire test is about four hours long and all sections are taken on the same day. It is delivered on computer via the Internet at secure test centers around the world.

It tests all four language skills that effective communication requires: Reading, Listening, Speaking, and Writing. It emphasizes and measures English usage and communication ability in academic settings.

What’s New About the TOEFL iBT?

A Speaking section has been added. This section includes six tasks that require test takers to wear noise-cancelling headphones and speak into a microphone when they respond. The responses are digitally recorded and sent to ETS’s Online Scoring Network. To ensure maximum objectivity and reliability, three to six certified ETS raters evaluate the responses on a scale of 0 to 4. The average rating is then converted to a scaled score of 0 to 30. Raters are constantly monitored every time they score a test to ensure the highest accuracy and quality control possible.The Writing section has been expanded. The new test requires test takers to write a response to material they have heard and read. In addition, test takers must compose an essay in support of an opinion. Test takers’ typed responses to the writing tasks are sent to ETS’s Online Scoring Network where two to four raters evaluate the responses on a scale of 0 to 5. The average rating is converted to a scaled score of 0 to 30.Some questions require the test taker to use more than one English-language skill and combine or integrate information from more than one source, the same way students use English language every day in the classroom. For example, sometimes test takers read a passage, listen to a short lecture about a topic, and then provide a written or spoken response.

TOEFL iBT helps test takers prove they can combine their English language skills to communicate ideas effectively. This ability is the key to academic success.Note taking is allowed. Test takers can take notes on any section of the test the same way they would in a real college class. Test takers can use the notes when answering test questions. The notes are collected and destroyed before the test takers leave the test center.The time limit for each section varies according to the number of questions. Every test contains additional questions in the Reading or Listening Section.

Why Were Changes Made to the TOEFL Test?

To assess the ability to communicate successfully in an academic setting. The new test helps test takers determine their academic readiness. It also helps institutions identify and select students with the English-communication skills required to succeed.

To simulate university communication. The new integrated tasks, which require more than one language skill to complete, reflect the way language is used on campus every day—from the classroom to the bookstore. By simply preparing for the new TOEFL test, students will build the skills they need for academic success.

The New Test Format

Section Description Testing Time

Questions Score Scale

Reading 3-5 passages from academic texts; approximately 700 words long; 12-14 questions per passage.

60-100 minutes

36-70 questions

0-30

Listening 4-6 lectures, some with classroom discussion; each 3-5 minutes long; 6 questions each. 2-3 conversations; each 3 minutes long; 5 questions each.

60-90 minutes

34-51 questions

0-30

Break - 10 minutes

- -

Speaking 2 independent tasks to express an opinion on a familiar topic; 4 integrated tasks to speak based on what is read and listened to.

20 minutes

6 tasks 0-4 points converted to 0-30 score scale

Writing 1 integrated task to write based on what is read and listened to; 1 independent task to support an opinion on a topic.

50 minutes

2 tasks 0-5 points converted to 0-30 score scale

Total score

- - - 0-120

A. TOEFL iBT Reading Section

Academic Reading SkillsThe Reading section measures the test taker’s ability to understand university-level academic texts and passages. The following are three purposes for academic reading:Reading to find information - effectively scanning text for key facts and important information increasing reading fluency and rateBasic comprehension- understanding the general topic or main idea, major points, important facts and details, vocabulary in context, and pronoun references, making inferences about what is implied in a passageReading to learn - recognizing the organization and purpose of a passage understanding relationships between ideas organizing information into a category chart or a summary in order to recall major points and important details inferring how ideas throughout the passage connect

Reading Question Formats

There are three question formats in the Reading section: questions with four choices and a single answer in traditional multiple-choice format questions with four choices and a single answer that ask test takers to “insert a

sentence” where it fits best in a passage new “reading to learn” questions with more than four choices and more than one

possible correct answer. These questions test the student’s ability to recognize how the passage is organized and understand the relationships among facts and ideas in different parts of the passage. Test takers sort information and place the text options provided into a category chart or summary. The summary questions are worth up to 2 points each. The chart questions are worth up to 3 points if there are five options presented, and up to 4 points if there are seven options presented. Partial credit is given in this question format.

Paraphrase questionsQuestions in this category are in multiple-choice format. They test the student’s ability to select the answer choice that most accurately paraphrases a sentence from the passage.Glossary featureTest takers can now click on some special purpose words and phrases in the reading passages to view a definition or explanation of the term. About the TOEFL

B. TOEFL iBT Listening Section

Academic Listening Skills

The Listening section measures the test taker’s ability to understand spoken English. In academic settings, students must be able to listen to lectures and conversations. Academic listening is typically done for one of the three following purposes:Listening for basic comprehension - comprehend the main idea, major points, and important details related to the main idea (Note: comprehension of all details is not necessary.)Listening for pragmatic understanding –

recognize a speaker’s attitude and degree of certainty recognize a speaker’s function or purpose

Connecting and synthesizing information

recognize the organization of information presented understand the relationships between ideas presented (for example, compare/ contrast,

cause/effect, or steps in a process) make inferences and draw conclusions based on what is implied in the material make connections among pieces of information in a conversation or lecture recognize topic changes (for example, digressions and aside statements) in lectures

and conversations, and recognize introductions and conclusions in lectures

C. TOEFL iBT Speaking Section

Academic Speaking Skills

Students should be able to speak successfully in and outside the classroom. The Speaking section measures the test taker’s ability to speak effectively in academic settings.In classrooms, students must:

respond to questions, participate in academic discussions with other students, synthesize and summarize what they have read in their textbooks and heard in class, express their views on topics under discussion

Outside of the classroom, students must: participate in casual conversations, express their opinions, communicate with people

in such places as the bookstore, the library, and the housing office

DescriptionThe Speaking section is approximately 20 minutes long and includes six tasks.The first two tasks are independent speaking tasks on topics familiar to test takers. They have 15 seconds to prepare their responses and 45 seconds to deliver themThey ask test takers to draw upon their own ideas, opinions, and experiences when responding. (However, test takers can respond with any idea, opinion, or experience relevant to completing the task.)

The remaining four tasks are integrated tasks where test takers must use more than one skill when responding. Test takers first read and listen, and then speak in response. They can take notes and use those notes when responding to the speaking tasks. At least one requires test takers to relate the information from the reading and the listening material.

D. TOEFL iBT Writing Section

Academic Writing SkillsIn all academic situations where writing in English is required, students must be able to present their ideas in a clear, well-organized manner. The Writing section measures a test taker’s ability to write in an academic setting.

Writing Task Types

Task Type Task DescriptionTask 1: Integrated Writing Task

Read/Listen/Write• Test takers read a short text of about 230–300 words (reading time, 3 minutes) on an academic topic.• Test takers may take notes on the reading passage.• The reading passage disappears from the screen during the lecture that follows. It reappears when test takers begin writing so they can refer to it as they work.• Test takers listen to a speaker discuss the same topic from a different perspective. The listening passage is about 230–300 words long (listening time, 2 minutes).• The listening passage provides additional information that relates to points made in the reading passage. Test takers may take notes on the listening passage.• Test takers write a summary in connected English prose of important points made in the listening passage, and explain how these relate to the key points of the reading passage. Suggested response length is 150–225 words; however, there is no penalty for writing more as long as it is in response to the task presented.

Task 2: Independent WritingWriting from Experience and Knowledge• Test takers write an essay that states, explains, and supports their opinion on an issue. An effective essay will usually contain a minimum of 300 words; however, test takers may write more if they wish.• Test takers must support their opinions or choices, rather than simply list personal preferences or choices.• Typical essay questions begin with statements such as:- Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Use reasons and specific details to support your answer.- Some people believe X. Other people believe Y. Which of these two positions do you prefer/agree with? Give reasons and specific details.

About Test ScoresA. Score ScalesBecause TOEFL iBT is significantly different from the previous version of the test, the score scale is also different. The TOEFL iBT provides scores in four skill areas:Listening 0–30Reading 0–30Speaking 0–30Writing 0–30Total Score 0–120The total score is the sum of the four skill scores.

General Skill-Building Tips

The best way for English-language learners to develop the skills measured by the TOEFL iBT is to study in an English-language learning program that provides instruction in:

reading, speaking, listening, and writing skills, with an emphasis on speaking integrated skills approach (e.g., instruction that builds skills in

listening/reading/speaking, listening/reading/writing)

A. Reading Tips for test-takers:

English-language learners can improve their reading skills by reading regularly, especially university textbooks or other materials that cover a variety of subject areas (e.g., sciences, social sciences, arts, business, etc.) and are written in an academic style. A wide variety of academic texts are available on the Internet as well as in magazines and journals.Reading to Find Information

Scan passages to find and highlight key facts (dates, numbers, terms) and information. Practice frequently to increase reading rate and fluency.

Reading for Basic Comprehension Increase vocabulary. Flashcards can help. Practice skimming a passage quickly to get a general impression of the main idea,

instead of carefully reading each word and each sentence. Develop the ability to skim quickly and identify major points. After skimming a passage, read it again more carefully and write down the main idea, major points, and important facts.

Choose some unfamiliar words in the passage and guess the meaning from the context (surrounding sentences). Then, look them up to determine their meaning.

Underline all pronouns (e.g., he, him, they, them, etc.) and identify the nouns to which they refer in the passage.

Practice making inferences and drawing conclusions based on what is implied in the passage as a whole.

NotesThe Reading section does not measure summarizing skills, but practicing them builds the skills required for the integrated tasks in the Speaking and Writing sections.

Reading to LearnIdentify the passage type (e.g., classification, cause/effect, compare/contrast, problem/solution, description, narration, etc.) and its organization.Organize the information in the passage:– Create an outline of the passage to distinguish between major and minor points.– If the passage categorizes information, create a chart and place the information in appropriate categories.Create an oral or written summary of the passage using the charts and outlines.Paraphrase individual sentences in a passage. Then, paraphrase entire paragraphs.

B. Listening Tips for test-takers:

Listening to the English language frequently and reading a wide variety of academic materials is the best way to improve listening skills.Watching movies and television, and listening to the radio provide excellent opportunities to build listening skills. Audiotapes and CDs of lectures and presentations are equally valuable and are available at libraries and bookstores.Those with transcripts are particularly helpful. The Internet is also a great resource for listening material (e.g., www.npr.org or www.bbc.co.uk/radio orwww.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish).

Listening for Basic Comprehension Increase vocabulary. Focus on the content and flow of spoken material. Do not be distracted by the

speaker’s style and delivery. Anticipate what a person is going to say as a way to stay focused. Stay active by

asking yourself questions (e.g., What main idea is the professor communicating?). Copy the words, “main idea, major points, and important details” on different lines of

paper. Listen carefully, and write these down while listening. Continue listening until all important points and details are written down and then review them.

Listen to a portion of a lecture or talk and create an outline of important points. Use the outline to write a brief summary. Gradually increase the amount of the presentation you use to write the summary.

On the TOEFL iBT, test takers do not have to create such a chart. Instead, a chart with possible answer choices is provided for them, and they are required to fill in the chart with the correct choices. Practicing this skill will help test takers think about categorizing information, and be able to do so with ease.

NotesThe Reading section measures the ability to recognize paraphrases.The ability to paraphrase is also important for the integrated tasks in the Writing and Speaking sections of the test.The Listening section does not measure summarizing skills, but practicing summarizing skills is useful for the integrated tasks in the Speaking and Writing sections.

Listening for Pragmatic Understanding Think about what each speaker hopes to accomplish: What is the purpose of the

speech or conversation? Is the speaker apologizing, complaining, or making suggestions?

Notice each speaker’s style. Is the language formal or casual? How certain does each speaker sound? Is the speaker’s voice calm or emotional? What does the speaker’s tone of voice tell you?

Notice the speaker’s degree of certainty. How sure is the speaker about the information? Does the speaker’s tone of voice indicate something about his/her degree of certainty?

Listen for changes in topic or digressions. Watch a recorded TV or movie comedy. Pay careful attention to the way stress and

intonation patterns are used to convey meaning.

Listening to Connect and Synthesize Ideas

Think about how the lecture you’re hearing is organized. Listen for the signal words that indicate the introduction, major steps or ideas, examples, and the conclusion or summary.

Identify the relationships between ideas. Possible relationships include: cause/effect, compare/contrast, and steps in a process. Listen for words that show connections and relationships between ideas.

Listen to recorded material and stop the recording at various points. Predict what information or idea will be expressed next.

Create an outline of the information discussed while listening or after listening.

C. Speaking Tips for test-takers:

Independent Speaking TasksMake a list of topics that are familiar, and practice speaking about them.Describe a familiar place or recount a personal experience.Later, state an opinion or a preference and present clear, detailed reasons for it.Make a recommendation and explain why it is the best way to proceed.Practice giving one-minute responses to topics.

Integrated Speaking Tasks

Find a textbook that includes questions about the material at the end of chapters, and practice answering the questions orally.Read a short article (100–200 words). Make an outline that includes only the major points of the article. Use the outline to orally summarize the information.Find listening and reading material on the same topic covered by the article. The material can contain similar or different views. (The Internet and the library are good places to find information.) Take notes or create outlines on the listening and reading material:– Orally summarize the information in both the written and spoken materials. Be sure to paraphrase using different words and grammatical structures.– Orally synthesize the material by combining the information from the reading and listening materials and explain how they relate.– State an opinion about the ideas and information presented in the reading and listening material and explain how they relate.– If the reading and/or listening material describes a problem, suggest and explain a solution to the problem.Recognize the attitude of the speaker or the writer of the original material through intonation, stress, and word choice. This helps to understand their point of view and plan an appropriate response.

All Speaking Tasks Increase vocabulary and learn to use idiomatic speech appropriately. Learn grammatical structures and use them naturally when speaking. Work on pronunciation, including word stress, intonation patterns, and pauses. Use signal words and expressions to introduce new information or ideas, to connect

ideas, and to mark important words or ideas. This will help the listener easily follow what you are saying. (For example, “on the one hand…,” “but on the other hand…,” “what that means is…,” “The first reason is…,” “another difference is…”)

skills use P English at www.ets.org/tse/pie22.html.D. Writing Tips for test-takers:

Integrated Writing TasksFind a textbook that includes questions about the material at the end of chapters and practice writing answers to the questions.Read an article that is about 300–400 words long. Make an outline that includes the major points and important details of the article. Use the outline to write a summary of the information and ideas. Summaries should be brief and clearly communicate only the major points and important details. Be sure to paraphrase using different wordsand grammatical structures.

Find listening and reading material on a single topic on the Internet or in the library.The material can provide similar or different views. Take notes on the written and spoken portions, and do the following:– Summarize the information and ideas in both the written and spoken portions.- Synthesize the information and discuss how the reading and listening materials relate. Explain how the ideas expressed are similar, how one idea expands upon another, or how the ideas are different or contradict each other.

ParaphrasingParaphrasing involves restating something from the source material in one’s own words. On the TOEFL iBT, test takers receive a score of zero if all they do is copy words from the reading passage. Practice paraphrasing words, phrases, sentences, and entire paragraphsfrequently using the following tips:Learn to find synonyms with ease. Pick 10 to 15 words or phrases in a reading passage and quickly think of synonyms without looking them up in a dictionary or thesaurus.Write a paraphrase of a reading passage using only your notes. If you haven’t taken notes, write the paraphrase without looking at the original text. Then check the paraphrase with the original passage to make sure that it is factually accurate and that you have used different words and grammatical structures.

Independent Writing TasksMake a list of familiar topics and practice writing about them.For each topic state an opinion or a preference and then support it with evidence.Practice planning and writing at least one essay for each topic. Be sure to take 30 minutes to plan, write, and revise each essay.Think about and list all ideas related to a topic or task before writing. This is also called “prewriting.”

Identify one main idea and some major points to support that idea, and plan how to communicate them (by creating, for example, an outline to organize ideas). Create a focused thesis statement and use it to develop the ideas presented in the essay.Develop the essay by using appropriate explanation and detail.

All Writing TasksIncrease vocabulary and knowledge of idiomatic speech so you can use it appropriately. Learn grammatical structures so well that you can use them naturally when writing. Learn the conventions of spelling, punctuation, and layout (e.g. paragraph creation). Express information in an organized manner, displaying unity of thought and coherence. Use signal words and phrases, such as “on the one hand” or “in conclusion,” to create a clear structure for your response.

SAT

The SAT is the nation's most widely used admissions test among colleges and universities. It tests students' knowledge of subjects that are necessary for college success: reading, writing, and mathematics. The SAT assesses the critical thinking skills students need for academic success in college—skills that students learned in high school.

The SAT is typically taken by high school juniors and seniors. It tells students how well they use the skills and knowledge they have attained in and outside of the classroom—including how they think, solve problems, and communicate. The SAT is an important resource for colleges. It's also one of the best predictors of how well students will do in college.

Each section of the SAT is scored on a scale of 200-800, with two writing subscores for multiple-choice questions and the essay.

SAT Question Types

The SAT includes several different question types, including: a student-produced essay, multiple-choice questions, and student-produced responses (grid-ins).

The Unscored Section

In addition to the nine scored sections of the SAT, there is one 25-minute section that is used to ensure that the SAT continues to be a fair and valid test. This section does not count towards students’ score. It may be a critical reading, mathematics, or writing multiple-choice section.

It is common test development to use an unscored section to try out new questions for future editions of the test. It also ensures that scores on new editions of the SAT are comparable to scores on earlier editions of the test. This helps to ensure the fairness of the SAT.

Test Order

The SAT is comprised of 10 total testing sections. The first section is always a 25-minute essay, and the last section is always a 10-minute multiple-choice writing section. Sections two through seven are 25-minute sections. Sections eight and nine are 20-minute sections. Test-takers sitting next to each other in the same session may have test books with entirely different content orders for sections two through nine (mathematics, critical reading, and writing).

SAT Essay Section

Introduction:

Writing well, though not easy, is a skill that may be reduced into understandable parts.  Too often, students make the false assumption that one has to be born with a gift to write.  Though this may be true if one is pursuing creative writing, this is not the case for academic writing, and certainly not the case for scoring big on the SAT essay. 

Here are the facts:

The multiple-choice section of the exam influences 70% of your score, leaving 30% of your score to the essay.

Students have 25 minutes in order to read the prompt and complete the essay. The top possible score to earn is a 6 (from one reader).  Top possible score from two

readers is a 12.  To establish fairness, two readers score the essay according to a rubric that is posted

by the College Board. Readers are trained to grade holistically; this is a fancy way of saying that a few

mistakes cannot omit a student from a high score.  The essay is the first section on the exam. Typical writing prompts stem from either one or two quotes, building a question that

asks students to evaluate the claim(s) and develop a point of view, i.e., argument using various means of evidence for support. 

Quick Strategies for test-takers:

Consider these ideas for building muscle on your essay score:

Read the College Board’s rubric for the characteristics of each score.  Also, carefully read sample essays for each score (1-6) to get a feel for the game you are playing. 

Pacing:  Remember, with only 25 minutes from start to finish, you really need to have a game plan before you write.  Students often make the fatal mistake of jumping into the essay immediately- what they jump into is the unlikely situation of ever scoring beyond a 3.  Take time to read the SAT test prompt.  There is nothing worse than great examples and writing that completely miss their target since the student does NOT answer the question correctly.  It does not matter which side you take, but rather how you develop your support.  Always sketch out your ideas with prewriting. Take the precious time of at least 2 to 3 minutes building your blueprint.  This blueprint should contain an organized map that is simple. 

Position:___________________________________

Why I’m right #1?____________________________

Why I’m right #2?____________________________

Why I’m right #3?____________________________

Use a map and follow it.  Organization, as we will examine later, is a key ingredient for scoring big.  Given the minute for reading the prompt and the 2-3 minutes to build the plan, there will be approximately 20 minutes for writing and editing. Though we will see that the 6 essay certainly has a particular length, students make the mistake of thinking more writing automatically equates to more points- this is not true!  The last advice on pacing is to leave some time, perhaps 2-3 minutes, for editing.  You should never finish the last sentence and submit at the 25th minute. 

Presentation: Students often forget that the way their SAT essay looks does count for points. Though there is no official rule for healthy penmanship or the cleanliness of the page, the SAT essay is no time for sloppiness. Excessive use of crossed-out words and arrows that

squeeze in forgotten words force review of the sentence- sometimes a few times before the grader gets the idea. The presentation does not have to be perfect but constant carelessness prevents the SAT grader from reading through the essay smoothly.

Audience: Good writers must always consider their audience before they write; this axiom is particularly true when writing for an academic audience. Your audience on the SAT yearns for clarity and smoothness. Your essay must move forward with few to no obstacles and hurdles along the way. In fact, the more hurdles in grammar, organization, and clarity, the less likely you will score big. Essay graders look for clear purpose and proper development of evidence, marked by stylistic language that accentuates the writer’s purpose, and the more readily you manifest these traits in your writer, the more likely you will score a 5 or 6.

The College Board reports that less than 3% of all SAT essays must be sent to a third grader for a final score; this situation occurs when two graders miss each other by more than one point. For example, if two graders report a 5 and 4 for a single essay, then this is suitable and the score will be a 9. However, two graders, who score a single essay as a 5 and a 3, must be sent to a third grader for a third opinion.

Writing Well: Key Ingredients of a Strong Essay

No Thesis, No Points: In all writing prompts, the College Board asks students to develop a “point of view.” The words really mean to develop an argument using a thesis statement that clearly reflects their position. Thus, the opening paragraph has one purpose: establish a clear position on the topic. It must contain a thesis, a clear position that depends upon evidence to measure its strength. The clearer the position and the stronger the support, the more likelihood to get a high score.

Developing a thesis is an easy task to practice. Find a book of quotations or look up quotes on the Internet and ask yourself whether or not you agree with the claim. Take a stand and think about a number of ways you could support your argument. In essence, you will be practicing thesis writing. We will need to explore what constitutes strong support and mediocre support in a later section. So again, a clear position is the only way to a big score. Once again, no thesis, no points!

Paragraphs and Sentences for the Greater Good: There is nothing more distracting and annoying then unwanted sentences and paragraphs.  In paragraph writing, English instructors characterize well-written paragraphs using two main terms: unity and coherence.  Each topic sentence that you create sets parameters and boundaries for your discussion.  Every sentence that you write must develop and add muscle to the initial idea.  Any time a sentence strays or is loosely connected to the topic sentence the momentum of the discussion is compromised.  Students often feel compelled to say so much at once that they let their ideas fly without concern for placement.  Some students are so concerned about making insightful statements that they forget how to group them into a common neighborhood. 

Also, students seem to believe the myth that the more examples they use the better.  This is just not true!  It is the selection of which example and how it is developed that scores big points.  Playing too many ideas at once is the wrong move since the author should have chosen his strongest examples and developed them with the most strength possible.  A jack-of-all-trades-and master-of-none approach leaves an essay shallow, committed to generalizations and summary rather than strong critical thinking and digging deep, reaffirming the importance and necessity of the example.

A paragraph with unity and coherence is a paragraph whereby all sentence support the topic sentence and the sentences follow a logical order that   accentuates the power of the topic. 

Additionally, all paragraphs essentially serve the same role as your supporting sentences for your topic sentence- only think of your thesis as the topic sentence and all successive paragraphs as your development. 

Provide Concrete Examples: Avoid Generalizations: Students often speak in generalizations.  In other words, when given a task, students would rather repeat the same idea rather than add depth by adding a solid example.  Building your argument with solid, tangible evidence is essential for a big score.  In fact, the College Board wants students to use examples from history, literature, current events, personal experiences, etc.  An unwritten law in the SAT essay, when shooting for the 5 or 6, is to use examples that showcase the extent of students’ education.  Personal experience may do this- but the experience must be insightful enough, tapping into the real essence of human experience to wow the grader.  A more practical approach for the wow factor is to use scholastic examples that add what we might call academic muscle to the essay; it certainly is the safe play for bigger points. 

Use Clincher Sentences to Conclude Ideas: Avoid a Full Conclusion: There is no need to develop a conclusion in the course of 25 minutes.  In fact, it would be an unwise use of time to sum up your ideas into a 4 to 5 sentence package that merely restates your thesis but is dressed in new language.  Conclusions work best in longer papers since often the reader needs to have the loose ends tied up at the end.  Your introductory paragraph for the SAT essay should be solid enough to leave no mystery about the clarity of your position.  Rather think of use clincher sentences to be your final battle cry. 

Length: The Measure of Success:  The number of words has a strong influence on your SAT score. The correlation between high scores and words simply reflects that extent of a writer’s development.  Not to say that a low number of words cannot do justice to a topic, but the College Board expects you to fill your page with enough development that manifests your critical thinking ability. The grader is looking for 350-400 words of solid composition that do not leave him guessing.  Reading the essay must be a smooth ride ALL the way through- EVERY word, EVERY sentence, Every paragraph counts.

Not the Luck of the Draw: Think Universal Examples: The SAT prompt suggests that students may develop their ideas through use of their “reading, studies, experience, or observations.”  It is possible to score a 5 and 6 using experience, yet the experience must be insightful such as a moment of dramatic change or a period of adversity. SAT Graders love anecdotes that mark incessant struggle with the finish line of victory or learning something new about yourself since these experiences demonstrate critical thinking and insight.  More importantly, if the experience is dressed in lucid language, the essay has all the traits for success.  But, if students do not have a wealth of experience to choose from, they may always count on universal examples to fill the void. Universal examples are a distinction of students’ learning- it simply showcases how well read they may be, and at some point graders look for this showcase to justify higher scores. Students should develop their own arsenal and make sure these examples are waiting in their dugout, ready to use given ANY writing prompt.  This method, however, entails that they have some level of expertise with the example.  Simply forcing the example into the essay without development or sentences that manifest their knowledge will earn no points.

Last Thoughts for the SAT Essay:

You need at least two large examples or three smaller examples to fulfill the 350-450 words.

Never begin the introduction of your essay by immediately answering the question such as “Yes, I do agree with the quote.”  There is nothing more annoying or indicative of an essay that will never hit the 5 and 6. 

Avoid dead language such as “I think that,” or “In my opinion,” or “I feel that.”  There is nothing more cliché and hence more mediocre.  Using language like this seriously commits you to NEVER earning above a 4. 

The smooth ride is the best ride.  Fulfill your purpose and move on.  Do not feel compelled to ornament your essay with nonsense.  Remember your audience- the SAT grader wants to read your essay as quickly as possible to move on to the next one.  Let him find your 5 and 6 traits quickly and clearly.

Test-Taking Approaches

Answer easy questions first. The easier questions are usually at the start of the section, and the harder ones are at the end. The exception is in the critical reading section, where questions are ordered according to the logic and organization of each passage.

Make educated guesses. Only if students can rule out one or more answer choices for multiple-choice questions, are they to risk guessing the right answer.

Skip questions that you really can't answer. No points are deducted if an answer is left blank.

Limit your time on any one question. All questions are worth the same number of points. If you need a lot of time to answer a question, go on to the next one. Later, you may have time to return to the question you skipped.

Keep track of time. Don't spend too much time on any group of questions within a section.

Use your test booklet as scratch paper. Mark the questions in your booklet that you skipped and want to return to. Check your answer sheet to make sure you are answering the right question. Make sure you use a No. 2 pencil. It is very important that you fill in the entire circle

on the answer sheet darkly and completely. If you change your response, erase it as completely as possible.

The Critical Reading Section

Overview

Time Content Item Types Score

70 min. (two 25-min. sections and one 20-min. section)

Critical reading and sentence-level reading

Reading comprehension, sentence completions, and paragraph-length critical reading

200-800

The critical reading section, formerly known as the verbal section, includes short as well as long reading passages. Questions can be based on one, or sometimes two, reading passages. Some questions are not based on reading passages, but ask you to complete sentences.

Approaches to the Critical Reading Section

Work on sentence completion questions first. They take less time to answer than the passage-based reading questions.

The difficulty of sentence completion questions increases as you answer them in order.

Reading questions do not increase in difficulty from easy to hard. Instead, they follow the logic of the passage.

The information you need to answer each reading question is always in the passage(s). Reading carefully is the key to finding the correct answer. Don't be misled by an answer that looks correct but is not supported by the actual text of the passage(s).

Reading questions often include line numbers to help direct you to the relevant part(s) of the passage. If one word or more is quoted exactly from the passage, the line number(s) where that quotation can be found will appear in the test question. You may have to read some of the passage before or after the quoted word(s), however, in order to find support for the best answer to the question.

Do not jump from passage to passage. Stay with a passage until you have answered as many questions as you can before you proceed to the next passage.

If you don't know what a word means in a sentence completion or reading passage, consider related words, familiar sayings and phrases, roots, prefixes, and suffixes. Have you ever heard or seen a word that may be related to it?

In your test booklet, mark each question you don't answer so that you can easily go back to it later if you have time.

Remember that all questions are worth the same number of points regardless of the type or difficulty.

Sentence Completion questions measure your:

knowledge of the meanings of words

ability to understand how the different parts of a sentence fit logically together

It is certainly one of the places on the SAT Critical Reading section that are more predictable, where students may rely on preparation for stronger accuracy on questions.  Preparation is especially important for the sentence completion section since the development of students’ vocabulary plays a fundamental role for scoring well.  Here’s the painful truth: in order to score higher on this SAT section, students need to focus on building their arsenal of vocabulary words even though making great gains in vocabulary may only yield a few more questions correct on the exam.  Simply put, they have to give a lot to gain a little. Additionally, the methods for pacing and keeping themselves mentally unshaken are two elements that can make a huge difference in their score. 

Here are the facts SAT sentence completion section:

There are 19 sentence completion questions split among three sections.  The questions are served on a plate of 8, 5, and 6 respectively. 

The plate of 8 and 5 questions is served in 25 minute sections; whereas, the last set, а set of 6, is served in a 20 minute section. 

The selection of words for use in the answer choices is NOT a random set of words; instead, practice shows it that certain words tend to pop up over and over again.

The sequence of question is extremely important; each set is always sequenced from the easiest question to the hardest question.

There are both single word choice blanks and double word choice blanks. There is a ¼ point deduction for incorrect answers to prevent guessing. Questions are measured by difficulty from 1 to 5.  1 as the easiest and 5 as the

toughest. 

What follows is a set of strategies that will prepare students to build vocabulary muscle and accuracy on these questions.  Remember that a strong focus on creating an SAT arsenal of words is key. 

1.1. Follow the sequence: One characteristic of the SAT sentence completion section that students may always rely on is the sequence of difficulty.  Recognizing this sequence may truly help them to refine their process of elimination skills.  Here’s the scoop: The SAT test maker will always give you the easiest questions first.  The questions receive an “easy” based on the (a) difficulty of clue words left in the sentence and (b) answer choices. Go with the word that fits the bill, even if it is a simple word; do not choose unknown words.

Do not be fooled by this. The last questions in an 8 question sequence and the last question in a 5 or 6 question sequence are always the most difficult questions to beat.   However, there is one trick that you may keep in mind to help with process of elimination, namely, if you find an easy word, it is often there as a trap since the word will have, at best, a small connection to the passage.  The great news about this word, i.e., the easy word in the last questions, is that it’s a trap to avoid.  Just because you know the word, does not mean you ought to pick it. Simply put, simple question, simple answer; hard question, hard answer. 

1.2. Positive and negative:  This technique may be the most useful for eliminating answer choices that are incorrect, and it’s a rather simple idea.  It is no mystery that the SAT test maker, especially within questions ranked 1 to 3, leaves clues behind for the suitable word that will fit into the blank. First, the underlying assumption is that your vocabulary is strong enough to reduce words to positive and negative.  Second, the more difficult questions are what I call “neutral” questions, or questions that do not have enough clues to simplify into a positive or negative.  In this case, you will have to search each answer choice quickly to check the accuracy.  However, for many of the SAT questions that you will receive, you will find that reducing language to positive and negative in order to help with process of elimination is a really useful technique

1.3. How to build vocabulary: Building vocabulary is an obvious key for doing well on the SAT sentence completion questions. At some level, a raw ability to define words is critical for eliminating answer choices and exposing the correct answer choice.  Building vocabulary by studying a long list of words a week or two weeks before the exam is NOT the answer.    Our minds are just not built for soaking up that information and more importantly retaining that information. Research tells us that the human mind needs up to 11 experiences with one new word before we master it.  I know, as a veteran high school English teacher, that a short study of SAT related words is not the answer to doing well.  In fact, those students who typically score well are those who read.  They read the newspaper; they read novels; they read articles online; they read and read, so it is not unusual to find that their experience with words in general is strong.  Progressing slowly but surely is the best approach, which you may achieve in two ways (a) study from SAT related words lists but only give yourself twenty at a time; do not approach these from an alphabetical sequence; instead pick a few here and there until the list is complete; (b) discipline yourself to stop at unrelated words and study them in context; create your own sentence after defining the word and keep a notebook filled with these finds.  

A newspaper is a great way to build words since you may read short articles that allow you to practice this approach.  Above all, be patient with your vocabulary growth.  It will not come overnight and you cannot expect it to. 

When students score well on the sentence completion section, there is an immense pride that goes with it since these students train just like an athlete who trains for years to win one race. 

1.4. Looking for the breadcrumbs: For many of the SAT sentence completion questions, a keen ability to spot clues is essential.  Test makers leave behind breadcrumbs to help you find the correct answer choice. Highlight these words, and reduce them to positive and negative since these words are your key for unlocking the correct answer.  Look for key adjectives and verbs that determine the direction of the question.  Remember for most questions, ones that are not neutral, there will be identifiable words to help you locate the correct answer. 

1.5. Direction Changers: One of the most common tricks among the SAT test makers bag of tricks is to change the direction of the passage by using some element (typically a phrase or subordinate clause) that changes the direction of the sentence. You must always keep a keen eye for these direction changers since the correct answer depends upon your awareness for choosing words that fit the harmony and logic of the change in direction. Be especially mindful of the following words that the test maker frequently uses: Even though, although, ironically, despite, in contrast, though, whereas, while, before, in spite of, etc.

1.6. Pacing: Moving through the SAT sentence completion questions quickly and accurately is critical for scoring well on this section.  In total there are 19 of these questions, meaning that they may have a dramatic impact on your score if you get most of them correct.  You must move more quickly on these questions than the reading comprehension questions.  In fact, the more quickly you move through these questions, the more time that you may bank to the SAT reading comprehension section. So what are some good time measurements?  The faster students will be able to move through 8 sentence completion questions in 3:30-4:00 minutes.  The fastest students will move through the first 8 questions in under 2:30.  They are able to move through the first questions in 10-15 seconds, using more time on questions that are double word blanks that require plugging and playing the word to check for accuracy. You do not want any one question to kill your time.  If you need to omit the question, then do so, but do not spend too much time on any one question. Do not get caught by time traps- frustrated and confused.  It does not make sense to struggle on any ONE question when the likelihood of answering the question accurately is low.Remember the hard questions are worth the same amount of points as the easy questions.  If you are going to miss questions, let it be the hard questions, but do not risk getting easy questions correct by wasting time on hard questions that you may or may not get right.  Be exact and disciplined in your strategy! 

1.7. Keeping your head in the game: Maintaining your spirits throughout the test is crucial, but this spirit stems from a combination of preparation, endurance, and discipline.  You have to be able to take a hit without getting leveled.  Regardless of the preparation you put in, there will ALWAYS be an element of surprise.  There are just too many variables to control in order to lock down every possible pattern.  In fact, on some level the SAT test assesses the ability of students to improvise and respond to surprises- this is why it is a timed test. 

1.8. The final questions: There are no tricks to these questions; they often require raw mastery of complex vocabulary words.  In order to gain accuracy on these questions, you really have to put in the work on vocabulary development.  This entails that you put a lot of energy for the chance at small amounts of success.  The last questions 7 and 8 within an 8 sequence, question 5 within a 5 sequence, and question 6 within a 6 sequence do not come easy nor should you expect them to.  They are composed of words that truly reflect the

advanced high school student. If you are only able to omit one word, leaving 4 possibilities, omit the question.  If you are only able to eliminate two, it’s worth taking the gamble.  Try to use your intuition of sound as your final bet for guessing.  But, if anything, do not let these questions steal your time.  You are better off getting to the SAT reading based passages more quickly. 

Passage-based Reading

The reading questions on the SAT measure a student's ability to read and think carefully about several different passages ranging in length from about 100 to about 850 words. For many students, reading based passages may be the most difficult area to gain points.  There are a number of reasons why this is the case, and perhaps understanding the difficulties may lead to an individual awareness of the most troublesome characteristics of reading based passages.  First, passages are taken from a variety of fields, including the humanities, social studies, natural sciences, and literary fiction. They vary in style and can include narrative, argumentative, and expository elements. Some selections consist of a pair of related passages on a shared issue or theme that you are asked to compare and contrast. Second, if the SAT test maker gives you a passage that you do not like, you may find yourself unengaged, reading the passage numerous times only to find that each time you do read it you find little gains of comprehension and more dreadfully you become more confused than before.  Lastly, the passages and answer choices contain complex vocabulary.  Being an active, critical reader is essential; regardless of how disconnected you may be from the selected passage or how senseless you find it.  Though a strong diet of reading is crucial for success, there are a number of strategies to help with pacing and process of elimination that may help a test taker avoid common traps. 

Types of questions:

Vocabulary in Context: These questions ask you to determine the meanings of words from their context in the reading passage.

Literal Comprehension: These questions assess your understanding of significant information directly stated in the passage.

Extended Reasoning: These questions measure your ability to synthesize and analyze information as well as to evaluate the assumptions made and the techniques used by the author. Most of the reading questions fall into this category. You may be asked to identify cause and effect, make inferences, recognize a main idea or an author's tone, and follow the logic of an analogy or an argument.

Here are the facts:

There are 48 reading based passage questions; 8 questions stem from short reading passages and 40 questions stem from longer passages.  These questions are divided into three sections: The first two sections range from 24-25 questions which you must finish in 25 minutes; the last and third section of critical reading contains 18-19 questions that you must complete in 20 minutes.

Short reading passages come in two flavors: (a) a double passage combination, whereby students must compare and contrast the two passages and (b) individual passages that are not related. 

Short reading based passage selections contain 11-14 lines each; each selection is connected to two questions, though this may vary with compare and contrast reading selections. 

Long reading based passages come in two flavors as well: individual selection and double passage.

Long reading based passages are typically 60-90 lines in length connected to as low as 6 questions and as high as 12 questions. 

Long double passages are typically longer ranging from 70-90 lines connected to 9-12 questions. 

Reading selection topics range from a large buffet of possibilities.  These include the following: history, science, economics, psychology, politics, communication, literature, etc. 

The 48 questions are served in a variety of ways, but here is the typical layout: The short reading based passages follow sentence completion, meaning that as soon as you are done with sentence completion, you may dive into 4 questions connected to the passages.  You will find short reading based passages in two of the three critical reading sections.  

The test maker has no one pattern for offering the longer based passages.   So you may find either flavor, single passage or double passage, in any one of the three sections.  However, one consistent pattern is that you will only receive one long double passage throughout the test. 

Question types are plentiful.  You may receive the follow question types: summarization questions, figurative language questions, vocabulary questions, inference/extended reasoning questions, interpretation questions, and compare and contrast questions. 

Basic Tips for the test-taker:

2.1. Theory of the Excessive: There is one major trick that the test maker uses to deceive SAT test takers.  I call it the Theory of the Excessive since it is so commonplace.  Whenever you approach a SAT reading based passage question, you must focus on the language.  Each reading based passage question is connected to five possible answer choices (A-E).  One of the answer choices is obviously correct, so what makes the other choices wrong.? The answer to this is one based on language.  Either the test maker will inflate the language of the incorrect answer choices or deflate the language such that the answer choice becomes a generalization.  Simply put, the incorrect answer choices either say too much or not enough!  When looking through the answer choices, pay particular attention to fishy words that add too much spice. 

For example, let’s say that the question asks you to summarize the author’s point of view.  Within the answer choices, you should find subtle, but important differences.  You may find the answer choices starting with verbs such as “critique,” “suggest,” and “prove.”  Without even considering the words after the verb “prove,” you may eliminate this choice as a possibility since the verb “prove” is far too extreme.  Your best bet is to go with moderate language.  It takes practice and scrutiny to find the words that tip the scale towards incorrectness, but they are there.  In the most obvious form, you should typically eliminate answer choices that use excessive language such as “no one,” “always,” “every,” and any

other word that leaves no room for exceptions.  Consider the following illustration to help conceptualize the idea:

2.2. Read for the main idea, not for every detail: When reading through the longer SAT passages, it is not necessary to read for every detail; instead, perform a cursory reading to comprehend the main idea.  For pacing purposes, this tactic makes a lot of sense.  Imagine if you did read for every detail.  Chances are you might find yourself in replay mode on a confusing section.  If you stay in this area, rereading until you comprehend it, you are taking a big gamble since there is a possibility that there are NO questions related to this confusing area.  And, if there is a question related to the area you stumbled on, then use that time to return to the selection; it makes no sense to spend too much time on any one area on the selection since there may not be any connected questions. 

2.3. Be an active reader: Regardless how painful the passage may be, you must stay active.  You cannot be absent on any SAT passage since one faulty passage can really hurt your score.  One way to stay engaged is to mark up the passage; be an active reader by underlining areas that you find important.  Be especially mindful of contrasts or words that tend to change the direction of the passage.  For example, an author may present two paragraphs of ideas only to dispute all of the information in the third paragraph.  The author may only use one word such as “however” to signal the change in the passage’s direction.  If you don’t catch on to the change, you may miss the entire passage since the test maker will use incorrect answer choices that allure students who don’t realize the change.  

2.4. Short Passages:  Fast students will finish the SAT short passages in under 3 minutes.  The short reading based passages should be completed more quickly than the longer passages.  If you spend over 5 minutes on these questions plus a slow sentence completion section, you put yourself at a huge disadvantage for the longer passage.  The idea is to work quickly on the fist two sections, namely, sentence completion and short reading based passages, to gain time on the longer passage since the longer passage will certainly have obstacles and harder questions to answer correctly.

2.5. Longer Passages: There are three possibilities after the short reading based passages, namely, a very long individual passage, a double passage, or two shorter individual passages.  The idea is to gain as much time as you can for any possibility.  The goal is to get more than 15 minutes on any one possibility, which would require you to finish sentence completion and shorter reading based passages in less than 10 minutes.  If you don’t get hung on any one question, this is certainly possible.

One trait that I have noticed over the years is how the test maker sequences the SAT questions on the longer reading based passages.  Typically, you will find the easy questions first, but this does not mean that you will find the hardest questions last.  Instead, the test maker loves to place them right around the five-minute warning marker.  Makes sense right?  You are already nervous and then you hear a five minute warning and you still have 5 maybe 6 questions to go, not to mention perhaps some of the questions you skipped, saving for later.  For students who panic, the rest of the five minutes is typically a wash.  They are so befuddled and confused, worrying about not finishing, that they are unable to concentrate.  But, you should think about this.  Find the questions that you do well and do these first; watch out for time killer questions at question 17, 18, and 19.  They are typically the compare and contrast questions or they contain a lot of language to read through.  Sometimes, it’s a question that requires you to flip-flop between the question and passage.  However, remember that all questions are worth the same amount of points, so if you get hung on one question, even if you answer it correctly, you may have risked the chance at answering even more questions correctly.  If you have a problem finishing SAT Critical Reading sections, think

about answering questions that you know you do well on; this method requires you to take a few practice tests to get an idea of your pacing and which questions you do well.  Using this information to create a game plan is essential for maximizing your score. 

2.6. The Double Passage: The SAT double passage is typically the hardest passage to score accurately since the test maker huddles many difficult compare and contrast questions within this section.  There is a simple trick to these that students should consider.  Most students make the mistake of reading both passages and then answering the questions; however, human memory, especially under stressful conditions, may fail us.  The simple trick to combat this is to read passage one first and then answer all the questions that relate ONLY to passage one.  Then, read passage two and answer all questions that relate ONLY to passage two.  After this, students may approach the compare and contrast questions.  If not, many students will flip-flop between question and reading selection, burning precious time. 

2.7. Building Vocabulary: As I suggested within the SAT sentence completion section, building vocabulary is essential.  I have found that more and more correct answer choices, within the reading based passages, require a sophisticated vocabulary.  For instance, students may have the general idea of the passage and an accurate summary, but if they cannot match their accuracy to sophisticated vocabulary, then chances are they may miss the question even though they understood the passage.  It’s a shame but it does occur.  Similarly, use this suggestion; build, build, build vocabulary!  Vocabulary building is not only essential for the SAT sentence completion, but it’s essential for SAT reading comprehension.  Many researchers agree that building vocabulary helps to develop students’ reading comprehension skills. 

2.8. When to take the gamble: Is it a good idea?  Again, that depends on where we are in the SAT test, but here’s an overall rule that applies to Math, Critical Reading, and Writing:If we can eliminate one or more answer choices, take a guess.  Statistically, our score will slowly go up.  Why is that?  A wrong answer is worth -1⁄4 of a point, right?  So a blind guess has a one in five, or 1⁄5 chance of being right.  Not good odds, because we’ll lose more points than we’d get over time.  But if we eliminate just one answer, we now have a 1⁄4 chance of being right – which means we’re breaking even.  Eliminate two?  1⁄3 chance. 

Over the length of a whole test, with those odds, our score will slowly creep up since the chances of being right are greater than the points off we’ll get if you’re wrong.  That’s where our judgment and the Pacing Strategy come in.  If we’re on an easier question, and we can confidently eliminate an answer or choice or two, take a guess.  If you’re on a hard question, you might be better served skipping it, since you also have to account for the possibility you might have fallen for a trick.  On the other hand, if you know you’ve skipped too many and should probably answer one of the harder ones, definitely answer the one in which you can eliminate a choice or two – that will always be your better bet.

The Writing Section

The SAT multiple-choice Writing section is one of the areas, with a little practice, that you may gain the most points overall.  Despite a few questions of English usage that may arise, the test makers consistently assess the same skills.  Knowing what to expect gives you a great advantage on test day.  More importantly, continued preparation on this multiple-choice

section helps you to reduce the likelihood of getting hit by a question blindside.  One of the great aspects of this part of the SAT is that the more practice you complete, the quicker and more accurate you will complete this section of the exam.  As you will find, I outline the major areas of grammar that you need to discover the patterns within this section.  Though pacing does play an important role on every section, you will find that the way to achieve faster pacing is by knowing what to expect.  Psychologically, you will find that this is also a section to find the same type of certainty that you might find in mathematics.  Simply put, some questions may baffle you- no problem.  But, if you know what to expect, you can finish this section of the exam of energizing confidence. 

Here are the facts:

The multiple-choice test contains 49 questions that determine roughly 70% of your score.

There are three types of questions to expect: improving sentence errors, identifying sentence errors, improving paragraph structure.

You will receive two sections- one long and one short. The first section contains 11 improving sentence error questions, 18 identifying

sentence error questions and 6 improving paragraph structure questions; all of which you must complete in 25 minutes. 

The second section contains 14 improving sentence error questions that you must complete in 20 minutes. 

Following the break down of both sections, the most common type of question that you will receive is an improving sentence question.

Omission of a question neither hurts nor helps your score. There is a ¼ point deduction for incorrect answers to prevent guessing. Given the minutes for each section, the College Board gives students 42.8 seconds for

each question. 

It will be wise to first take a look at the major areas of grammar that you need to discover necessary patterns for accuracy.  

The Big Seven:

Knowing these areas of grammar will be vital for building muscle to your score:

1. Subject-Verb Agreement 2. Pronouns 3. The Active vs the Passive Voice 4. Parallel Structure 5. Wordiness 6. Verb Usage 7. Sentence Structure Errors: Run-on and Fragment

Subject-Verb Agreement:  The subject of a sentence must always agree with the verb. 

– The subject-verb split: instead of the typical subject near the verb (as my first example), the test maker loves to separate the subject from the verb with many distracting words, phrases, and clauses.  For example, consider this:  The teacher along with his students (is/are) going on a field trip.  The correct verb? IS. 

– Correlative Conjunctions: The test makers love to pull the correlative conjunction trick.  The two most common correlative conjunctions are the “Neither/Nor” combo or the “Either/Or” combo.  The trick here is rather simple.  The closest subject to the verb determines the verb.  For example, take this sentence:  Neither the student nor his classmates ARE enjoying the game

– Inverted Word Order:  Another notable confusion is the inverted word order trick.  The test maker loves to begin sentences with long-winded phrases at the beginning that commit the sentence to a verb usage first before the subject.  In this sense the reader gets lost since he may (a) lose track of the subject on the back end of the clause or (b) mistake the subject for object that begins at the sentence.  Take this example:  At the back of the room ARE a small desk and a large desk for visitors. 

Pronouns: You will find that pronouns (usage, reference, and agreement) are a key element for catching on to patterns.  Let’s take a closer look at each.

– Pronoun Usage: It is vital for you to learn the difference between pronouns that function as nominatives (subjects) and pronouns that function as objects in a sentence. 

– Pronoun Antecedent Agreement:  For the most part, the test makers pick on one area of error among most students- the dreaded singular indefinite pronouns. 

– Reference Errors:  Reference errors break down into three types: general, indefinite, and ambiguous.  The error occurs when the reader cannot clearly trace a pronoun back to an antecedent.  In fact, when the reader does try to trace the pronoun back to an antecedent, he finds himself baffled by the possibility of two choices. 

Person: Be particularly mindful of second person pronoun shifts.  What happens here is simple:  Often students will begin a sentence in the third person, perhaps using pronouns such as “he,” “she,” and “one.”  Then, during the latter part of the sentence, some SAT writers will incorrectly shift gears into second person.  Just like a car, you will grind the gears if you do this.  Take this example: When one joins the army, you have to be physically and mentally prepared

The Active vs. the Passive Voice:  The distinction between the active voice and the passive voice is one of the most helpful distinctions to improve pacing and gain accuracy.  When you spot the passive voice, as we will develop below, you may cancel out the choice as a possibility.  Since the SAT test maker only rewards the active voice, passive responses are incorrect.  So what is the difference?  I will use to simple examples to answer this question.  Take the following two sentences:

The books were put on the shelf by me. (Passive)

I put the books on the shelf.  (Active)

Consider the following sequence: Linking Verb + Action Verb + Prepositional Phrase.  When you find this sequence, you have spotted the passive voice.  The great aspect of this recognition is that you may immediately cancel an answer choice out if you find the passive.  More importantly, if the stem question contains the passive voice, then the correct response must be in the active voice.

Parallel Structure: Many students develop ideas that are out of balance.  The SAT test makers recognize this flaw. The idea is simple: when creating lists or doubling up on ideas the

elements must mirror each other.  Simply put, each element in a list must wear the same uniform for parallel structure.  Take the following example: 

The students enjoyed going to the movies, playing various

sports, and they liked hiking in the mountains. 

Consider each group of words as its own element:

Element 1 = going to the movies

Element 2 = playing various sports

Element 3 = they liked hiking in the mountains

Wordiness: By far, wordiness is the most common error that you will find within improving sentence error questions.  Students have a strong tendency to inflate their language with long-winded statements that dilute the strength of their language.  The SAT test makers DO NOT reward ornamentation of language.  Keep it simple.  Watch out for excessive uses of language.  If you can say the same idea using fewer words, this is the statement you should choose among the answer choices. 

Verb Usage: It’s crucial for you to know at least the six basic tenses of English.  Often many of the SAT questions contain broken clocks.  Let me explain.  The function of a verb is twofold: tell time and express action.  The test maker enjoys tricking students with sentences that contain broken clocks.  In other words, one of the verbs either fails to express the correct time or is out of sequence with the other verbs.  This condition is especially true for the perfect tenses. 

Simple Past Simple Present Simple Future Perfect Past Perfect Present Perfect Future

Sentence Structure Errors: Run-on and Fragment Sentences: Students often make numerous sentence structure errors in their writing.  The SAT test makers know this, so they create a frequent number of their questions to assess your ability for spotting these errors. Let’s take a closer look at both of these errors, focusing on the typical forms of the errors that you may encounter on the exam. 

o Run-On Sentences: Run on sentences occur for two reasons: (a) a writer fails to use correct punctuation, placing a comma between two independent clauses; (b) an author uses no punctuation between two or more clauses, leaving the reader no marks for starting and stopping. 

Example for Type A: Faulty Punctuation

Jack London used the antagonistic force of nature in many of his short stories, he believed a conflict between man and nature was a timeless duel.

stories; he (semi-colon correction) stories.  He (period correction)

stories, for he (conjunction correction) intentions since he believed …(subordinate clause

correction) intentions, believing a conflict … (phrase correction)

    Example Type B: No Punctuation

o Walt Whitman was a great American poet he wrote a book of poetry entitled Leaves of Grass.

o As you can see there are two clauses here.  One clause ends at “poet,” beginning with the new clause that starts at “he.”  Since there is no punctuation, this, too, is a run-on sentence.  There is no need to elaborate on various corrections since the corrections that I mentioned above apply here as well.  However, consider how to fix this sentence as well:

poet; he (semi-colon correction) poet.  He (period correction) poet, and he (conjunction correction) poet who wrote a …(subordinate clause correction) poet, composing a book of …(phrase correction)

Let’s also take a look at the most common types of fragment sentences.  I have identified six different forms of fragments; however, for the sake of brevity it seems useful to only cover three of the most common types of fragments that occur on the SAT.  Let’s begin with a definition.  A fragment sentence is an undercooked idea; more technically speaking, it is a sequence of words that is missing a subject or a predicate (verb), or sometimes both.  Consider the following fragment types:

Phrase Fragment:  Often times a series of phrases strung together gives the appearance of a complete thought.  For instance, take this sequence below:

o During the hurricane, hiding under a table praying for the storm to pass quickly.

o In this case, the sequence begins with a phrase, only to be followed by two additional phrases.  By definition, most phrases do not contain subjects and they always do not contain verbs.  This example fails to provide a subject and a verb, so it is undercooked.  Those who fail to recognize fragments might mistake “hurricane” as a subject and mistake “hiding” and “praying” as verbs, even though depending context they are either nouns or adjectives since they are what we call in grammar a verbal. 

Verb Fragment: By far, one of the most common types of fragments is the verb fragment.  The test makers love to use verbals as a means for creating fragment sentences.  You truly need to be aware of these since they appear in both improving sentence errors and identifying sentence errors.  Consider the verb fragment below:

The troops waiting patiently for their commander.

Complex-Compound Fragment:  More and more frequently, I have found this error on the exam.  After the test maker gets tired of giving you the run-around with phrase and

verb fragments, they like to use a more complicated error.  Be on the lookout for this error in both the improving and identifying sentence errors.  Essentially, they take half a complex sentence and half a compound sentence, smashing them together to create on giant glob of language.  Consider:

o Since I had difficulty understanding the doctor’s language, but the nurse made my condition much clearer to understand. 

The Big Seven does not exhaust all the possibilities for potential areas of grammar on the SAT exam.  For example, there are common errors of usage such as preposition errors and adjective vs. adverb distinction.  More importantly, there are illogical comparison errors as well. 

Improving Sentence Errors: As I suggest in my facts section, there will be 25 of these questions.  Essentially, the SAT test maker takes a quite a lengthy sentence and underlines either a portion of the sentence or the entire sentence and asks you to rearrange the portion into a version that conforms to traditional conventions of grammar.  The answer choices contain areas of grammar that students need to know in order to omit them as possibilities- and they need to omit them quickly!  Catching on to patterns help them to achieve this.  For instance, if they can quickly spot choices in the passive or recognize wordiness, then they may omit these quickly.  The correct answer choice is always the cleanest, straightforward version. 

Identifying Sentence Errors:  When compared to improving sentence errors, most students find these questions easier since the task is simply to spot the error rather than think critically about fixing the error.  In this sense, they should not take the full 42 seconds for each question.  The SAT test maker underlines four small sections for their consideration.  The thorn in this side, however, is the “No Error” choice that occurs at the end of the sentence.  Consider the following bullet points to help you through these questions:

o On this section students do not have to worry about degrees of wordiness.  Instead, this type of question calls on their mechanical ability. 

o Recurrent errors are: subject-verb agreement errors, pronoun errors, sentence structure errors, and common misuses of language. 

o Any time a verb is underlined students should ask themselves two quick questions: (a) Does the verb tell the right time and (b) does the verb agree with the subject of the sentence? 

o Any time a pronoun is underlined, there are four possible errors: case, person, agreement, reference.  I outlined these in the Big Seven.  Given this, students need to quickly determine if the pronoun is used correctly on these levels.  

o Students should study a glossary of usage since at least 3 questions containing usage errors occur such as the difference between the verbs “lie” and “lay,” “fewer” and “less,” etc.  This may help students to gain points on these questions, but it’s difficult to control the variables here since the test maker has so many misuses of language to pull from its hat

o If a conjunction is underlined, whether it is subordinating or coordinating, students should consider if there is a fragment or whether the conjunction is the correct conjunction to use given the idea at hand. Often students misuse conjunctions, always using “and” when they were looking to build a contrast. 

o 3, and at the most 4, “No Error” questions among the 18.  If you surpass this, say with 6 or 7 “No Error” answer choices, then something went wrong.

o Typically, the SAT exam begins with easy questions.  For example, perhaps an adjective such as “smooth” needs to be used as an adverb “smoothly.”  Look for these easy questions and expect them to arise at the start of the test.  Often the more difficult choices are at the end, and this makes sense since the test maker wants to fluster you before the final segment of the exam. 

o If students struggle to find errors, it may be a “No Error” question.  They just need to keep note of how many “No Error” answer choices they have chosen. 

Improving Paragraphs: This section is the smallest section on the SAT exam, consisting of 6 questions.  To do well on this section, there are some areas of composition and grammar that students should keep in mind: correct subordination of ideas, correct coordination of ideas, correct use of transition, unity of paragraphs, coherence of paragraphs. Consider the following bullet points to score accurately:

o Generally, there will be one to two questions that ask students to combine ideas effectively.  This skill entails that they either know how to subordinate an idea or coordinate an idea.  Be especially mindful of cause and effect ideas. 

o There is a strong possibility that the test maker will ask you to contemplate how a new idea might fit into a paragraph.  Students should be mindful of the sentence before.   It may be strategically set up for a sentence to contrast it.  If so, they should look for a contrasting sentence in the answer choices and make sure the sentence is unified with the other ideas and that it is coherent or placed in the correct sequence. 

o With transitions, students should look for transitions that accentuate the development of the idea, being aware of contrasts, especially- the SAT test maker really likes to see if you are paying attention to the momentum of the paragraph.  Paragraphs follow a direction- incorrect answer choices ruin this direction; they go against the grain! 

Pacing: Within the first section, you have 34 questions to complete in 25 minutes.  Without a doubt, the fastest section needs to be the identifying sentence errors.  Students should consider the following pointers to improve their pacing:

o Quickness is a result of knowing grammar.  To gain speed, students need to know what they are looking for

o Have the discipline to move on.  Every question is worth the same amount of points, so if one question presents a difficulty, they should leave it.  If they have time to come back to it, then fine, but they are not to burn their time and thus, put themselves into a time crunch.  Psychologically, time crunches can kill their momentum and prevent them from answering successive questions correctly though they might be easy.

o If students do find themselves crunched for time on this section, they should complete the identifying sentence errors first, so that they have more timefor the improving sentence questions.  Above all, they should never do the improving paragraph section first.  It’s a time killer section since there is a lot of reading and flip-flopping from question to passage and vice versa.

o Another way to improve time on improving sentence errors is to cancel out the first answer choice immediately after we suspect something is fishy with the question. 

Final Thoughts to test-takers:

o Within improving sentence errors, really look out for the word “being.”  It has such an excessive use in high school writing that I have found many, if not most, of the answer choices that contain the word are wrong. 

o If stuck between two SAT questions and you really cannot make out a difference, you have done enough work to take a guess, so choose the simpler of the two. 

o Do not omit a question unless you cannot eliminate any answer choices.  If you want to play a conservative game, have at least two answer choices omitted before you take the gamble of guessing. 

o By no means get hung up on any one question.  Keep moving. o As soon as you notice the passive voice, it is typically wrong. o Remember that even talented players may have a bad game if their head is not

in it.  Keep yourself mentally protected from frustration by letting some questions go. 

Recommended Sources:

1. PBT TOEFL, Barron’s2. Barron’s SAT3. Advanced English dictionary- Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 4. A Dictionary of Contemporary American Vocabulary for the TOEFL, SAT, GMAT and

GRE tests5. Advanced Grammar in Use, Martin Hewings, Cambridge University Press6. English Grammar in Use, Raymond Murphy7. www.englishpage.com 8. www.thesaurus.com 9. www.merriam-webster.com 10. www.vocabtest.com 11. www.collegeboard.com 12. www.ets.com 13. www.newsweek.com