Test Preparation

1. He believed that while there is serious unemployment in our auto industry, we should not ___________ foreign cars.
   (a) build
   (b) repair
   (c) review
   (d) import
   (e) consolidate
2. How did you get your answer?
   (a) I tried the word from each choice in the blank and came up with the best answer.
   (b) I chose a word from the choices that ’sounded good’ but that I am really not sure is correct.
   (c) I tried to figure out, before looking at the choices, what word would fit into the blank. Then I matched that word with the choices.
   (d) I guessed.
   (e) None of these.
3. The salesman in that clothing are so _____________ that it is impossible to even look at a garment without being ____________ by their efforts to convince you to purchase.
   (a) offensive … considerate
   (b) persistent … irritated
   (c) extensive … induced
   (d) immune … aided
   (e) intriguing … evaluated
4. How did you get your answer?
   (a) I tried each choice (two words at a time) in the blanks to see which made for the best sentence.
   (b) I tried to see what words I could come up with for the blanks before looking at the choices.
   (c) I tried the first word from each of the choices in the first blank in the sentence to see which made the most sense. Then I eliminated the choices whose first words didn’t make sense in the sentence. Finally, I tried both words in the remaining choices to further eliminate incorrect choices.
   (d) I guessed.
   (e) None of these.
5. Many buildings with historical significance are now being ______________ instead of being torn down.
   (a) built
   (b) forgotten
   (c) destroyed
   (d) praised
   (e) repaired
6. How did you get your answer?
   (a) I tried each of the choices in the blank.
   (b) I tried to find my own word that would fit the blank before looking at the choices. Then I matched one of the choices with my word.
   (c) I looked for a word that meant the opposite of ‘being torn down’.
   (d) I guessed.
   (e) None of these.
7. Being _______________ person, he insisted at the conference that when he spoke he was not to be interrupted.
   (a) a successful
   (b) a delightful
   (c) a headstrong
   (d) an understanding
   (e) a solitary
8. How did you get your answer?
   (a) I tried all the choices in the sentence and selected the best one.
   (b) I realized, from the word Being and from the phrase after the comma, that there was a connection between the two parts of the sentence.
   (c) I looked for the most difficult sounding word.
   (d) I guessed.
   (e) None of these.
9. In spite of the _______________ of her presentation, many people were ______________ with the speaker’s concepts and ideas.
   (a) interest … enthralled
   (b) power … taken
   (c) intensity … shocked
   (d) greatness … gratified
   (e) strength … bored
10. How did you get your answer?
    (a) I tried both words from each choice in the blanks to see which choice made the sentence sound best.
    (b) I tried the first word from each choice in the first blank of the sentence to eliminate choices. Then I tried both words from the remaining choices to further eliminate choices.
    (c) I realized that the words in spite of would create an opposition or contrast between the two parts of the sentence and therefore looked for words in the choices that were opposites.
    (d) I guessed.
    (e) None of these.
11. (more…)
    

Each subject area on the SAT - Math, Writing, and Critical Reading - is scored on a scale of 200 to 800. The three scores are then totaled, for a combined score between 600 and 2,400. The average SAT score is about 500 per section, or 1,500 total.

You’ll receive your score report about two to four weeks after you take the test. It will include your scaled score as well as your percentile rank, which tells you how you performed relative to other people who took the same test. If your score is in the 60th percentile, it means that you scored better than 60 percen of test takers.

One way of thinking of your SAT score is to imagine yourself in a line with 100 other students, all waiting to be seen by an admissions officer. However, the officer can’t see every student - some students won’t make it through the door. If your SAT score is in the 50th percentile, you’d have fifty other kids in front of you in line. Maybe you’ll be seen, maybe not. Wouldn’t it be nice to jump the line? If you can boost your SAT score, even by a couple of points, you move up the line and increase your odds of getting through the door.

Score Choice
Beginning with the March 2009 SAT, you’ll be able to choose which SAT and SAT Subject Test scores you want colleges to see. This is great news! Let’s say that you take the SAT in March and don’t think you did as well as you could have - maybe you had a cold that day - so you take it again in May. This time you do much better. Under the College Board’s standard reporting policy ALL of your scores would be sent to the colleges you’re applying to. With Score Choice, as it’s being called, you can have only your May SAT scores sent. But pay attention: You can specify only the test date you want sent, not the section. (In other words, you can’t have your Math score from March but your Reading and Writing scores from May sent. It’s either all of March, or all of May.) Also, while the change will go into effect beginning with the March 2009 test date, you’ll be allowed to use the new feature retroactively for scores prior to March 2009. So if you have an older SAT score from December that isn’t as good as you’d like, you’ll be able to choose not to send it out to schools.

Score Choice will be optional for students - this means that you have to opt in and actively choose which specific tests you want to send to colleges. If you choose not to use Score Choice, then all of the scores on file for you will automatically be sent when you request score reports be sent to a college you’re applying to.

(more…)

The SAT is a standardized exam that most high school students take before applying for college. Generally, students take the SAT for the first time as high school juniors. If they do very well, they are through. If they want to try to boost their scores, they can take the test a second or even a third time.

The SAT tests you in three areas: reading, writing, and mathematical reasoning. As a result, each time you take the test you get three separate scores: a critical reading score, a writing score, and a math score. Each of these scores will fall somewhere between 200 and 800. For all three tests, the median score is 500: about 50 percent of all students score below 500 and about 50 percent score 500 or above. In talking about their results, students often the three scores and say, “Ron got a 1560,” or “Hermione got a 2400.” (Total scores range from 600 to 2400, with a median of about 1500.)

What is the format of the SAT?
The SAT is a 4-hour plus exam divided into ten sections; but because you should arrive a little early and because time is required to pass out materials, read instructions, collect the test, and give you two 10-minute breaks between sections, you should assume that you will be in the testing room for 4.5 to 5 hours.

Although the SAT contains ten sections, your score will be based on only 9 of them: five 25-minute multiple-choice sections (two math, two critical reading, and one writing skills); two 20-minute multiple-choice sections (one math and one critical reading); one 10-minute multiple-choice section (writing skills); and one 25-minute essay-writing section. The tenth section is an additional 25-minute multiple-choice section that may be on math, critical reading, or writing skills. It is what ETS calls an ‘equating’ section, but most people call it the ‘experimental’ section. ETS uses it to test new questions for use on future exams. However, because this section typically is identical in format to one of the other sections, you have no way of knowing which section is the experimental one, and so you must do your best on all ten sections.

How do I signup to take the SAT test?
Online: Go to www.collegeboard.com
Have available your social security number and/or date of birth.
Pay with a major credit card.
Note: If you are signing up for Sunday testing, or if you have a visual, hearing, or learning disability and plan to sign up for the Services for Students with Disabilities Program, you cannot register online. You must register by mail well in advance.

(more…)