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?questionId=20131215&oq=1 (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.)
The test writers are being nice and gentle to us this morning with a fairly easy question. About 2/3 of the students are getting it right.
The answer is A. This is a simple proportion question and most students like to set it up and cross-multiply. 7 gallons can plow 3 acres and the question is how many acres can 16 gallons plow (before the farmer is stuck in the middle of the corn field with an empty gas tank). Be careful to keep the units the same for both sides of the equation: 7 gallons/3 acres = 16 gallons/x acres. 7x = 48 which is 6 6/7.
You could have set it up as 3 acres/7 gallons = x acres/16 gallons. Just make sure when you set up the proportion that you have the units in the same place on both sides of the equation.
I did it in my head. I divided 16 by 7 which gave me 2 2/7. Then multiplied that by 3. It works the same as the other ways; I just find it easier to do it this way.
Keep in mind that the math questions can usually be done in 2 or more ways and there’s no one, single best way to do any of them. Practice will help you figure out which math strategies work best for you. Keep in mind that you want to determine which ones not only give you the right answers but are fastest.
Let’s see what the ACT folks have for us today.
ACT Question of the Day: Use your “back” button to return to my website after reading the ACT Question of the Day.
The answer is F. We certainly need a new paragraph because there’s a change in the focus of the passage from the magic of the previous paragraph to the reality of the classroom. That eliminates H and J. The author isn’t summarizing anything; he’s bring the reader back to the moment; therefore, “To summarize” (Answer G) is senseless. That leaves us with “NO CHANGE.”
If you took the ACT yesterday, I hope things went well for you. Please send me an email and let me know if you saw anything special. What was your reaction to the test? Anything unexpected? How was the time? Were there any especially difficult reading or science passages? How was the math?
Enjoy your day.
The SAT & ACT Wizard
