CHAPTER 4 / CRITICAL READING SKILLS 197
Answer Key 6:
Finding Alternativesin Attacking the Questions
back-to-back because then you will be more likely
to confuse the ideas in the passages.- Hopefully, the SAT “passages from hell” won’t
seem so hellish with some practice with the
College Hill Method. But if you’ve read through a
passage and its language or concepts seem incom-
prehensible, just (1) move on to an easier passage,
if it’s available, or, if not, (2) attack the questions
that require relatively little reading, namely, the
“word in context” questions and the “secondary
idea” questions. - First, don’t panic. Most students struggle a bit
with the time limit in their first few practice tests.
Often, with a bit of patient practice, the problem
will resolve itself. If it doesn’t, then practice “eye-
finger” coordination, using your finger to sweep
through the passage smoothly and at a quicker
pace than your eyes are inclined to go. Practice
thiscontinuallywitheverythingyou read for sev-
eral weeks. As a last resort, talk to your guidance
counselor to see if you qualify to take the SAT with
extended time.
Concept Review 6
- The “whole-passage attack” involves reading the
entire passage—but with a focus on just answer-
ing the three key questions, not on absorbing
every detail—before attacking the questions.
Many students prefer this method because they
prefer to stay “in the flow” of the passage and to
absorb information in large chunks. The “para-
graph attack” involves reading the introduction
and first paragraph or two and then answering the
questions that pertain only to the parts you’ve
read, skipping any “big picture” questions for
now. Then go on to the next paragraph or two, and
answer those questions, and so on. Remember
only to read wholeparagraphs. Don’t stop in the
middle of a paragraph. (And be sure to go back
and answer those “big picture” questions.) - First read Passage 1, paying particular attention to
tone. After Passage 1, attack the questions that
pertain only to Passage 1. Next, read Passage 2,
again paying attention to tone. Ask, “How do the
perspective and tone of this passage differ from
those of Passage 1? How are they similar?” Then
attack the questions that pertain to Passage 2 and
the comparison questions. Do notread the passages
SAT Practice 6
- E The central idea of this passage is that “there
are other senses [that are] unrecognized and...
unconscious [and] automatic” (lines 3–5). Thus,
when the final sentence states that for “normal
man... they simply do not exist” (lines 19–20),
it suggests that most people do not appreciate
the functioning of certain physical senses. - D The passage states that a wrongdoing “does
not seem strange in the former case” (lines 27–28),
which is the case in which one knows something
but does not reflect on that knowledge. In the case
of a wrongdoing, this is a knowledge of right and
wrong. The author is suggesting that wrongdoing
only makes sense when the wrongdoer either does
not know right from wrong or does not reflect on
that knowledge. - A Passage 1 is primarily concerned with
“unconscious” and “automatic” bodily senses,
specifically the “awareness of the relative position
of trunk and limbs” (lines 7–8) and the “controls
by which our bodies are properly aligned and bal-
anced” (lines 10–12). Passage 2 is concerned with
moral knowledge but not knowledge that comes
directly from the bodily senses. Although Passage
1 does mention “the space age” (line 14) in pass-
ing, it is certainly not primarily concerned with
technological advances.- D Both authors would clearly agree that people
are not always conscious of the information their
minds process. Passage 1 states that there are
“senses [that are] unconscious [and] automatic”
(lines 4–5), and Passage 2 states that in certain
cases a person “has knowledge and [yet] in another
sense he does not, as in sleep or madness or intox-
ication” (lines 31–33).