explained or go untested. Take, for example, the following excerpt from an
actual SAT question:
. . . Kinematic studies of such objects show them to be receding
from us at a rate proportional to their distance . . .
Some students might panic when reading this sentence because of the word
kinematic. Relax. You don’t have to know what kinematic studies are to answer
the questions correctly.
In a scientific passage, if you encounter an impossible word, replace it with something more familiar. “Certain studies of such objectsshow them to be receding from us . . .” sounds much better, doesn’t it? The only reason you’ll have to worry about the impossible word
is if it appears in a test question, which is unlikely.
—Samantha
The second reason this sentence could be intimidating is that it refers to
proportions. Proportions are math, and math is terrifying. Once again, there is no
need to worry. If you read the sentence that follows the difficult sentence, you’ll
see that it explains the math, so you don’t have to do any thinking:
That is, those galaxies most distant from us have larger recessional
velocities.The expression “that is . . .” clues us in to the fact that this sentence is going
to explain the previous sentence. This is a good rule of thumb: If you don’t
understand a sentence, look at the sentences that precede and follow it and read
it like you would read anything else. Chances are, these tactics will disarm the
fancy scientific language.
Science passages will often get an infographic that you have to understand as
part of the passage—we’ll talk about how to handle those a bit later in this
chapter.
HISTORY/SOCIAL STUDIES PASSAGES
The history/social studies passages will feature one of three different kinds of
texts.
- Founding documents (e.g., the Declaration of Independence, The
Federalist Papers, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, majority/minority
opinions from key Supreme Court decisions, etc.) Luckily, you paid
complete attention in civics class, took rigorous notes, and have a
photographic memory.