just fine. For example, you can miss 30 questions and still score around 1300.
You can miss about half the questions and still get a score that is around the
national average. So, don’t worry about whether or not you can solve a particular
problem. Work on it for a reasonable amount of time, then say, “It just doesn’t
matter. I’m not supposed to know all the answers.” Mark it in the test book so
you can go back to it if you have time, use one of our guessing techniques to
make an educated guess for the time being (see Chapter 7), and then go on with
the test.
BIG PICTURE
Finally, we checked with the heads of the world’s major religions, and they all
agree that while a poor performance on the SAT might make it less likely that
you will get into the college of your choice, it will not have any effect on your
chances of getting into the heaven of your choice.
CONCENTRATION
A man walks down the street
Says, “Why am I short of attention?
Got a short little span of attention
But, oh, my nights are so long.”
—PAUL SIMONNow that you’re totally relaxed and feeling groovy, we’re going to teach you
how to increase your concentration span. Your concentration span is the length
of time that you can direct your attention to a given task without spacing out.
Every task also has what is called a distraction potential. The higher the
distraction potential of a given task, the more difficult it is for you to concentrate
for long periods. We all know that the distraction potential of the SAT can be
very high indeed. Not only is the test itself difficult and boring, but the test hall
atmosphere, complete with creaking chairs, strange odors, ticking watches,
squeaking pencils, sneezes, and shuffling papers, can be distracting.
Imagine the following scenario. It’s 19 minutes into the first Math section,
and you’re on the second-to-last question: