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=20131010&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 answer is B. AB is 1 radius and AC is twice as long because it is 2 radii. B is a right angle because line l is tangent to the radius AB. That gives us a right triangle ABC with a hypotenuse that is twice as long as the short side AB. Whenever you have that situation, you have a 30:60:90 right triangle with the angle where the short side joins the hypotenuse being 60 degrees, Answer B.
There’s an important thing to understand about 30:60:90 triangles. They are half of an equilateral triangle! Go ahead and draw an equilateral triangle. Now draw an altitude for it. You’ve created two congruent 30:60:90 triangles. Watch out for situations on the test when this little bit of thinking comes in handy. The test writers put it in their questions on occasion.
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 H. The Insertable of the PICK strategy makes this question a snap. Three of the answers, F, G, and J add new information to the passage when you insert them. That leaves H.
Always keep in mind you are looking for the “best” answer on the reading test. It is not the “right” answer. That means you have to identify the three answers that aren’t as good as one of the other ones. Doing so makes a reading test rather subjective and you have to focus and truly think like the test writer because they get to choose the best answer. PICK is very important because it helps you use the same criteria the test writer uses when making this subjective judgment. You can read about it on my online course or watch me explain it on Video #3.
Be sure you are working on your vocabulary. Focus on morphemes (word parts). That will help you learn “families” of words. Enjoy your day.
The SAT & ACT Wizard
