SAT Reading: Passage-Based Questions

by Krista

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What are Passage-Based Critical Reading?

These questions on the SATs measure a student’s ability to read, think and comprehend different forms of writing. This may be in the form of a short story, poem or essay from about 100 to 850 words in length. The subjects explored in this section range in interest and also in the style in which they are told. For example you may come across an argumentative essay on cloning just as much as a poem of classical literary fiction told in a narrative form.

The important part of this section is to show your ability to critically read the passage. This means analyzing and identifying each aspect of the passage. This may include sentence structure, literary terms, common themes or even generally the who, what, where and how of a given paragraph.

What questions can I expect?

Compare and Contrast: If given two passages you may be asked to compare themes or identify a shared issue between them.

Vocabulary Check: Questions asking you to find the meanings of words, almost like a thesaurus type of question. Note: Make sure to read over the context of the word within the passage to make sure you get the correct meaning, definition or similar word.

Literal Comprehension: Basically asking you, “do you get this?”. Do you understand the concepts in this piece? How are the themes used within this written piece?

Continued Comprehension: Taking the reading further, how does the author accomplish certain goals with this passage? Questions may ask you how the author has developed the story, or how they use a certain tone or style in their writing. These questions will get you to think and see the whole picture of the story and draw information from that.

How do I approach these kinds of readings and questions?

Primarily, you should follow a few steps to keep you on track. Here are my suggested steps to fully attain the content within the reading.

Skim the passage. Try to identify what kind of passage it is. Is it a poem? Who is the narrator? What is the structure of the passage?
Read the passage from the beginning carefully. Try to comprehend what you are reading as you read it.
Make notes while reading. If you find you notice something, or a theme suddenly pops up, don’t hesitate to write a note to yourself in the margin. This will help you later on with your questions.
Underline important phrases and sentences that have clear literary devices. For example if you come across an alliteration, make a note of it!

Some people prefer to read the questions first before reading a passage. This is totally up to personal preference. If you would like to get a sense of what’s being asked. Read the questions after your skim the passage, that way you’ll have a brief understanding of the context of questions you’ll be reading.

Any other tips?

Try to relax and read at a regular pace. Don’t get ahead of yourself, as you don’t want to miss any important aspects. The good thing is that the passage is there for you to refer to, so even if you don’t understand what the question is asking, go back to the passage and read the surrounding context to what they’re asking. Also, don’t underestimate the introductory information of a passage if it is provided. It may give you some background information and insight into the reading that you may not have realized.

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imtiaz hasan – Sun, 28 Mar 2010 17:28:34 -0000

try kaplans critical reading…or barons sat

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rahuljyotinath – Thu, 18 Sep 2008 08:54:51 -0000

can any one tell me how to select a good university with a good number of international students.and also what books to follow for sat(the English and comprehension part). my maths is almost over.plz help.

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Avinash Chandra – Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:58:27 -0000

Please join the SAT Community - you will find all information on SAT preparation in here.

Also, for selecting a foreign university, I suggest joining the Study Abroad Community

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Pragya jain – Thu, 11 Sep 2008 10:13:16 -0000

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manan gill – Sat, 26 Jul 2008 14:06:28 -0000

how many minutes should be alloted to each passage in reading ??

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Oren Lahav – Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:52:34 -0000

The passage based questions are not on a separate section, they're together with sentence completion and other reading questions all in one reading section. You have 25 or 30 minutes per section, and if you time yourself evenly it should be around 10 minutes per passage with 5 questions or so.

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kishore parthasarathy – Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:59:02 -0000

am i allowed with any books while writing the SAT

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Oren Lahav – Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:05:59 -0000

No, the SAT do not allow any aids or translational dictonaries during the test. If you need space to write and formulate answers, you can use the test paper, but your final answers must go inside the answers booklet.

You are allowed to use a calculator on the math section.

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