The Critical Reading section of the SAT exam consists of completing sentences, reading comprehension, and critical reading of paragraphs. The 3 subsections consist of two 25 minute sections and one 20 minute section. Each section has various types of questions, starting with sentence completion and continuing with questions about reading passages.
All questions in this section are multiple choice questions. Questions in this section, unlike in other sections, are not presented in order of question difficulty. They are presented as sets, and the reading passages are generally presented in order of difficulty. The questions related to each reading passage are asked in chronological order, i.e. the order in which they appear in the passage.
Many people find the time constraint of the SAT challenging. So, for this section it is important to read at the appropriate pace. If you read too slowly, you will run out of time. If you read too quickly, you may miss key points and answer questions incorrectly. Your preparation activities, including timed practice tests, should give you a feel for how to pace your reading during the exam.
Sentence Completion
The Critical Reading section of the SAT will most likely begin with around 8 sentence completion questions. The purpose of these questions is to test your vocabulary and understanding of sentence structure. Usually the question will ask you to select a word or words that best completes the sentence.
Be sure you look at all multiple choice options before you make an answer on your sheet. You may find it helpful to try to think of words that fit into the blanks before you look at the answers. Since time is a constraint, options can be eliminated if the first word does not fit.
Reading Passages
Most of the Critical Reading section is made up of questions about reading passages. You will be asked to read short passages on various subjects and answer questions based on the passage. Some sections may have questions where you will be asked to compare two reading passages that offer differing perspectives on the same topic. There will be some questions on each passage individually, followed by questions about both passages together.
Before each passage, there will be a short, italicized introduction that will describe the passage. Read this introduction first and then the questions related to the passage before reading the passage. This will give you an idea of what information you need from the passage to answer the questions. The lines in each passage will be numbered. Many questions will refer to specific line numbers in the passage. Use these numbers to direct you to places in the passage you can find the answer.
Some of the questions asked about passage will include: details straight from the passage, questions about vocabulary, questions about the author’s attitude toward a subject, questions about what the author’s agenda is, and questions about the main ideas of the passage.
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