SAT For Dummies. Ron Woldoff

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      In Line 4, the best definition of “manifest” is

      Cover the answer choices! What do you think the best definition of “manifest” is as it’s used in the passage, based on what the “weakness” doesn’t do? How about “appear”? Now cross off wrong answers:

      (A) emphasize

      (B) prove

      (C) discover

      (D) show

      How did you do? Did you cross off Choices (A), (B), and (C)? They’re so far out that it has to be Choice (D). Here’s the logic:

       Vocabulary-in-context questions like this one do have a trap. Many of these questions ask for the definition of a word you probably already know. But — the passage may use the word in an odd or unusual way, and the answer choices are usually known definitions of the word. For example, the word deck may be “a surface of a ship,” “a wooden structure outside a house,” “a pack of cards,” or “to decorate.” In the Christmas carol “Deck the Halls,” deck matches the last meaning, but outside the song, who uses that meaning? Don’t settle for a definition that you recognize: Make sure it matches the context of the sentence.

      Continuing with the detail questions

      Detail questions follow the line-number questions in that you can usually get them right without fully absorbing the entire passage. These are also keyword questions, where you skim the passage for keywords from the question. In this example, the passage is a single paragraph, so the keyword approach isn’t needed, but on the full-length passages, it makes a huge difference.

       According to the passage, in what way does the dancing mouse not have a weakness?

      Cover them answers. In what way do you think the dancing mouse is superior? (Never mind how that sounds.) Reread the paragraph and focus on its abilities. In a full-length passage, you’d skim for the keyword “weakness.”

      Seems that the mouse only has weakness, but it’s tireless in dancing. Keep that in mind now, and cross off the wrong answers:

      (A) endurance

      (B) muscle strength

      (C) visual acuity

      (D) tenacity

      Did you cross off Choices (B), (C), and (D)? They’re so impossible that it has to be Choice (A). Here’s the process:

       The word “tireless” by itself could match “tenacity,” like when you’re clinging to the handles of a jet ski. Be sure to keep the context in mind when checking the answer choices.

      Ending with the inference and main idea questions

An inference is a conclusion that you reach based on evidence, and the SAT Reading section features many of these questions. You get a certain amount of information, and then you have to stretch it a little. The questions may resemble the following:

      Inference questions require a certain understanding of the whole passage, so be sure to work these after the line-number and detail questions. Now you read the whole passage, then do what you did before: Cover the answer choices, answer the question yourself, and cross off wrong answers.

      Try this inference question, based on these sentences about the westward journey of settlers during the 19th century.

       The women generally do the driving, while the men and boys bring up the rear with horses and cattle of all grades, from poor weak calves to fine, fat animals, that СКАЧАТЬ