Review – The Ultimate Guide to SAT Grammar by Erica Meltzer

Several SAT experts have enthusiastically recommended this book to me, and I’m pleased to add my own praise for this wonderful guide.

The grammar sections in the big commercial books aren’t bad. Grammar is grammar, and only a handful of errors are tested on the SAT. Other books list these errors, and offer illustrative questions.

But The Ultimate Guide goes further.

Organization

162 pages long, softcover

Introduction, parts of speech

Overview of error types, with emphasis on Error IDs

Fixing Sentences, more about error types

Fixing Paragraphs

Appendices – Summary of error types in the Blue Book

Answer Key

Pros

The text is straightforward and easy to understand.

Information on grammar errors is more thorough and accurate than that in other books. For example, there is a list of common idioms involving prepositions, and also a discussion of the use of this, which, and that.

The example sentences test the errors in a manner which is virtually indistinguishable from those on the SAT. That’s big, and the same is not true for any other book that I’ve seen.

There are many “predictive strategies” – i.e. methods of knowing which errors are likely based on the number or content of the question (e.g. the mention of a profession indicates a noun agreement question).

The book isn’t filled with “extra” grammar rules which aren’t found on the test. The author even let me know that a grammar rule that I posted on my blog was no longer found on the exam. Ms. Meltzer is an expert on SAT grammar, and you won’t waste your time studying superfluous material with this book.

Cons

I see none. I suppose I could point out that the author’s claim of having “cracked” the exam sounds a bit enthusiastic. However, she has written the best SAT grammar guide available.

Overview

In order to do well with this book, you’ll have to put in some hard work. But that will be true if you use any book.

The guide has mostly excellent reviews on Amazon (the two negative reviews are bizarre and lack substance).

What separates this guide from the others is that Ms. Meltzer has put tremendous effort into analyzing a ton of SAT questions. The appendices alone, which give the error type for every question in the College Board “Blue Book,” are alone worth the price (one appendix gives the questions in order, and the other is organized by error type).

Clearly, the author has analyzed not only the 10 tests in the Blue Book, but many others as well. I noticed that she mentioned a couple of questions that appeared on my students’ disclosure exams.

Ms. Meltzer stated that parallel structure errors are very common on question #11 of the long section, and #14 of the short one. Indeed, they occurred on 6 out of 20 such questions in the Blue Book, according to the appendix. I decided to test this by looking at 8 disclosure SATs which were administered in 2005 – 2007, and I found these errors in 7 out of 16 of these questions. The author has done her homework.

If you study SAT grammar from another book, you should improve, because you’ll learn some appropriate grammar rules and how to avoid errors. But you’ll do even better with this book, because you’ll gain knowledge of exactly how these errors are tested on the exam.

If you’re serious about doing your best on the SAT Writing multiple choice, this book is worth every penny.

Buy the guide here for $24.75

Time Management on the SAT

Naturally, students work at different speeds, and have different goals for the SAT. My aim in writing this article is to provide general guidelines for a range of students.

If you haven’t already done so, you should take a practice SAT, being sure to time each section correctly. You need to get an idea of your speed on each type of section, and whether your speed decreases as you get tired.

I will address these issues in upcoming articles (one on mental stamina, and another on improving your test-taking speed).

For now, let’s assume that you are now aware of your expected pace on any given section. Naturally, if you are able to finish every section with time to spare, you don’t need to read this article.

You don’t need to finish the section.

Many students mistakenly think that not completing a section somehow reflects poorly on them. Unless you absolutely need a near-perfect score, you can omit some answers. It’s obviously better to give your best effort on some of the questions than to rush through all of them.

Find an optimal strategy for your speed and goals.

If you’ve determined that your best strategy is to omit some questions, you must then determine two things: 1) how many questions should you omit, and 2) which ones to omit. I’ll deal with the second matter shortly.

Since I don’t know just how fast you work, I can’t tell you an exact number of questions to leave out. You’ll have to determine that on your own. Suppose you work at a comfortable pace on a practice test, and you find that you’ve finished about 60 per cent of the questions on one type of section. Should you continue to work at the same pace? Perhaps it will be impossible to reach your target score by answering on 60% of the questions, even if you ace them all.

But if you speed up, you may find yourself missing a lot of questions. Does your score drop? My best advice is to be willing to modify your speed and expectations, but to do so gradually. If your first attempt results in a score of 410, you might try speeding up – but don’t overdo it. Even if you’re dreaming of a 600, don’t expect to reach your goal immediately. Speed up a little on your next practice test. If your score goes up, you can push harder on the next test. If your score stays the same, or goes down, stay at your new pace for another test or two and see if you progress.

Of course, you won’t necessarily have total control over your pacing. If you feel you’ve overdone it by going too fast (and your score takes a big drop), just back off a little afterward.

It may take several practice tests before you find your optimal pace.

Choose the right questions to skip.

As you know, most of the questions on the SAT are arranged in order of difficulty. Specifically, sections are arranged in blocks of each question type, and each block is arranged in order from easy to hard, except for passages (on the Reading and Writing sections). It makes sense to skip hard questions, since those are the ones you’re most likely to miss anyway (and they tend to take the longest).

If you’re very sure of yourself, you can make exceptions. If you’re a geometry whiz, or you see a question you can easily plug in on, you might try a hard one. My recommendation is to do this very sparingly. More often than not, my students find that a high-numbered question that looks easy turns out to be trickier than it seemed.

Math Section

There are only two question types: multiple choice and grid-ins. On the section that has both, skip some hard ones of each type.

Reading Section

Skip some hard sentence completions. Since they take less time than do passage questions, don’t overdo this. Passages will always come last, so you can just go as far as the clock lets you.

Writing Section

First of all, the order of difficulty is not as pronounced on this section. On the long Writing section, do not skip the passage, since it has the easiest questions. Skip some Error IDs numbered in the 20′s.

Guessing

Review my article titled Should You Guess on the SAT. My advice is that you should nearly always guess.

Nevertheless, I have heard many experienced SAT teachers say something like “I tell my students not to answer the three hardest sentence completions under any circumstances!” The reason they say that is that they don’t want their students wasting time on questions that they’re likely to miss.

Solving can waste time. Guessing takes almost no time. Be absolutely sure you know the difference. You should guess the hard ones, but do it quickly! Very quickly!

Avoid trap answers on hard questions. Guess hard words on hard sentence completions. Avoid extreme answers on Reading passages. Guess short answers on Improving Sentences. The idea is to select an answer in 3 seconds or less, and move on.

Remember to look for my upcoming articles on developing your mental stamina and improving your test-taking speed.

Good luck!

Review – Gruber’s Complete SAT Guide

Gruber’s Complete SAT Guide 2012, 15th edition, is 1088 pages long, making it one of the fattest SAT guides on the market. On Amazon, it ranks behind books by Barron’s, The Princeton Review, McGraw-Hill, and Kaplan in sales.

As I have mentioned in earlier reviews, most of the strategies for the SAT that are found in these books were first published many years ago. Although there are some differences between the guides, they are mostly similar.

Obviously, people who write or publish an SAT book would like their product to stand out from the pack. Dr. Gruber has made an effort to do that, but in this case, different clearly doesn’t mean better.

On the back cover, it says:

“The Best Book On The SAT” – CBS Radio

For real.

Organization

Introduction – basics, thinking skills and modes, study program, SAT format

Small Diagnostic Test – 90 questions

Mini Diagnostic Test – 18 questions! (7 Reading, 4 Writing, 7 Math)

Strategies – Math, Reading

Refresher

Vocabulary

Writing section

5 Practice Tests

Pros

The test is well written and easy to understand.

Helpful SAT tips are found throughout the book.

The practice tests have few errors.

The book is only $10.99 (eligible for free Super Saver Shipping) on Amazon.

Cons

The author goes out of his way to teach techniques that differ from those in other guides, and most of the ones here are inferior.

The practice tests differ more from the real SATs than the ones in the better guides.

Many strategies are not well explained and/or are insufficiently stressed.

The diagnostic tests are too short. The mini-test is laughable.

There are only 5 practice tests.

Overview

This book isn’t awful. I’m sure that many students could improve their scores with it.

I have mentioned in previous reviews that many of the comprehensive SAT study guides are very similar. The author of this one tried too hard to make it different, without substance to back it up.

I don’t want to list every example, but here are a few ways this book runs off the tracks:

I’ve already mentioned the ludicrous 18-question diagnostic.

There is a section on SAT strategies for women. Men beware!

Plugging in (perhaps the most useful strategy for the Math section) is mentioned almost as an afterthought, and is poorly explained.

Backsolving (plugging the answers into a variable in an algebra question) is also very useful. Every other guide, and every SAT teacher I’ve ever spoken to about it, tells you to start with answer (C). That’s common sense, since the answers are almost always in order, and you can usually tell if (C) is too large or small if it doesn’t work. But Dr. Gruber says to start with (E) and work backwards!

I cannot recommend this book.

SAT Math – How to Backsolve

Backsolving is a popular, effective shortcut that you can use on some math problems. Generally, this technique can be used on questions that ask for the value of a single variable, and that have numbers in the answers.

Backsolving simply means plugging the answers into the question until you hit the right one. The answers will generally be in order, so you should start with choice (C), so you won’t end up having to try all the answers.

Let’s start with an easy question:

Q. If 2ⁿ = 512, then n =

(A) 8
(B) 9
(C) 10
(D) 11
(E) 12

Try 2¹⁰ on your calculator – it’s 1024. Since that’s too high, try 2⁹ and get 512 – easy.

Q. If x is an integer and 2 is the remainder when 3x + 4 is divided by 5, then x could equal

(A) 3
(B) 4
(C) 5
(D) 6
(E) 7

Try 5: 3(5) + 4 = 19, which has a remainder of 4 when divided by 5. It’s hard to tell what to try next, so just pick one quickly. If x = 4, you get 3(4) + 4 = 16, and the remainder is 1. Try answer (D) next. If x = 6, you get 3(6) + 4 = 22, and there’s your remainder of 2.

Q. In January, Kent had p dollars in his savings account. He withdrew 1/4 of the money in February, and he withdrew 1/3 of the remaining money in March, and made no other transactions. If $120 remained in his account, how much money was in Kent’s savings account originally?

(A) $144
(B) $196
(C) $240
(D) $288
(E) $336

Try (C) first. If Kent started with $240, he withdrew $60 and had $180. Then he withdrew another $60 and had…$120. It’s great when you get it on the first try.

A lot of students read this type of question carelessly, and think Kent withdraws 1/3 or the original amount in March. It’s much less likely that you will make this kind of error if you use the backsolving technique.

As I mentioned above, the technique isn’t useful if the question asks for something other than a single variable. For example, if the questions asks “what is x + y?” and (C) is 12, how do you backsolve that? x + y could be any values that add up to 12, so you don’t know where to begin.

Review – LSAT Timer watch

Yes, I know that this is an SAT blog, but I do love teaching the LSAT too, and I couldn’t resist reviewing this watch that one of my LSAT students bought. If you don’t care about the LSAT, don’t worry. I’ll be back with an SAT-related article in a day or two.

The only timer that you are allowed to bring for the LSAT is a silent analog wristwatch. That’s right – no desktop timers, and nothing digital. I suppose that the good folks at LSAC are worried that someone will invent a digital watch that can be programmed to solve logic games.

At first glance, this is easily the ugliest wristwatch I have ever seen. It’s huge and plasticky, and it’s asymmetrical face is unbecoming. No matter – functionality is what you’re looking for anyhow.

The watch feels so-so in quality, but it has a black rubber case, and should be durable enough to last through a LSAT or two (including lots of practice tests). The manufacturer’s website flashed a teaser photo showing the watch in several different “stylish” colors that will be “coming soon.” No need to wait – it won’t look stylish in any color, even if you move like Jagger.

My student assured me that the watch times each 35 minute section accurately. It retails for $19.99. Even with the added $5.15 USPS shipping (overnighting it costs a whopping $20.99!) and state tax ($1.75 to my zip code), it’s still fairly inexpensive. If you order it at Amazon, it’s eligible for free Super Saver Shipping.

However, I have one major beef with the LSAT Timer, which is that it’s hard to reset accurately. I had to struggle to get the minute hand exactly at the 35-minute mark, and once I did, I found it usually jumped a minute or two when I pushed the crown in. That would be really annoying/anxiety inducing during an actual exam. Furthermore, the second hand doesn’t reset at all, so I wonder why they bothered with it.

By the way, if you watch the video at the manufacturer’s website, you’ll notice that the minute hand is a bit off (maybe 1/2 min.) on the second reset. You may like the “Peanuts” music, though (Linus and Lucy, by Guaraldi).

I don’t want to call this a deal breaker, but I’d much prefer a watch with a reset button. When I was a kid, I had a cheap stopwatch that had this feature, and it worked very well, instantly bringing both the second and minute hands to the exact reset position.

By googling “LSAT watch,” I easily found one called the “180Watch,” but it retails for $49 (+ $7 S&H). Of course, I haven’t tried that one, but most watches manufactured today are quite accurate (even cheapies). It’s your call whether the reset feature (both minute and second hands reset) is worth the extra $$ and the risk of buying an unknown product. By the way, it’s also very unsightly.

If you don’t mind futzing with the reset between sections, the LSAT Timer is an affordable product that does what it’s supposed to.

Buy the LSAT Timer here

Amazon

SAT Writing – Which Pronoun is Correct?

There are several errors relating to pronouns that you may encounter on the Writing Section of the SAT. One of the most common concerns the use of compound subjects vs. objects.

Compound subjects and objects include multiple things (nouns or pronouns). If you say “Alice, Bobby, Calvin, Debbie, and Elaine will attend the party,” the compound subject includes five people.

What we are concerned with today are two-part subjects and objects, which are made up of a noun and a pronoun, or two pronouns. They will have the form [A and B], such as [Loren and I], [Fernanda and him], or [you and me].

Most of the time, you can use an easy trick to tell which pronoun is correct. No need to figure out whether the pronoun is a subject or an object – just remove “A and” and pick the one that sounds right.

Your generous donation meant a great deal to Loren and I.

Here, [Loren and I] is [A and B]. So remove “A and,” and get

Your generous donation meant a great deal to I.

Clearly, the pronoun should be changed from “I” to “me.”

You and me make a great team.

Me make a great team? I don’t think so.

Sometimes you have to tweak the verb to make things sound right.

Paula and him are great golfers.

“Him are great golfers” sounds terrible, but “He is great golfers” is also wrong. By removing “Paula and,” you’ve changed the form from plural to singular, so you must do that for the verb as well. He is a great golfer.

You can also use this technique for the form [A or B], by removing “A or.”

The teacher will probably give the award to Lukas or I.

No, the teacher will probably give the award to me.

We’re almost done. There is one case where neither subject nor object will sound right: “between A and B.” Once again, the problem is that removing “A and” converts the form to singular, and it doesn’t make any sense to say “between one thing.” Great news: an objective pronoun will always follow “between.”

Here are the subjective pronouns: I, we, [you], he, she, [it], they, who

And the objective: Me, us, [you], him her, [it]. them, whom

There is such a strong connection between you and I.

That should be “between you and me.”

If you don’t remember which pronouns are which, you can also try substituting “for” for “between.” Your new sentence may not sound perfect, but you can still tell that you need the objective pronoun (“a strong connection for me”).

Review – McGraw-Hill’s SAT

McGraw-Hill’s SAT, 2012 edition is 784 pages long. There is also a version that includes a CD-ROM with four extra practice tests. This book is reasonably popular with students, and even more popular with SAT teachers. That alone says something.

Note that McGraw-Hill is a major publishing house. So if you see the name on the cover of a test prep book, you have no idea of that book’s quality (as you would with The Princeton Review or Barron’s, for example). Some of the best and worst prep guides are published by McGraw-Hill.

I have reviewed several of the fat, comprehensive SAT prep books, and the good ones are very similar in quality. One may have slightly more realistic practice tests; another may be somewhat better organized. That being said, I would say that McGraw-Hill SAT is the best comprehensive guide I have reviewed thus far.

Organization

Introduction – basic information, reasoning skills (the “College Hill Method” includes advice such as “considering alternatives” and “thinking logically”)

Diagnostic Test

Vocabulary

Strategies by section type

Essay Practice

3 Practice Tests

Smart Cards (math, vocab, essay prompts)

Pros

Very well written, and directed at its target audience

Often more than one strategy is offered.

I did find some helpful techniques that aren’t in most other guides, particularly in the Reading Section. There is even a thoughtful reading list.

Step-by-step guidance, even on grammar questions.

Explanations are given for all questions (illustrative and practice test questions)

Practice tests, while differing somewhat from the real thing, are the closest I’ve seen.

There were very few errors that I could find.

Amazon’s price of $10.54 is a crazy bargain.

Cons

Some of the best techniques (e.g. plugging in on math) were not featured prominently, so many students will undervalue them or miss them entirely.

There are only four practice tests (although you can access two others online). You can get the CD-ROM edition with 4 extra tests for over double the cost.

Some of the advice is academic and not very helpful. Many of the introductory strategies are very general and can be summed up as “think in different ways.”

Overview

I found this to be the best written, most accurate, and most useful of the large prep books. I would recommend it unless you are buying based on quantity (other books have more sample questions and practice tests). It’s not head-and-shoulders above the competition, but it does many of the little things a bit better. Clearly, a tremendous amount of effort went into writing it.

That’s it. It’s funny that, although I really liked this book, I seem to have written a rather short review of it. Perhaps that’s because there was a general impression of scholarship and usefulness that’s hard to criticize. It’s not as if any one paragraph jumped out at me. rather, I repeatedly kept thinking “they explained that very well,” or “that’s a great way to guide students through this type of problem.”

I believe that most students who want to learn from a large SAT book will find this one to be the most helpful.

Buy Mc-Graw-Hill’s SAT 2012 here

Mc-Graw-Hill’s SAT 2012 with CD-ROM here

How to Get the Most out of Your SAT Lessons

There are several ways to study for the SAT. You can learn from books or software, or take a course (online or live). Courses may be given in one-on-one, small group, or large class format.

The purpose of this article is not to debate the relative effectiveness of these different methods, but rather to help you get the most out of whichever one (or combination) you choose.

Before Your Session

Just some common sense advice here: Have your materials ready, be on time, and get yourself mentally prepared.

In fact, a lot of my advice in this article will be common sense. If you’re already following it, fine. Otherwise, remember that common sense is good sense.

During the Session

If you are learning from a book and/or software, you will likely do your own scheduling and may study in short bursts; otherwise the sessions will be scheduled and longer. In any case, it’s time to get serious. You’re here to learn, so put away your cell phone (after turning it off), mp3 player, Game Boy, or Slinky. No, you don’t learn better while listening to music; you’re just fooling yourself if you think so.

If you’re not traveling to your class, you want a good learning environment: Good lighting, minimal distractions, upright chair, and ample desk space. Snacks are okay if kept to a minimum.

If you’re in a group, try to sit front and center – it’s the best seat in the house. Remember – you are not there to socialize!

Regardless of your method of learning, take good notes. You will be more likely to memorize facts and techniques if you write them down, and you’ll be able to reference them easily later.

SAT prep is a lot different than most school learning. In school, you mostly need to memorize facts and understand concepts. You need to do those things for the SAT also, but most of your focus will be on learning and implementing new techniques.

Most SAT techniques shouldn’t be too hard to understand, but that doesn’t mean you pick up everything on the first try. You may need to reread strategies, or ask your teacher to explain things a different way. Software courses should allow you to go back and repeat important material.

You don’t want to move on until you understand a new technique. If you’re in a classroom and the teacher needs to continue, make a note to review the method later.

Note that this doesn’t mean that you have to be able to use a new technique perfectly, if you only just learned it. For example, plugging in on some math problems is a great technique, but there are several ways to use it and it can take awhile to learn them well.

Important – once you understand a technique, your work is not done. My students learn great techniques all the time, and when they take practice tests, they don’t use them! You need to understand when to use particular techniques, and strive to change your habits and solve in new ways. It’s easy to forget all about a new technique when you’re caught up in trying to understand and/or solve a problem.

That last point explains why many students don’t do well without a live teacher. It’s very hard to change your habits without someone to guide and even push you. If you’re studying on your own, you have to be your own coach. That’s a lot of responsibility, considering you’re already trying hard to be a good student.

After Your Session

Review my earlier article on Study Tips.

If you’re studying at your own pace, you should continue on through the week (or other study period in between practice tests) reviewing, fine-tuning, and repeating. If you’ve had a scheduled lesson, you should now begin that regimen.

Don’t just think “I’ve had my lesson, so all I have to do is complete my practice test.” Reviewing in between your lesson and your test is vital! You should review concepts and techniques that you’ve learned, and then work through a few problems to reinforce your learning. Here, it’s okay to review the same problems you’ve solved earlier, or ones that your instructor showed you how to solve. You’ll encounter plenty of fresh problems on your upcoming test.

If you solve relevant problems from a workbook, you may apply your new techniques improperly, or even use the wrong techniques, which is why it may be better to re-solve old problems. The choice depends on your progress and what kind of student you are.

Practice Test

Most students should take a full-length practice test after each lesson. After the first 1 – 3 tests, each should be appropriately timed and taken continuously. You can even take tests at your local library to best simulate actual test conditions. Of course, some courses offer proctored practice tests, which you should attend.

You should definitely take tests developed by The College Board. All other tests differ significantly from the real thing.

The sooner you take your practice test after your lesson, the more likely you will remember to use new techniques (and how to use them). If you simply must put off the test until just before the following lesson, be sure to do plenty of review beforehand.

Do not think of taking a practice test as “getting your homework done”! It’s not nearly enough just to complete a practice test – you need to strive to use new techniques as you solve the questions. That’s a lot easier to say than it is to do. After all, the test is challenging enough without having to worry about changing your habits and solving problems differently. But those changes in your approach are what will determine how much you’ll improve.

Obviously, there is more specific advice I could give on this subject. But I don’t want to overwhelm you. Reread this article a few times if you need to, and focus on getting to the point where you’re actually using new techniques. Then watch your scores soar.

Review – Barron’s SAT Flash Cards

Barron’s SAT Flash Cards, 2nd Edition is an accessory SAT study item. It is written by the author’s of Barron’s SAT, Barron’s flagship study guide (see review here).

The package includes 200 math cards, 200 grammar cards, and 100 vocabulary cards. The cards each have a small hole in the lower left corner, and there is a metal ring included which you can use to organize and hold some of the cards.

Pros

Some students love flash cards, and for them, this will make an excellent companion to Barron’s SAT, which is huge. You can even study a few SAT facts over dinner.

There are very few mistakes, if any.

The writing is short and sweet, which is exactly what you want on flash cards.

Vocabulary cards have short definitions. Some also give prefixes and/or roots.

Grammar cards present quick questions to test specific rules (e.g. pick the right pronoun).

There are four types of math cards: facts (75 cards, e.g. geometry formulas), strategies (25 cards, e.g. plugging in), multiple choice questions, and grid-in questions.

Cons

Naturally, if you don’t do well with flash cards, these isn’t for you.

There are no cards at all for the Reading section.

100 vocabulary cards isn’t very many. Barron’s does also sell a 500 card vocabulary package.

The cards cost $11.55 at Amazon. While that price is quite reasonable, consider that the 936-page Barron’s SAT is only $10.63.

Overview

Several other companies offer SAT flash cards, which I have not reviewed. However, given that the material is from Barron’s SAT, which is one of the better prep guides, this is likely one of the better packages. The Princeton Review and McGraw Hill also publish excellent SAT prep books (I have not yet reviewed the McGraw Hill guide, but I plan to do so soon), but they only offer vocabulary cards. Some SAT flash cards are by little-known authors, so their quality is harder to predict (some have a few Amazon reviews).

I really like the idea of a flash card pack for students who can afford it. I can picture a student lugging one or more large SAT books around, and quickly becoming tired of the process of finding his place and poring through the text. The ‘bite sized” nature of flash card study can be much more palatable. I just wish there were some cards for the Reading section.

Buy the cards here

Tone Questions on SAT Critical Reading

Tone questions are considered some of the more difficult ones on the Reading section. They usually ask what the author’s tone is, but may occasionally ask for the author’s attitude, or rarely, style.

You may have learned about many different literary tones in English class. I found a list of over 50 tones on the web, which included words such as “disdainful” and “whimsical.” Not to worry – on the SAT you mostly have to determine whether the tone is positive, negative, or neutral.

In the majority of non-fiction passages, the author’s tone will be neutral. Common synonyms for neutral are objective and unbiased. Others are dispassionate and detached. However, don’t choose indifferent, which means “not caring.” If an author writes about a subject, he cares about it.

Note that if you stop reading right here, and choose the most neutral answer on every tone question, you’ll get more than half of them right.

A few non-fiction passages are argumentative; the author argues for or against something (so the tone will be positive or negative, depending on which).

Some tone questions are specific; rather than asking for the tone of the entire passage, they focus on one paragraph, or even a sentence or two. You’ll find more positive and negative answers on these.

If you are unsure as to the tone, look for evaluative words to give you a clue (most often adjectives). For example, if your teacher calls your report clever or insightful, she’s praising your work. Shoddy or irrelevant would be negative terms.

Tone questions about fiction passages aren’t necessarily more difficult, as long as you keep in mind that the answer will be positive or negative as often as it will be neutral. On the SAT, most non-fiction passages are written in an academic style. In fiction, anything goes. Characters can hate each other or put each other down.

If you are unsure which answer is correct, avoid extremes. For one thing, you have already learned that SAT passages tend toward neutrality. For another, if two answers lean the same way (positive or negative), the weaker answer must be correct. For example, suppose that you know the tone is negative, but there are two negative answers: disappointed and loathing (detesting, hating). Just pick “disappointed” and move on. If someone hates something, he would find it disappointing as well. But there can only be one correct answer on the SAT, so if the correct answer were “loathing,” the test developers would have to leave the answer “disappointed” out.

Finally, some SAT teachers tell you to avoid contradictory answers (two-word answers where one word is positive and the other is negative). Not so – the contradictory words tend to cancel out, yielding the sort of neutral answers that you’re often looking for. For example, the answer to one tone question in the Blue Book is “condescendingly tolerant.”

As always, you should anticipate on Critical Reading questions, and tone questions are no exception. Don’t take a peek at the answers until you have decided what the tone is.