What is on the Critical Reading Section? How Does a Student Read “Critically?
” There are three timed tests on the Critical Reading section of the SAT. There are fill-in-the-blank sentences or sentences that a student has to complete with the best possible choice. There are short reading passages, with questions following these passages. The short passage questions often ask about vocabulary words contained in the text, but can also ask about usage and literary terms. Finally, there are three long passages plus a comparison between two short passages. There are associated questions for each passage. A student has to learn how to read critically in order to do well on these test portions. This means more than just reading the plot line in order to get to the end of the story. Critical reading involves identifying the main idea or the topic. What point is the author trying to make? What motivated the author to write this particular work? The student also needs to be able to identify what the author’s tone is. Is the author in favor of or against the subject matter
