Summary
◦ The Reading Test on the SAT makes up 50 percent of your score on the Evidence-Based Reading
and Writing section.
◦ Reading questions are not presented in order of difficulty, but they are in chronological order. Don’t
be afraid to skip a hard question, and don’t worry if you can’t answer every question.
◦ Use your POOD to pick up the points you can get, and don’t forget LOTD on the rest!
◦ Reading is an open-book test! Use that to your advantage by focusing only on the text you need to get
each point.
◦ Translate each question back into a what or why question before you start reading your window.
◦ Use Line References, Lead Words, and chronology to help you find the answer in the passage.
Always start reading a few lines above the Line Reference or the Lead Words and read until you
have the answer.
◦ Use the text to predict your answer to the question before you look at the answer choices.
◦ Use POE to eliminate answers that don’t match your prediction.
◦ If you have more than one answer left after you eliminate anything that doesn’t match your
prediction, compare your remaining answers and see if any of them:
- Are Mostly Right/Slightly Wrong
- Could Be True
- Contain Deceptive Language
