SAT Preparation & Review
Welcome
SAT Preparation & Review
Take out the orange sheet.
Take the five question test.
You have four minutes.
Start.
SAT Preparation & Review
Take out the yellow sheet.
Let’s review your answers.
SAT Preparation & Review
A 12 page packet is in the left side
pocket of your folder that summarizes
everything we will cover tonight.
There is also a handout on guessing
in the left side pocket of the folder.
SAT Preparation & Review
I’m not going to teach you math or English.
I’ll show you ways to save time and make fewer mistakes.
To improve you need to practice, practice, practice.
No break If you need to go, go quietly on your own.
General Preparation Before Test Day
Commit to Memory the Test Directions for Each Section
Have Everything Needed for the Test Assembled and
Checked the Night before the Test
Know Where the Test is and Know the Directions to
Get There
General Tricks of the Trade for the SAT
Eliminate the Wrong Answers to Find the Right One
Beware of the Answer that Jumps Out at You on Hard
Questions
Don’t be Afraid to Guess. Understand how the test is graded
Write, Draw, Lineout in the Test Booklet
Mark the Correct Answer in the Booklet and Then Transfer
Answers at the End of Each Section
Don’t Go so Fast on the Easy Questions that You Make a
“Stupid” Mistake
Sentence Completion Strategies
READ THE ENTIRE SENTENCE TO GET A FEEL
USE YOUR OWN WORD OR WORDS TO FILL IN THE BLANK
“Dangerously high winds ------- attempts to
begin the space shuttle mission on schedule,
delaying the launch by nearly a week.”
What’s your word? __________________________
Sentence Completion Strategies
LOOK FOR THE CLUE
“A swindler’s ------ is usually a gullible person
who is unable to resist the swindler’s traps.”
What’s the clue? ______________________
Sentence Completion Strategies
FORGET ALL THE EXTRA JUNK
“In Jamaica Kincaid’s novel Lucy, the West Indian
heroine ------her employer’s world, critically
examining its assumptions and values.”
“In Jamaica Kincaid’s novel Lucy, the West
Indian heroine (A woman)------her employer’s
world, critically examining its assumptions and
values.”
Sentence Completion Strategies
LOOK FOR INTRODUCTORY OR TRANSITION WORDS
Because, And & Since = the thought or flow of the sentence
is moving in the same tone or direction
However, Although, Though, But, Rather, Despite and Yet
= the thought or flow of the sentence is moving in the
opposite tone or direction
Sentence Completion Strategies
LOOK FOR INTRODUCTORY OR TRANSITION WORDS
“Since Polynesians live in mild climates, they
experience ----- in adjusting to cold climates.”
“Polynesians live in mild climates; however, they
adjust----- to cold climates.”
Sentence Completion Strategies
GOOD (POSITIVE) OR BAD (NEGATIVE) WORD
“The quest speaker on the Oprah Winfrey talk show
offended the audience by first ----- them …”
Is the blank a good or bad word?
Sentence Completion Strategies
LET’S PRACTICE A FEW SENTENCE COMPLETIONS
Take out the green sentence completion practice
questions in your packet.
Let’s work together using the strategies we learned.
Sentence Completion Strategies
Q1. Tame koala bears handled by tourists are ----,
but wild koalas are hard to control and typically
require two people to hold them.
What’s the clue?
What is the transition word?
Good word or Bad word?
What’s your word?
(A) mischievous
(B) gluttonous
(C) supple
(D) adroit
(E) docile
Sentence Completion Strategies
Q2. Because of the ------- effects of the hot springs,
tourists suffering from various ailments flocked to
the village’s thermal pools.
What’s the clue?
What is the transition word?
Good word or Bad word?
What’s your word?
Sentence Completion Strategies
Q3. To avoid being ------, composer Stephen
Sondheim strives for an element of surprise
in his songs.
What’s the clue?
What is the transition word?
Good word or Bad word?
What’s your word?
(A) erratic
(B) informal
(C) elaborate
(D) predictable
(E) idiosyncratic
Sentence Completion Strategies
Q4. Although easily angered by our mischievous
behavior, our mother could be immediately -----by our expressions of remorse.
What is the transition word?
What’s the clue?
Good word or Bad word?
What’s your word?
(A) substantiated
(B) impugned
(C) protected
(D) united
(E) mollified
Sentence Completion Strategies – Two Blanks
Eliminate some choices based
on just one blank;
usually the first one.
Once you have eliminated an answer
based on the first word,
never go back to that answer again.
If one word is wrong, the answer is wrong.
Sentence Completion Strategies – Two Blanks
Q5. The quest speaker on the Oprah Winfrey
talk show offended the audience by first ----them and then refusing to moderate these -----remarks.
What’s the clue?
What is the transition word?
Good word or Bad word?
What’s your word?
(A) flattering.. ?
(B) haranguing.. ?
(C) praising .. ?
(D) enraging .. ?
(E) accommodating .. ?
Sentence Completion Strategies – Two Blanks
Q5. The quest speaker on the Oprah Winfrey
talk show offended the audience by first ----them and then refusing to moderate these -----remarks.
What’s the clue?
What is the transition word?
Good word or Bad word?
What’s your word?
(A) flattering .. commendable
(B) haranguing .. intemperate
(C) praising .. radical
(D) enraging .. conciliatory
(E) accommodating .. indulgent
Sentence Completion Strategies – Two Blanks
Q6. Lewis Latimer’s inexpensive method of
producing carbon filaments ------ the nascent
electric industry by making electric lamps
commercially ------.
What’s the clue?
What is the transition word?
Good word or Bad word?
What’s your word?
(A) cheapened .. affordable
(B) transformed .. viable
(C) revolutionized .. prohibitive
(D) provoked .. improbable
(E) stimulated .. inaccessible
Sentence Completion Strategies – Two Blanks
Q6. Lewis Latimer’s inexpensive method of
producing carbon filaments ------ the nascent
electric industry by making electric lamps
commercially ------.
(A) cheapened .. affordable
(B) transformed .. viable
(C) revolutionized .. prohibitive
(D) provoked .. improbable
(E) stimulated .. inaccessible
Sentence Completion Strategies – Two Blanks
Q7. Although aging brings about profound
physiological changes, it does not often alter
an individual’s ------; an irascible thirty year old
will probably still be ------ at seventy.
Without prompts, take the steps to solve this sentence completion.
(A) disposition .. cantankerous
(B) anatomy .. churlish
(C) outlook .. benevolent
(D) personality .. laconic
(E) stature .. robust
Sentence Completion Strategies – Two Blanks
Q7. Although aging brings about profound
physiological changes, it does not often alter
an individual’s ------; an irascible thirty year old
will probably still be ------ at seventy.
(A) disposition .. cantankerous
(B) anatomy .. churlish
(C) outlook .. benevolent
(D) personality .. laconic
(E) stature .. robust
Sentence Completion Strategies
Q8. The general was so widely suspected
of ------ during the war that his name eventually
became synonymous with disloyalty.
(A) belligerence
(B) indigence
(C) perfidy
(D) aspersion
(E) tenacity
Sentence completions are essentially vocabulary
questions. To improve your vocabulary, READ!
SAT THE TEST
3 HOURS & 45 MINUTES
ESSAY FIRST AND 10-MIN WRITING SEGMENT LAST
3 MATH SECTIONS
3 READING SECTIONS
1 WRITING SECTION
1 EXPERIMENTAL SECTION
Strategies for Long Passages
THREE TYPES OF QUESTIONS
Go-To Questions: They tell you where the answer is.
As used in line 14, “consumption” most nearly means …
Reasoning (Why or Interpret) Questions
The author’s attitude can best be described …
Main Idea Questions: What is the passage about?
Strategies for Long Passages
The answer must appear in the passage
Don’t Read the Passage. That’s right. DON’T READ IT.
Read the introductory (italicized) statement
Strategies for Long Passages
Go straight to the Go-To questions
Convert the SAT question into a real question
“The author most likely mentions Mount Everest
(line 37) in order to.”
“Why did the author mention Mount Everest?”
Go to the passage and read only what you need to
Strategies for Long Passages
Answer the question in your own words.
Go to the answer choices and eliminate wrong answers.
Strategies for Long Passages
Tricks to Avoid
The answer is a true statement but it’s not in the passage
Beware of extreme language
Women are too emotional.
Jazz is vastly superior to rock and roll.
Part of the answer is right and part is wrong
Exact restatement of a phrase from the passage in the
answer is usually a trap
Strategies for Long Passages
LET’S PRACTICE A LONG READING PASSAGE
Take out the blue long reading passage practice sheet
in your packet.
Get your copy of The Official SAT Study Guide handy.
Let’s work together using the strategies we learned.
Strategies for Long Passages
LET’S PRACTICE A LONG READING PASSAGE
Turn to page 764 in The Official SAT Study Guide.
Read italicized passage a top of passage.
Look at question 10 – the first question for this passage.
Restate in your own words.
Go to line 10.
Go to the beginning of the sentence (line 5).
Read.
Answer in your own words.
Go to the answer choices.
Strategies for Long Passages
LET’S PRACTICE A LONG READING PASSAGE
Look at question 11 and restate in your own words.
Go to line 18.
Go to the beginning of the sentence (line 17).
If not clear go to the sentence before this one (line 14).
Read.
Answer in your own words.
Go to the answer choices.
Strategies for Long Passages
LET’S PRACTICE A LONG READING PASSAGE
Now answer question 12.
Rephrase the question _________________________.
Go to line ___________.
Read.
Answer in your own words.
Go to the answer choices.
Strategies for Long Passages
LET’S PRACTICE A LONG READING PASSAGE
Turn to page 828 - 829
Look at questions 15 & 24
Answer these type questions last
By answering the Go-To questions first you will have read
many parts of the passage
By doing the Go-Tos first, you’ve read the passage in an
efficient method
Short and Dual Passages
Attack short passages the same way as long ones
BUT READ THE PASSAGE.
Turn to page 763 to see short passages.
For dual passages answer the questions that deal
with each passage separately.
Save the questions that deal with both until last.
Turn to page 782 to see (long) dual passages.
SAT Preparation & Review
Welcome
Strategies Math Reasoning
Review your math
Don’t solve medium and hard problems the
way you would in math class.
You don’t have time.
Use your calculator
Strategies Math Reasoning
Strategy 1: Plug in SAT answers that are numbers
Strategy 1a: Start with answer (C) then
work up or down
Math Strategies Plug-in
The total daily profit, in dollars, from producing and
selling x units of a certain product is given by the function
p(x) = 17x – (10x + b), where b is a constant. If 300 units
were produced and sold yesterday for a total profit of
$1,900, what is the value of b?
(A)-200
(B)-100
(C)0
(D)100
(E)200
8. Page 731
Math Strategies Plug-in
The total daily profit, in dollars, from producing and selling x units of a certain
product is given by the function p(x) = 17x – (10x + b), where b is a constant. If
300 units were produced and sold yesterday for a total profit of $1,900, what is
the value of b?
(A)-200
(B)-100
(C)0
(D)100
(E)200
8. Page 731
Start with answer (C). Plug in 300 everywhere there is an
x and a 0 for b. What answer gives you 1900 profit?
Profit = 17(300) – (10(300) + 0) = 5100 – (3000 + 0) = 2100
2100 ≠ 1900 so answer C is wrong.
Math Strategies Plug-in
p(x) = 17x – (10x + b). If 300 units were produced and sold yesterday for a total
profit of $1,900, what is the value of b?
(A)-200
(B)-100
(C)0
(D)100
(E)200
8. Page 731
17(300) – (10(300) + 0) = 5100 – (3000) = 2100
1900 ≠ 2100.] Since 0 (for b) makes the right side too
large, a negative number such as -100 would make it even
bigger, Therefore, we need to go to answer (D)
Therefore you can eliminate answers (A) & (B) without
even trying them.
Math Strategies Plug-in
p(x) = 17x – (10x + b). If 300 units were produced and sold yesterday for a total
profit of $1,900, what is the value of b?
(A)-200
(B)-100
(C)0
(D)100
(E)200
8. Page 731
Go to answer (D) and see what you get.
17(300) – (10(300) + 100) = 5100 – (3000 + 100) = 2000;
1900 ≠ 2000. (D) is wrong.
The answer is (E). You don’t have to try (E). All the
others are wrong & have been eliminated.
Math Strategies Plug-in
You “tested” all five answers and got the right answer
by “working” only two.
Plugging in doesn’t mean plugging in every answer.
Math Strategies Plug-in
If (2x – 2)(2 – x) = 0, what are all possible values of x?
(A)0 only
(B)1 only
(C)2 only
(D)1 and 2 only
(E)0, 1 and 2
10. Page 787
Solve this using the plug-in method,
and I’ll call on someone to answer.
D is the correct answer.
Math Strategies Plug-in
Strategy 2: Plug in numbers for variables in SAT
questions and answers
Strategy 2a: Don’t use 0 & 1 as plug ins.
If x and y are positive consecutive odd integers,
where y > x, which of the following is equal to
y2 – x2?
(A) 2x
(B) 4X
(C) 2x + 2
(D) 2x + 4
(E) 4x + 4
16. Page 642
Math Strategies Plug-in
If x and y are positive consecutive odd integers, where y > x,
which of the following is equal to y2 – x2?
(A) 2x
(B) 4X
(C) 2x + 2
(D) 2x + 4
(E) 4x + 4
16. Page 642
Pick numbers for x and y. Remember to stay away from 0 and 1.
Since y > x, make x = 3 and y = 5
Plug in these numbers into the equation in the question.
52 – 32 = 25 – 9 = 16
What expression in the answers gives you 16 when x = 3?
(E): (4 x 3) + 4 = 12 + 4 = 16
Math Strategies Plug-in
During a sale, a customer can buy one shirt for x dollars. Each additional
shirt the customer buys costs z dollars less than the first shirt. For example,
the cost of the second shirt is x-z dollars. Which of the following represent
the customer’s cost for n shirts bought during the sale?”13
(A) x + (n - 1)(x - z)
(B) x = n(x - z)
(C) n(x – z)
(D) x + (x – z)/n
(E) (x – z) + (x – z)/n
18. Page 585
Pick numbers for x, say $10. and z, say $5.
If first shirt cost 10 and second 5, the total cost for 2 shirts is 15.
Plug in 2 for n, 10 for x and 5 for z into the answers.
What expression in the answers gives you 15, when n = 2, x = 10
and z = 5?
(A) 10 + (2-1)(10-5) = 10 + (1)(5) = 10 + 5 = 15
Math Strategies Plug-in
If X is an integer greater than 1 and if Y = X + 1/X, which of the following
must be true?
I. y ≠ x
II. y is an integer
III. xy > x2
(A) I only
(B) III only
(C) I & II only
(D) I & III only
(E) I, II & III
16. Page 613
Pick numbers for X, say 2.
If X = 2, then Y = 2 + ½ = 2½.
I. 2 ½ {which is Y} does not = 2 {which is X}; I is true
II. Y {which is 2 ½} is not an integer; II is not true
III. XY {which is 5} is > X squared {which is 4}; III is true
Math Strategies Plug-in
After the first term, each term in a sequence is 3 greater than 1/3 of the
preceding term. If t is the first term of the sequence and t does not equal 0,
what is the ratio of the second term to the first term?
(A) t + 9/3
(B) t + 3/3
(C) t + 9/3t
(D) t + 3/3t
(E) 9 – 2t/3
16. Page 733
Solve this using the plug-in method, and I’ll
call on someone to answer.
If you make the first term 3, then the 2nd term is 4 {1/3 * 3 = 1}
& 3 + 1 = 4, therefore, the ratio is 4/3. Answer C gives this ratio,
3 + 9/3∙3 = 12/9 = 4/3.
Math Strategies Plug-in
How old was a person exactly 1 year ago if exactly X years ago the person
was Y years old?
(A) y - 1
(B) y - x - 1
(C) x - y -1
(D) y + x + 1
(E) y + x - 1
10. Page 702
Solve this using the plug-in method,
and I’ll call on someone to answer.
Math Strategies Plug-in
If a + 2b is equal to 125 percent of 4b, what is the value of a/b?
This is a grid in so there are no answers.
16. Page 655
Solve this using the plug-in method,
and I’ll call on someone to answer.
Make b = 10, therefore, 4b = 40 and 125% of 4b (40) is 50.
Since a + 2b = 125% of 4b, a + 2b = 50
If a + 2b = 50 and b = 10, then a + 20 = 50, so a = 30
If a = 30 & b = 10, then a/b = 30/10 or 3
Math Strategies Trial & Error
When 15 is divided by the positive integer k, the remainder is 3. For how
many different values of k is this true?
(A) One
(B) Two
(C) Three
(D) Four
(E) Five
20. Page 643
Write out all the possible events and see
what the answer is.
Math Strategies Trial & Error
When 15 is divided by the positive integer k, the remainder is 3. For how
many different values of k is this true?
(A) One
(B) Two
(C) Three
(D) Four
(E) Five
Integer
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
20. Page 643
Times into 15
15
7
5
3
3
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Remainder
0
1
0
3
0
3
1
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Math Strategies
Look for Special Triangles
In the figure above, ∆XYZ is equilateral, with side of length 2. If WY is a
diameter of the circle with center O, then the area of the circle is
a. √3∏/4
b. 2∏/3
c. 3∏/4
d. ∏
e. 3∏/2
19. Page 643
The right triangle is a 30-60-90 triangle. Find it on first page.
Side opposite the right angle is 2x , the side opposite the 30o
angle is x and the side opposite the 60o angle is x√3.
Math Strategies
Look for Special Triangles
In the figure above, ∆XYZ is equilateral, with side of length 2. If WY is a
diameter of the circle with center O, then the area of the circle is
a. √3∏/4
b. 2∏/3
c. 3∏/4
d. ∏
e. 3∏/2
19. Page 643
The side opposite the right angle is 2x , the side opposite the
30o angle is x and the side opposite the 60o angle is x√3.
If the side opposite the right angle is 2x and the value is 2 then
x = 1, so the side opposite the 30o angle is 1. The side opposite
the 60o angle is x√3 and since x = 1, the value is √3.
Math Strategies
Look for Special Triangles
In the figure above, ∆XYZ is equilateral, with side of length 2. If WY is a
diameter of the circle with center O, then the area of the circle is
a. √3∏/4
b. 2∏/3
c. 3∏/4
d. ∏
e. 3∏/2
19. Page 643
√3 is the value of the diameter of the circle. The radius is √3/2.
The area is ∏(√3/2)2 which = 3∏/4.
Math Strategies
Look for Special Triangles
Turn to page 888 question 5.
Use special triangles to solve this problem.
Use 45-45-90 triangle
Hypotenuse = 2 √2, so other sides must be 2 each
So perimeter would be 2 + 2 + 2 √2 or 4 + 2 √2
Math Strategies
Measure
Turn to page 584 question 14.
Does not say “Not Drawn to Scale”
Use paper to measure
Unknown sides are same (6) as known sides
Answer is 30
Math Strategies
Reminders
In your packet under the math section
are reminders and information you
should review before taking the SAT.
SAT Preparation & Review
This review with several hours of practice
should help improve your scores
But real improvement comes with lots of
practice -- the SAT is like any other test.
The more you prepare the better your
score.
SAT Preparation & Review
Thanks
And good luck