Critical Reading
Unit Overview:
Critical Reading makes up 3-4 of the 10 sections of the SAT Exam. All critical reading questions can be broken down into two categories: sentence completion and passage-based questions, and just as in the PSAT having a well-developed vocabulary will greatly help you. To prepare yourself for this section of the SAT, go through the activities listed for each of these categories of questions listed here. Each category has a title on this page, directions, and important links for study materials. When you have completed both categories of question, you are now done with the Critical Reading component of this exam prep course.
Barron's SAT test prep book breaks the SAT exam down by section and question category. Chapters suggest several tips or strategies that will help you deal with a specific question type and include examples that help explain the tip and give you a chance to apply your knowledge. Each section ends with practice questions and answer key, and a quick summary of the tips gone over in the section.
1. Sentence Completion Questions
Directions: Work through the Critical Reading Sentence Completion document, making sure you understand the tips offered here. Once you have finished going through this document, print up the Sentence Completion Practice Answer Sheet, and work through the Sentence Completion Practice Questions (50 multiple choice questions.) Grade your work using the answer key provided, and submit your graded worksheet to your instructor. You will find the links for all the documents you need below.
SAT Critical Reading Sentence Completion Questions Lesson
Sentence Completion Practice Questions Answer Sheet
Sentence Completion Practice Questions
Sentence Completion Practice Questions Answer Key
The tips listed in the Barron's study guide are practical, easy to understand, and will REALLY help you! Read through as many of them as you can before taking the practice questions.
One last thing: Don't worry about missing questions. Missing questions is a great way to learn, because it often burns the correct answers into your minds. Don't forget to take a look at the answer explanations, which can be found in the answer key document. Good luck on this section of your exam preparation!
2. Passage-Based Questions
Directions: Work through the Critical Reading, Passage-Based questions Document, making sure you understand the tips offered here. Once you have finished going through this document, print up the Passage-Based Practice Questions Answer Sheet, and work through the Passage-Based Practice Questions. (40 multiple choice questions in 3 sections). Grade your work using the answer key provided, and submit your graded worksheet to your instructor. You will find the links for all the documents you need below.
Critical Reading Passage-Based Questions Lesson
Passage-Based Practice Questions Answer Sheet
Passage-Based Questions Practice Exercises
Passage-Based Questions Practice Exercises Answer Key
The tips listed in the Barron's study guide are practical, easy to understand, and will REALLY help you! Read through as many of them as you can before taking the practice questions.
3. Vocabulary
Directions: The vocabulary section of Barron's PAT Study Guide works a little differently than the other two sections: You are provided with a high-frequency SAT word list ( a list of words that occur frequently on the SAT exam), followed by long lists of basic word parts including prefixes, roots and stems (like "agri" in agriculture), and suffixes. Because essentially this section of the study guide is a a series of lists, use whatever strategy you feel is appropriate. You will find the links for all the documents you need below.
4. Additional Practice
The best way you can help yourself in prepping for the exam is to test, test, and test. In the middle of all this testing, look at your mistakes and learn from them, then test again to see if your score goes up. After going through the Critical Reading lessons and practice questions presented here, why not open up some practice exams and focus on critical reading questions?
Critical Reading questions can be found in sections 2, 6, and 8 on the SAT exam. If you want additional practice, open up some practice exams and only do those sections.