SAT 7SAT 7Final SAT ReviewFinal SAT Review

CONTENT OVERVIEW• Sentence Completion

• Passage-Based Strategies

– Short

– Long

• Paired-Passage Strategies

• The Essay

• Identifying Sentence Errors

• Improving Sentences/Paragraphs

SENTENCE COMPLETION• 2 types of questions

– Vocabulary in context• Essentially given a definition and asked to find the appropriate word• The sentence will act as a definition, example or a synonym of the

correct answer

• Logic Based Questions• Not just the definition, but the relationship of the word to the sentence

– Requires that you understand which word best fits according to it’s relationship to the other words in the sentence.

• Compare and contrast• Cause and effect

SENTENCE COMPLETION STRATEGIES

• Context Clues (definition hint)–Synonyms

–Antonyms

• Word “Charge”

• Word Parts

WORD CHARGE• Refers to a Positive (+) or a Negative (-)

connotation

• Insidious- vivacious-

• Diabolical- effervescent-

“Disconsolate”

What DO you know about this word?

WORD ROOTS, PREFIXES, AND SUFFIXES

My neighbor is both ________ and ________; he keeps to himself and has great fear of anyone who isn't from our town.

a) callous…predisposed

b) misanthropic…tolerant

c) insular…xenophobic

d) ignorant…biased

e) prejudiced…obstinate

CONTEXT CLUES• Type 1: Vocabulary in context

– Definition• In other words• Such as• For example

• Type 2: Logic Based Questions– Contrast Cause and Effect

• But Because• Although As a results• Rather than Since• However Therefore

CONTRAST• The student spent no time planning his

essay, resulting in a ______ of a unconnected ideas, rather than _____ argument in support of a thesis.– What is the relationship between “spent no time

planning his essay” and the first blank?

– What is the relationship between “unconnected ideas” and the second blank

CAUSE AND EFFECT• If/then relationship• If A is true, B is true

• We will face the idea of old age with____ as long as we believe that it invariably brings poverty, isolation, and illness.

• Where is your context clue illustrates the cause and effect relationship in this sentence?

CONCLUSION• You do not have to know the

meaning/definition of all of the options.

• You have to know what strategies to useOR

• You have to be able to find clues hidden in the question or in the answers

TYPES OF PASSAGES• Short

– 100-150 words– Approximately 2-3 questions

• Long– 400-850 words– Approximately 8-13 questions

• Paired Passages– Two passages– Require you to make connections

STRATEGIES• Short Passages

– Read the questions first

• Long Passages– Take notes

• Paired Passages– Read Passage 1, answer Passage 1 questions

– Read Passage 2, answer Passage 2 questions

– Lastly, answer questions about BOTH passages (these are always last)

PAIRED PASSAGES• Include fiction and nonfiction

– Majority will be nonfiction

• Topics include– Natural science: scientific discovery, theory, or controversy– Social studies: history, politics, economics– Humanities: artist, music, philosophy

– But don’t worry: You are not expected to draw from outside knowledge. Everything you need to know will be in the passages themselves.

TYPES OF QUESTIONS• Vocabulary in context

– However: the vocabulary is going to fit in the context of the passage

• Extended Reasoning– Ask you to draw conclusions from or evaluate info from

passage– Ask about overall theme, message, purpose, attitude,

sometimes even “tone” of the writer– Include words like “probably, apparently, seems,

suggests, the author implies”

TYPES OF QUESTIONS• Literal comprehension

– Information that is DIRECTLY presented from the text

• Example: Find the place in the text where a particular detail is discussed.

–“line 1, 2, or 3”

– Recognize different interpretations of the same fact or idea

FACTS, ASSUMPTIONS, AND INFERENCES• Facts

• Statements known to be true– A foot has 12 inches

• Assumptions• Suppositions or propositions that author makes to reach their

conclusions– Not proven fact– “According to the author…”

• Inferences• Conclusions you reach based on what has been said in a passage

• This requires you to read between the lines

THE ESSAY• First part of the SAT• Timed: 25 minutes• Prompt topic will be “general”

– No specific academic knowledge is necessary

– Draw from what you have learned, read, observed

• Freedom of writing style– Narrative

– Expository

– Persuasive

– Argumentative

WRITING EXPECTATIONS

• Strong development of ideas

• Ability to connect to audience

• Language use

• Organization

• Evidence/Support

STRATEGIES• How WELL you write is more important than

how MUCH you write• Writing more than a paragraph, but be concise• Watch your handwriting

– If illegible, you may receive a zero

• Stay on topic• Outline for 5 minutes

GRADING• The essay is graded “Holistically”

• Two readers score the essay out of 6

• Combine scores to a total of 12 points

• Essays that are off topic will receive a zero

IDENTIFYING SENTENCE ERRORS

• Tests your knowledge of

– Grammar: Parts of a sentence

– Usage: Agreement

– Word Choice

• “idioms” using the best word

• Sometimes includes the exceptions of our speech.

• E.g. “Go”, “Gone”, “Went”

MOST COMMON SENTENCE ERRORS

• Subject/Verb agreement

• Parallelism

• Placement of modifiers

• Use of relative clauses

GRAMMAR USAGE• Now that we have identified the grammar, lets look

at our grammar USAGE

• All of our grammar must Agree.– Qualitatively and Quantitatively– Same amount of subjects to verbs– Same tense (past, present, progressive)– “I go”…”I like to go to the movies”– “She went”…..”She went to the movies last night”– “They were”….”They were at the movies together”

PARALLELISM• Parallelism: Puts the contents of a sentence into a

recognizable patter.– Makes your sentence easier to understand

• Balance a word with a word, phrase with a phrase, clause with a clause

• Similar types of words; adjectives, prepositional phrases, noun clauses,

IMPROVING PARAGRAPHS• Utilize the information about improving individual

sentences• Wordiness: using unnecessary words and

phrases OR adding empty expressions to a sentence.

• Empty Expressions: are redundant (repetitive) and do not add anything to your sentence

• “two in number”, “if you know what I mean”

• Adding Descriptive words

ADDING DESCRIPTIVE WORDS• Be careful: You are not adding words just for the

sake of making the sentence longer!• Adding words to CLARIFY and/or DESCRIBE.• Clarify: Making clear the context or the meaning of

the sentence (who, what, where, when, why)• Describe: Using meaningful adjectives that

contribute to the sentences meaning/objective.

CONTENT OVERVIEWReference Pages and Chapters

• Sentence Completion

• Passage-Based Strategies

– Short

– Long

• Paired-Passage Strategies

• The Essay

• Identifying Sentence Errors

• Improving Sentences/Paragraphs