1. AP Language MC Reading Test
Overview of Strategies

2. OVERALL GOAL Aim for a 70%, not 100%
Identify a strategy that will work best for you. We will practice three this week
Mark up the text and the questions (process of elimination, etc.)
Don’t be afraid to go out of order

3. OVERALL GOAL In order of priority:
Answer as many questions correctly as possible.
Do easy questions first; save difficult questions (especially Roman Numeral questions and “all of the following EXCEPT” questions) until last
Use process of elimination whenever possible.
Blind guess when necessary; fill in the same response every time.

4. Step 1 - Preview the Test
How many passages? Remember readings are duplicated twice. Divide 60 minutes by number of passages.
4 passages means 15 minutes per reading
5 passages means 12 minutes per reading
6 passages means 10 minutes per reading
Which passage is the OLDEST or appears the most challenging?
Do this passage LAST. It will take you the longest, and you’re likely to get questions wrong.

5. Types of Readings
Nonfiction - essays, speeches, articles, excerpts from books
Questions concentrate on author’s use of rhetoric
Expect minority or feminist perspectives
Don’t forget about satire

6. Step 2 - Active Reading
Read the entire passage, dramatically if possible, following the tip of your pencil
Annotate tone (positive or negative), key ideas (summary notes in margin), and underline or circle words or terms from our packet

7. Step 3 – The questions
Vocab/phrases in context, line item, main idea, rhetorical terms, antecedent questions are the easiest. Do them first. Watch your time.
Do function/author’s purpose and organization/paragraph questions next. Watch your time.
Do roman numeral and “EXCEPT” questions last, if time permits.

8. Answer options… Several types of answers
1 best (most defensible) correct answer
1 or 2 correct (but more superficial) answers
1 or 2 plausible but not correct
1 total misread

9. BLIND GUESSING: When skipping a difficult question, circle the question number on the test and fill in your standard response. Change it later if time permits.
If your per-passage time limit runs out (12 minutes, 15 minutes, etc.), blind guess on the tough questions, circle the number, and move on to the next passage.
Done with all passages and you still have time? Go back to your blind guess responses (which you’ve circled) and work some more (eliminate!)

10. Optional strategy #1
Overly difficult passage? Have no idea of what you just read?
Scan the questions for the passage; ignore all line item or vocab questions
Whole passage questions and author’s purpose questions may give you some insight

11. Optional strategy #2
Preview line item questions, mark the key word on the passage before reading.
This goes against general advice of reading the passage first and tackling the easy and moderate questions first.
The idea behind this strategy is that you’ll know what lines and words you’ll be asked about after reading. Potentially, this could be a more efficient way of maximizing your time.