How to improve my critical reading in the SAT?

Question

I got totally confused every time when I took mistake with my critical reading section in the SAT practice. I checked the answer carefully but still don't know why I chose a wrong answer. I am worried about that cos' I plan to take SAT this December. I feel just tha I could get the meaning of all words, feel that I understand it, but have a non-optimistic attitude. Is ther any suggestion? How to improve my critical reading?

Besides, Chinese is my mother tongue, but not English. Sometime I think the reason for the correct choices is quite strange and eccentric, I get an anxiety that my chinese logic differentiates from urs so i always take mistake. Will that b possible? And how to deal with that~?~~~ thanx a lot

Answer 1

Here are a few tips for Critical Reading:

- Practice by reading a lot!  Try Time Magazine or The New York Times for some information heavy articles.  This is not like reading for leisure.  Think about what the main idea of the article is, the author's viewpoint, and their arguments supporting their viewpoint.  (This can also help you build vocabulary).

- When you read the passage, don't memorize! Skim to get the main idea of the passage. Write this down in 5 words or less. Jot down VERY short notes throughout the passage to help you remember what is going on.

- Go to the questions and DON'T read the answer choice. Just read the question and try to answer it in your own words. (The SAT tries to confuse students by putting in a ton of info into the answer choices). If the question asks about a certain part of the passage, go there and get what you need to answer the question.

- Now look at the answer choices and see what matches what you came up with.

p.s. - If you need help on math, please check out my videos on Youtube. Just search for 'miteach'

Good luck,

Jack

*EDIT: also, you should find out if you can qualify to take the TOEFL by ETS.  It is an English test for non-native English speaking students.  I believe most schools accept this, but you would need to double check.  :]