Introduction 1
About This Book 1
Icons Used in This Book 2
Beyond the Book 3
Where to Go from Here 3
Part 1: Getting Started with the SAT 5
Chapter 1: What to Expect with the SAT 7
What About the ACT? 7
So What’s on the SAT? 8
The SAT Will Be Going Online 9
Signing Up Before Sitting Down: Registering for the SAT 9
How to register 9
When to take the test 10
Special Needs Considerations 11
Learning disabilities 11
Physical issues 11
Financial help 12
Making the SAT Work for You as a Foreign Student 12
Examining Your Mind: What the SAT Really Looks For 13
Scoring on the SAT 14
Types of scores 14
Score reporting 14
Chapter 2: Strategies for Success 17
Starting Early: The Long-Term Phase 17
Moving Along: The Medium-Term Phase 18
Getting Closer: The Short-Range Phase 19
Planning It Out: What to Do the Night Before Your SAT 20
It’s All You: What to Do the Morning of Your SAT 20
Bringing the right stuff 20
Taking control of the tension 21
Starting off 22
Focusing during the test 22
Pacing yourself 22
It Isn’t You: Testing Under Adverse Conditions 23
Part 2: Taking on the SAT Reading Test 25
Chapter 3: Knowing the SAT Reading Test 27
Understanding the Reading Test 27
Managing Your Time with Key Strategies 28
Getting Each Question Right, Quickly, with More Key Strategies 29
Answering the Best-Evidence Questions 30
Putting the Strategies to Use 31
Starting with the line-number questions 31
Continuing with the detail questions 32
Ending with the inference and main idea questions 32
Taking on the Reading Passages 34
Distancing with social studies 34
Blinding me with science 36
Saving the literature for last 38
Chapter 4: Practicing the SAT Reading Test 41
Social Studies Passages 42
Passage I Answers 45
Passage II Answers 48
Science Passages 49
Passage III Answers 51
Passage IV Answers 54
Literature Passage 55
Passage V Answers 57
Part 3: Handling the Writing and Language Test and Writing a Killer Essay 59
Chapter 5: Gearing Up for the Writing and Language Test 61
Getting to Know the Writing and Language Test 61
Managing Your Time with Simple Strategies 62
Answering the easy questions before the hard questions 62
Using the 9-minute rule, with a wristwatch 62
Nailing the Common Questions 63
Starting with grammar and punctuation 63
Getting vocabulary in context 64
Writing with style, logic, and organization 65
Killing It Softly: The SAT Grammar Review 67
Verb matching 67
Easing verb tension 68
Parallel writing 69
Casing pronouns 69
Using punctuation 70
Wording in context 70
Answers 73
Taking It Further 73
Chapter 6: Practicing the Writing and Language Test 75
Passage I 75
Passage I Answers 78
Passage II 79
Passage II Answers 82
Passage III 83
Passage III Answers 85
Passage IV 86
Passage IV Answers 89
Chapter 7: Preparing for the Essay 91
Deciding Whether to Write the Essay 91
Knowing the Assignment 92
Knowing What the Essay Scorers Look For 92
Getting Started 94
Identifying Other Persuasive Techniques 96
Appeals to logic, authority, and emotion 96
Diction and tone 96
Organization 97
Other techniques 97
Trying Out a Sample Essay Question 98
The question 98
The answer 99
Scoring your own essay 101
Examining graded responses 101
Chapter 8: Practicing Your Essay 105
Practice Essay I — Momentum: Igniting Social Change 105
Reading the prompt 105
Constructing your essay 107
Scoring your essay 109
Practice Essay II — Addressing Mathematical Innumeracy 109
Reading the prompt 109
Constructing the essay 110
Scoring your essay 112
Practice Essay III — Nonsexist Language 112
Reading the prompt 112
Constructing the essay 114
Scoring your essay 115
Part 4: Owning the SAT Math Tests 117
Chapter 9: Meeting Numbers Head-On: The SAT Math Tests 119
Starting with Formulas 120
Gridding Your Answers 121
Getting Familiar with the Math Tests 122
Chapter 10: Simplifying Numbers and Operations 125
Simplifying the Basics 125
Starting with types of numbers 125
Using order of operations 127
Simplifying Numbers and Operations 128
Simplifying prime numbers 128
Simplifying percents 128
Simplifying ratios 130
Simplifying conversions 132
Simplifying exponents 133
Simplifying square and cube roots 138
Simplifying imaginary i 140
Simplifying projections 142
Chapter 11: Solving Algebra and Functions 147
Solving for X 147
Solving for x with a number 147
Solving for x with a y 148
Solving for x in a radical 149
Solving for x in a fraction 150
Solving for x in a reciprocal fraction 151
Solving for More Than One X 152
Solving an absolute value 152
Solving a quadratic 154
Solving the difference of squares 157
Solving an expression 159
Setting Up Equations 161
Setting up a story 161
Setting up a sum of numbers 162
Setting up interest 163
Setting up rates of change 166
Graphing Coordinate Geometry 168
Graphing a line 169
Graphing two lines 172
Graphing an inequality 174
Graphing a parabola 175
Graphing a circle 179
Graphing a function 181
Chapter 12: Drawing Geometry and Trigonometry 185
Drawing Basic Shapes 186
Drawing angles 186
Drawing triangles 189
Drawing rectangles and squares 194
Drawing trapezoids and parallelograms 194
Drawing circles 197
Drawing overlapping shapes 198
Drawing parts of circles 199
Drawing 3-D Shapes 201
Drawing rectangular solids and cubes 201
Drawing cylinders and cones 203
Drawing spheres 204
Solving Trigonometry Problems 205
Solving right triangles with SOH CAH TOA 206
Solving unit circles and radians 208
Solving trigonometric equations 211
Chapter 13: Measuring Statistics and Probability 213
Measuring the Mean, Median, and Mode 213
Measuring the mean 213
Measuring the median and mode 214
Measuring the range 215
Measuring Probability 216
Measuring Graph Data 217
Measuring bar graphs 217
Measuring circle or pie charts 218
Measuring line graphs 218
Measuring scatter plots 219
Measuring multiple graphs 220
Part 5: It’s All You: Taking Practice SAT Exams 223
Chapter 14: Practice Exam 1 225
Answer Sheets 227
Section 1: Reading Test 229
Section 2: Writing and Language Test 240
Section 3: Math Test — No Calculator Allowed 249
Section 4: Math Test — Calculator Allowed 253
Section 5: The Essay 262
Chapter 15: Practice Exam 1: Answers and Explanations 265
Answers for Section 1: Reading Test 265
Answers for Section 2: Writing and Language Test 271
Answers for Section 3: Math Test — No Calculator Allowed 275
Answers for Section 4: Math Test — Calculator Allowed 279
Answer Guidelines for Section 5: The Essay 286
Reading 286
Analysis 287
Writing 288
Scoring your essay 288
Answer Key 289
Chapter 16: Practice Exam 2 291
Answer Sheets 293
Section 1: Reading Test 295
Section 2: Writing and Language Test 305
Section 3: Math Test — No Calculator Allowed 314
Section 4: Math Test — Calculator Allowed 318
Section 5: The Essay 325
Chapter 17: Practice Exam 2: Answers and Explanations 327
Answers for Section 1: Reading 327
Answers for Section 2: Writing and Language Test 333
Answers for Section 3: Math Test — No Calculator Allowed 337
Answers for Section 4: Math Test — Calculator Allowed 341
Answer Guidelines for Section 5: The Essay 347
Reading 347
Analysis 347
Writing 348
Scoring your essay 349
Answer Key 350
Chapter 18: How Did You Do? Scoring Your Practice SAT 353
Finding Your Reading and Writing Score 353
Finding Your Math Test Score 357
Finding Your Killer Essay Score 359
Recording Your Final Scores 359
First practice exam 359
Second practice exam 359
Third practice exam 360
Fourth practice exam 360
Part 6: The Part of Tens 361
Chapter 19: Ten Mistakes That Others Make That You Won’t 363
You Won’t Forget Your Wristwatch 363
You Won’t Bubble Everything at the End 364
You Won’t Let Your Calculator Batteries Die 364
You Won’t Run Out of Steam 364
You Won’t Forget Snacks and Water 364
You Won’t Work the Reading Test Questions in Order 364
You Won’t Rush Through the Questions 365
You Won’t Get Stuck on a Question 365
You Won’t Choke on the Essay 365
You Won’t Change Your Morning Routine 366
Chapter 20: Ten Ways to Get the Most from Practice SATs 367
Practice an Entire SAT in One Sitting 367
Practice Not Making Mistakes Under Pressure 367
Practice with Others in the Room 368
Practice as a Dress Rehearsal 368
Practice Your Competitive Edge 368
Practice Your Test-Taking Strategies 369
Practice Using the Bubble Sheet 369
Practice Finding Your Areas of Focus 369
Review the Practice SAT Answers and Explanations 370
Review the Practice SAT with Other Students 370
Index 371
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