What to expect from the SAT
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Sentence completion—19 multiple choice
questions that test your vocabulary in a
complex sentence.
Passage-based reading—48 questions based
on passages from 100-850 words in length.
The passages are selected from the
humanities, literary fiction, social studies and
natural sciences.
Attempt the sentence completion questions
first. About 1/3 of the critical reading questions
are sentence completion. These take less time
to finish than the passage based questions.
 Mark up your booklet. Answer as many
questions as you can with ease. Mark those
you’ll need to revisit. Once you’ve answered all
questions you are certain of, go back to the
marked questions and answer any that won’t
require you to spend excess time. Move onto
the passage based questions next.
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Note that the difficulty of the passage based
questions increase the further you progress
through the question set. Take a break and
move to another section when the questions
become too difficult.
 Use the process of elimination. When looking at
questions you skipped, rule out any known
wrong choices immediately.
 Consider related words, familiar sayings and
phrases, roots, prefixes and suffixes when
approached with unfamiliar vocabulary.
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Read the entire sentence and say “blank” in
place of the blanks in the question. This will
help you determine the parts of the sentence.
Decide upon the denotations (standard
dictionary definitions) of the given words.
You should not require knowledge of
nonstandard definitions to answer these
questions.
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Focus on any introductory or transitional
words. These are key to figuring out the logic
of the sentences.
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But
Although
However
Yet
Even though
These terms indicate that the two parts of the
sentences may contradict or contrast.
Remember that the most difficult sentence
completion questions contain NEGATIVES.
 Consider what types of word(s) should fill the blank(s)
before looking at the options. You can rule out
possibilities right away.
 With two-blank questions, try eliminating some
answers based on just one blank. Always read the
complete sentence with both words in the blanks to
make sure your choice fits.
 Remember, the instructions tell you to choose the
BEST answer. Read all of the selections, otherwise
you might be selecting the second-best answer.
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Types of passages
 They range in length from 100-850 words
 Some are single passages while others are a
related pair
 They cover a wide range of subjects and genres
 They will vary in style and tone
 A set of questions follows each passage or pair of
related passages
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Mark the passage or make short notes as you
read, particularly to briefly summarize if
there are two passages to connect.
If you read actively (asking questions,
drawing connections) you will more likely
stay focused and engaged.
If the passage doesn’t make sense to you,
read the questions before reading the rest of
the passage to target what to read for.
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There will be up to three kinds of questions
asked about each passage or paired passages
 Extended Reasoning
 Vocabulary in Context
 Literal Comprehension
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Here you are asked to draw conclusions or
evaluate the passage. These will generally be
inferential.
You might be asked about the overall theme,
the author’s purpose or attitude, or the tone
of the passage.
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Here you will need to understand the
meaning of a term in its context, and not just
its immediate denotation. Even if you don’t
recognize the term, you can often utilize the
context clues to figure out a word’s meaning.
They will often present more than one known
meaning for a term in the answer choices—be
aware.
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These questions measure how well you read
to acquire information.
Identify the portion of the passage where the
question specifies. Remember to answer the
question based on what the passage tells you
and not necessarily your own experience.
Read the questions carefully, looking for
terms such as EXCEPT, NOT and ONLY.