If you are reading this in an email you received from me, do not click the link to sat.collegeboard.org below. Use the link to my website that is farther down on the email. If you are seeing this in my blog, do the SAT Question of the Day by clicking on this link:
http://sat.collegeboard.org/practice/sat-question-of-the-day?src=R&questionId=20130410 (This link takes you to today’s question. If you use my archive, you will see the question related to my SAT explanation for that date.)
I’m sorry I’ve been offline for the prior two days. I lost my connection to the Internet and “He who shall not be named” ISP took a very unacceptable time to get to my house to fix it! I can only say that not having access to the Internet has been an aggravating experience.
The answer is D. This is a pretty simple question. Just use my strategy: “What did the test writers tell me? What do I know because they told me that?” These two questions will work with all of the math questions on both the SAT and ACT.
They told you x/y=3 and x=12. You know to substitute 12 into the initial equation x/y=3 so that it becomes 12/y=3. Solving for y gives you y=4. Finally subtract x-y=12-4=8, Answer D.
Yes, some of the questions on the test will be this easy. On the SAT, they will be early in the section. They are easy to find on the sections that have 20 and 16 multiple-choice questions. For the section with 18 questions, they are the first one or two multiple-choice questions and then questions 9 and 10 because those are the first two “student-produced response” questions. They are the “bubble-in” questions that don’t have multiple-choice answers. Use these easy questions to pick up some time so that you have extra time for the more difficult questions.
Let’s see what the ACT folks have for us this morning.
http://www.act.org/qotd/ (The ACT staff does not put a date on their questions so if you click on an archived blog, you’ll get today’s question and the old explanation. Sorry. The SAT staff has dated their questions; so, the archive is helpful. The ACT folks simply don’t do that.)
This is a very valuable question that can help you learn something important about attacking the ACT and SAT. It is referred to as a “Triple True-false” or a “Roman Numeral” question. This question format is a real time killer. You have to answer three questions to earn one point! If you have trouble with finishing on time, it is a good idea to skip it whether you see it on the SAT or ACT and whether you see it on the reading or math section. If you have spare time after answering the other questions, then come back and do it.
The answer is D. You attack each of the Roman Numeral statements (I, II, and III) the same way you do any other reading question. Use my “Insertable” strategy and check to see if each Roman Numeral items add something to the passage. If so, it is false. I doesn’t add anything; so, it is true. Now look at answers A-D. You can eliminate B since it doesn’t include I. Check out II. Secrecy. It adds to the passage; eliminate it because it is false. Looking at the answers, B and C cannot be correct. Roman Numeral III doesn’t add to the passage. It is true. That leaves us with D as the correct answer.
Be sure to eliminate the related answers after you determine if each Roman Numeral statement is true or false. That strategy will help you handle the question most effectively and efficiently. It will reduce the time it takes to answer the question.
Best of luck on the ACT this morning if you are on your way to the test.
I hope to see you back here tomorrow as long as my ISP company earns their money!!
Wizard