READING

• Do easiest passages first, save harder ones for last (history for me)
• You don't need to memorize the information... you only need to understand it
• Write a "one sentence summary" in your own words for each passage immediately after reading it
• Come up with your own answer to questions BEFORE looking at choices; look for answer that best aligns with your own answer.
• Question any answer that seems to be in conflict with author's main point or position
• Always read a few sentences before and after any "vocabulary in context" word; in addition to "definition" ensure consistency with author's main point and tone
• Cross out the specific words that make an answer choice incorrect
• Understand graphics before reading questions; underline exactly what the question is asking; note any differences in units/measures/direction between graphic and wording of question/answer
• Circle any question where you're not 100% sure... come back to those when done with the rest. Re-read and re-do those questions rather than just confirming the answer you chose previously.
• Use any extra time at end to re-check "vocabulary in context" and "inference/evidence" questions (this is where I tend to make silly mistakes)

WRITING

• If there's a verb in the answer, circle the subject and confirm number and tense agreement with rest of sentence
• If there's a pronoun in the answer, confirm antecedent and ensure proper number agreement.
• For "introduction" and "summarize" questions read whole paragraph and come up with your own answer BEFORE looking at choices; look for answer that best aligns with your own answer.
• For "reorder sentence" questions read whole paragraph - and one or two sentences before and after - without reading the sentence to be moved to ensure you understand the overall logical flow
• For "transition" questions, understand the relationship between the two sentences/paragraphs (Contrast. Continue, or Cause/Effect) and come up with your own answer to question BEFORE looking at choices; look for answer that best aligns with your own answer.
• Commas, dashes, colons, semicolons = tread carefully. (This topic could be an entire cheat-sheet on its own.)