Cracking the SAT Chemistry Subject Test

STRATEGY #4: MAKING ASSOCIATIONS (TYPE

A, B, AND C QUESTIONS)

One helpful strategy for learning the key chemistry concepts that will show up
on the test is to make associations between terms and concepts. What are we
talking about? Well, let’s forget chemistry, just to make the point. You may have
learned in school that Teddy Roosevelt was a “trustbuster.” You might not know
what trusts are, how he busted them, why he wanted to bust them, or why
anyone cares if trusts get busted. But if you learned to associate the name Teddy
Roosevelt with the phrase “trustbuster,” you would be able to answer a test
question that looks like this.

        3.  Theodore    Roosevelt   believed    in

(A) creating    trusts

(B) destroying  trusts

(C) making  trusts  larger

(D) communism

(E) socialistic economics

The association you learned to make—“Teddy Roosevelt” with “trustbuster”—
allowed you to choose the correct answer: B.

This strategy will also be useful on the SAT Chemistry Subject Test; many
questions will test your ability to associate one word or phrase with another. For
example, suppose you had no idea what was meant by “pH,” “acid,” or “base,”
and you had just learned to associate