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.
http://sat.collegeboard.org/practice/sat-question-of-the-day?questionId=20140503&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.)
Reading this blog is 10% about learning how to answer today’s questions and 90% learning how to apply strategies and analyze questions you may see on test day.
The answer is E. Once again, Ms. Murphy was right! She always admonished students in my 9th grade English class for using too many words. “Shorter is better,” was one of her favorite statements. Whenever you can say the same thing with fewer words, you should. Her advice certainly helps avoid the overly wordy option of the original sentence and the other answers.
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 ACT staff have a question that has appeared so many times that I don’t even have to read the passage. They need to invest some time in putting new questions on their website.
The answer is H. “A private person,” inserts perfectly in lines 74-6. The other three answers either disagree with or add to the passage.
Stephan is a student of mine in New York. He said the most important thing I taught him about the reading test is that students approach the reading test backwards. They try to justify keeping answers. They should be justifying eliminating answers. Doing so is much quicker and more effective. He started out by getting about half the questions right and now he is getting almost all of them correct.
Like Stephan, change your approach and use PICK. It will make you a better test taker. (You can read my free website or watch Video Series #300 for a full explanation of the PICK strategy.)
QotD Words of “Wiz-dom”:
It is test day and I am thinking about the difference between my students who show significant gains on the test scores and those who don’t. All of my students have the will to improve their scores. However, the ones who show the most improvement are the ones with the will to prepare. Those who study and practice my strategies experience amazing results. I can almost predict how each student will do. If you are serious about increasing your score, you will need to put in the time. Practice is the key to success.
After the test today, go celebrate. Have an enjoyable day!
Bob Alexander, the “SAT and ACT Wizard”
