SAT Reading: Know the strategies for success
SAT Reading Test Overview
Length / Questions
Students are given 52 questions over 65 minutes to complete the SAT Reading test. The test contains four passages plus one pair of passages. Each passage will be 500 to 750 words.
Passages
One U.S. and world literature passage, two history/social studies passages (one in social science and one from a U.S. founding document or text in the Great Global Conversation), and two science passages.
Categories
Reading Test questions fall into three general categories: (1) Information and Ideas, (2) Rhetoric, and (3) Synthesis.
SAT Reading Categories
Information and Ideas
These questions are wide ranging and focus on the author’s message. Students may be asked to locate stated information, determine central themes, understand relationships, or determine the meaning of words / phrases as used in context.
Rhetoric
These questions focus your attention on how an author puts together a text and how the various pieces contribute to the whole text. Students may be asked about an author’s word choice and how an author constructs the message of the passage.
Synthesis
Synthesis questions only accompany certain passages. They come in two basic forms. Some Synthesis questions ask you to draw connections between a pair of passages. Other Synthesis questions ask about informational graphics.
Worthington Prep’s 12 Reading Concepts
Vocabulary in Context
Concrete to Abstract
Big Picture
Literal Comprehension
Reasonable Inferences
Reasoning / Analogies
Reading for Function
Tone and Attitude
Rhetorical Strategy
Paired Passages
Supporting Evidence
Data Analysis / Graphics