【SAT高分系列】SAT阅读满分技能（2）

Wrong Answer 1: Too Specific

错误答案1：太具体

A: The transition between Homo habilus and neanderthals

This type of wrong answer focuses on a smaller detail in the passage. It’s meant to trick you because you might think to yourself, "well, I see this mentioned in the passage, so it’s a plausible answer choice."

Wrong! Think to yourself – can this answer choice really describe the entire passage? Can it basically function as the title of this passage? You’ll find that it’s just way too specific to convey the point of the overall passage.

Wrong Answer 2: Too Broad

错误答案2：太宽泛

B: The study of evolution

This type of wrong answer has the opposite problem – it’s way too broad. Yes, theoretically the passage concerns the study of evolution, but only one aspect of it, and especially as it relates to the impact on the environment.

To give another ludicrous example, if you talked to your friend about your cell phone, and he said your main point was about the universe. Yes, you were talking about the universe, but only a tiny fraction of it. This is way too broad.

Wrong Answer 3: Reversed Relationship

错误答案3：关系颠倒

C: How the environment shaped human evolution

This wrong answer choice can be tricky because it mentions all the right words. But of course the relationship between those words needs to be correct as well. Here, the relationship is flipped. Students who read too quickly make careless mistakes like these!

Wrong Answer 4: Unrelated Concept

错误答案4：概念不相关

D: The plausibility of evolution

Finally, this kind of wrong answer preys on the tendency of students to overthink the question. If you’re passionate about arguing about evolution, this might be a trigger answer since ANY discussion of evolution becomes a chance to argue about the plausibility of evolution. Of course, this concept will appear nowhere in the passage, but some students just won’t be able to resist.

Do you see the point? On the surface, each of the answer choices sounds possibly correct. A less prepared student would think that all of these were plausible answers.

But plausible isn't good enough. The right answer needs to be 100%, totally right. Wrong answers might be off by even one word - you need to eliminate these.

Carry this thought into every SAT Reading passage question you do and I guarantee you will start raising your score.

Strategy 3: Predict the Answer Before Reading the Answer Choices

技巧3：在阅读选项前预测答案

As we've discussed already, the SAT is designed to goad you into making mistakes by putting really similar answer choices next to each other.

In Strategy 2, we covered the strategy of ruthless, unforgiving elimination of answer choices.

Here's another Strategy that works well for me. Before reading the answer choices, come up with your own answer to the question.

Gaze into your crystal ball and predict the right answer.

This strategy is exactly designed to counteract the trickiness of the answer choices.

If you DON'T apply this strategy, your thinking process likely meanders like this:

"OK, I just read the question. Answer A is definitely out. B can kind of work. C...it doesn't exactly fit, but I can see how it can work." and so on. By now, you've already fallen into the College Board's trap of starting to muddle the answer choices.

Take the opposite approach. While you're reading the question, come up with your own ideal answer to the question before reading the answer choices. This prevents you from getting biased by the SAT's answer choices, especially the incorrect ones.

If it's a "Big Picture" type question asking about the main point of the passage, answer for yourself, "What would make a good title for this passage?"

If it's an "Inference" question, answer for yourself, "What would the author think about the situation given in the question?"

Even if you can't answer the question straight away - for example, if you have to refer back to the line number to remember what the passage was saying - try to solve the question before looking at the answer choices.

The key here is that the passage must support your answer choice. Every correct answer on SAT passages needs to be justified by the passage - otherwise the answer would be ambiguous, which would cause problems of cancelling questions I referred to earlier.

Warning: this only works if you can read and understand passages well, and if you have prior experience with SAT Reading questions! That's why I don't recommend this strategy yet before you hit a 600 level since you're more likely to come up with the wrong answer choice in your head.

Strategy 4: Experiment with Passage Reading Strategies and Find the Best for You

技巧4：尝试各种文章阅读技巧，找到最适合你的

In your prep for the SAT, you may have read different strategies for how to read a passage and answer questions. Some students read the questions before reading the passage. Others read the passage in detail first.

At your high level, I can't predict which method will work best for you. We're going for perfection, which means that your strategy needs to line up with your strengths and weaknesses perfectly, or else you'll make mistakes or run out of time.

What I will do, however, is go through the most effective methods. You'll then have to figure out through your test data which one leads to the highest score for you.