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Tips to Improve your SAT Reading Score

SAT Reading Tips to Improve Score

The SAT Reading Test is a huge part of the (EBRW), also known as the Evidence-Based section, making it crucial to your overall SAT score. The College Board designs the test to gauge students' reading comprehension with a focus on common vocabulary, reflecting a shift towards real-world skills needed for college success. So strategic preparation and consistency are key if you’re aiming to improve your current score rather than aiming for a perfect one. So here’s everything you need to know about the tips and prep strategies to help you conquer this section and help you improve your SAT reading score.

Understanding the SAT Reading Test

This section includes five passages that take up to a total of 52 multiple-choice questions. , you’re allotted 65 minutes to complete this section, which features passages from:

  • U.S or World Literature
  • History or social studies (may include paired passages)
  • Science Topics, typically with charts or graphs

The digital SAT, with its adaptive nature, includes a breakdown of modules and a specific number of questions designed to test your skills effectively. Understanding the structure of the digital SAT can help you manage your time better and maximize your performance.

What to Expect 

This section is a 65-minute section that consists of 52 questions, divided into five passages with 10-11 questions each. The passages are drawn from various genres, including literature, history, social studies, and science. You can expect to encounter a range of question types, including main idea, inference, vocabulary in context, and evidence-based questions.

Each reading passage aims to test your ability to:

  • Grasp the main ideas and themes
  • Make inferences and analyze evidence
  • Understand vocabulary in context
  • Interpret data and charts (in some science passages).

It is important to note that the SAT vocabulary focuses on understanding common words in context rather than memorizing advanced vocabulary..

SAT Reading Prep Strategies 

1. Familiarize Yourself with the Format

The first step to any SAT section and your SAT Reading prep is understanding the format question types. These include:

  • Main Idea Questions: This part will ask you to identify the central theme of the passage.
  • Detail Questions: Requires you to find specific information.
  • Inference Questions: This will test your ability to test your ability to read between the lines.
  • Vocabulary in Context Questions: In this part you’ll have to determine the meaning of words based on their usage in the passage.
  • Evidence-Based Questions: This part requires you to justify your answers with specific lines from the passage.

Understanding various question types related to reading passages is crucial for effective preparation, as it helps you focus on specific reading skills like identifying the main idea, making inferences, and managing your time.

2. Develop Active Reading Skills

Active Reading is one of the most important skills that you should learn before taking your SAT. Active Reading means engaging with the text rather than passively skimming. For this reason, it is the most effective way to pass this  section. Here’s how you do it:

  • Annotate the Passage: Highlight the main ideas, underline the important details, and mark shifts in tones or transitions. Engaging with each reading passage helps you retain information and answer questions accurately.
  • Summarize Paragraphs: Use summaries for each paragraph to ensure you understand it.
  • Identify the Author’s Purpose: Determine whether the passage is meant to inform, persuade, or entertain.

For this reason, active reading helps you retain information. As a result it makes it easier for you to answer questions accurately.

3. Practice with SAT Sample Questions

The best way to ace any section in the SAT is to keep practicing with SAT sample questions that follow the actual format. Using practice questions is essential to understand the format and skills tested, helping you identify weaknesses and improve your performance. To do this, there’s a variety of official resources that you can use:

  • The College Board: This resource accurately represents the format.
  • Khan Academy: As for this resource, it’s free and offers personalized practice tests tailored to your current skill level.
  • SAT Reading Practice Books: There’s also a variety of books to choose from that include detailed explanations for each question type.

Keep working with SAT reading practice materials that will help familiarize yourself with the format and improve your pacing.

4. Read! Read! Read!

Expect to see a variety of genres in the SAT Reading Section, so prepare for this to familiarize yourself with different reading materials, including:

  • Classic Literature: Read novels. Essays and short stories from authors like Jane Austen and F. Scott Fitzgerald.
  • Historical Documents: Familiarize yourself with speeches, letters, and founding documents.
  • Science Articles: Read scientific journals, studies, and reports.

Understanding the content of SAT passages thoroughly is crucial to improving your performance on this section. 

By reading more, you’ll be able to improve and expand your comprehension, which will help you adapt to the variety of texts in the SAT reading and writing section.

5. Develop Your Vocabulary

It is important to know that a strong vocabulary is essential in achieving SAT reading success. While the test doesn’t generally use overly complicated words, understanding academic language is still critical. So here are some steps to improve your vocabulary:

  • Use Flashcards: Use flashcards for high-frequency SAT words.
  • Learn Roots and Prefixes: Understanding word origins can help you guess the meaning of unfamiliar terms.
  • Practice Vocabulary in Context: You can practice by reading challenging articles and analyzing how words are used.

Understanding and tracking one's scores is crucial to determine the effectiveness of these vocabulary study methods.

Improving your vocabulary will help you answer vocabulary context questions and understand passages easily without taking that much time.

6. Eliminate Wrong Answers to Increase Your Score

One of the most effective strategies for improving your SAT Reading score is to eliminate wrong answers. By eliminating incorrect answer choices, you can increase your chances of selecting the correct answer. To do this, read the question carefully and identify the keywords and phrases. Then, read the answer choices and eliminate any that are clearly incorrect.

Before the actual exam, practice by answering full-length practice tests under timed conditions; by doing this, you will surely improve your pacing. Remember, a student's performance may vary significantly from one practice test to another, so use your results as learning opportunities to improve your overall performance.

How to Use Evidence-Based Reading Strategies

The majority of SAT Reading questions will require you to provide evidence for your answers. To excel in these, you’ll need to:

  • Find Supporting Lines: Identify the specific part of the passage that justifies your answer.
  • Double-check Your Choices: Ensure your answer aligns with the evidence you’ve selected.
  • Eliminate Incorrect Options: Rule out answers that don’t match the text. Careful reading and elimination strategies are essential to avoid selecting a wrong answer.

Mastering evidence-based strategies is crucial to improving your SAT reading and writing scores.

Managing Your Weaknesses

To improve your SAT Reading score, it’s essential to identify and manage your weaknesses. This involves identifying the areas where you struggle the most and developing strategies to improve your skills in those areas.

Identify Your Weaknesses and Drill Them

To identify your weaknesses, take a practice test and review your results. Identify the types of questions that you struggled with the most and the areas where you lost the most points. Then, develop a plan to improve your skills in those areas.

For example, if you struggled with vocabulary in context questions, make a list of the words that you didn’t know and study them. Practice using the words in context and review the types of questions that are typically asked.

Keep Practicing

Practicing consistently is key to improvement. For this reason, you should set a time each week to work on your SAT reading practice. You can start doing this by focusing on:

  • Full-Length Tests: Take an official practice test to build stamina and identify weak areas. Using practice questions is essential to understand the format and skills tested, helping you identify weaknesses and improve performance.
  • Targeted Practice: Work on specific question types that you find challenging.
  • Review Your Mistakes: Analyze wrong answers to understand what went wrong and how to improve.

So, with more practice, the more confident you can be, and you’ll be prepared for test day.

Final Thoughts

It’s never too late to improve your SAT Reading score with Park Tutoring. All you need is the right determination, strategies, consistent practice, and high-quality resources. So, focus on active reading, time management, and evidence-based strategies to tackle the passage effectively. For this reason, use official reading SAT prep materials from the College Board and practice regularly to improve your skills.