1. More information than you ever thought you wanted to know!
SAT Reading Test
More information than you ever thought you wanted to know!

2. Remember... Basic aim of the SAT Reading Test:
comprehend the many types of challenging literary and informational texts you’re likely to encounter in college and career

3. The passages...
Some tell a story, while others share information, explain a process or concept, or try to convince you to accept or do something
Cover a wide range of subject
Some are particularly challenging, while others are more straightforward
Some passages are paired and others are accompanied by one or more informational graphics.

4. Three Major Subject Areas...
U.S. and World Literature
Classic and more recent works of fiction
History/Social Studies
Economics, sociology, and political science
U.S. founding documents and similar texts in the Great Global Conversation about civic and political life
Science
Information, concepts, and experiments in the fields of Earth science, biology, chemistry, and physics

5. Applying P.O.O.D. to this test...
Do you excel at one of the three subjects consistently?
Do you struggle with one consistently?
P.O.O.D. can affect the amount of time you spend on a given passage, rather than determine the order.

6. Paired Passages...
You will have ONE pair of related passages. They will share a topic and interact with one another in some way.
Different perspectives or opinions on a topic
Different information on the same topic
One a general overview, the other zeroes in on one particular element

7. Paired Passages Continued...
* Questions will ask about each passage separately as well as both passages together
* The U.S./World Literature passages will never be paired - only history/social studies or science passages may be paired

8. Informational Graphics...
Two passages will include one or more informational graphics -- tables, graphs, charts.
Questions may ask you to
locate information in the graphic
draw reasonable conclusions about the graphic’s data
make connections between the graphic and the passage.
* The U.S./World Literature passages will never include graphics - only history/social studies or science passages may include tables, graphs, charts, etc.

9. Passage Breakdown...
A classic or contemporary work of U.S. or World Literature
One passage or a pair of passages from either a U.S. founding document (such as an essay by James Madison) or a text in the Great Global Conversation (such as a speech by Nelson Mandela)
A social science topic from a field such as economics, psychology, or sociology
Two science passages (or one passage and one passage pair) that examine foundational concepts or recent developments in Earth science, biology, chemistry, or physics

10. Reading Test Questions...
There is a natural order
passage as a whole (main idea or point of view) will come first
specific parts of the passage come later
graphics and questions linking paired passages typically come near the end
Three general categories
Information and Ideas
Rhetoric
Synthesis

11. Information and Ideas... Questions focus on the author’s message
Locating stated information
Making reasonable inferences
Applying what you’ve read to another, similar situation
Determining central ideas and themes
Summarizing important information
Understanding relationships (cause-and-effect, comparison-contrast, and sequence)
Interpreting the meaning of words and phrases

12. Rhetoric...
Questions focus on HOW the author constructs the text to make its message clear, engaging, informative, or convincing
How an author’s word choice shapes meaning, tone, and style
How a passage is structured and what purpose its various parts play
Author’s point of view and purpose
Claims, reasons, evidence, and stylistic and persuasive devices found in arguments

13. Synthesis...
* Unlike questions in the first two categories, synthesis questions only accompany certain passages
Two basic forms
Drawing connections between a pair of passages (how the author of the first passage would react to a claim by the author of the second passage or how the two passages are similar or different in content, form, style, or perspective)
Asking about informational graphics (finding a particular piece of data, figuring out which conclusion is the most reasonable given a certain set of results from a study, or integrating information from a table with the information and ideas found in the passage itself.