Cheat codes / Reading and Writing
Read the question first
Read the question before the passage, and you will read the passage like a hunter, not like a tourist.
How I think about it
The code in steps
- 1Look at the question line first. Do not read the passage yet.
- 2Say in plain words what you are hunting for.
- 3Read the passage once, looking only for that thing, and mark it.
- 4Stop when you have found it, then read the options.
Learn it
1. What it is
In Reading and Writing, every question has a short passage and a question under it. Most students read the passage first, because that feels natural. Then they meet the question and have to go back and read again.
The code is simple: read the question first (the line that starts with 'Which choice...' or 'As used in the text...'), then read the passage. The question tells you what to hunt for. The passage is just the place where the answer lives.
2. The exact steps
1. Jump your eyes to the question at the bottom. Read only the question, not the options yet.
2. Say to yourself in plain words what you are hunting for. Examples: 'the main idea', 'what one named sentence does', 'which words show Text 2 disagrees', 'which fact from the table proves the claim'.
3. Read the passage with that hunt in mind. Underline or highlight the parts that match your hunt.
4. Stop reading when you have found it. Then look at the options.
3. What to hunt for, by question type
Main idea question: hunt for the author's conclusion. It is often after words like 'however', 'but', 'the researchers conclude'.
Function or structure question: find the named sentence first, then read the sentence before it.
Two-text question: read Text 1 and mark its claim, then read Text 2 hunting for agreement or disagreement with that claim.
Evidence question: hunt for the exact number, quote or fact that touches the claim.
4. A tiny drill
Take any five passages from the bank. For each one, cover the passage, read only the question, and write on paper a three-word hunt, for example 'author's conclusion' or 'Text 2 versus claim'. Then read the passage and see if the hunt was enough. It takes about two minutes and the habit sticks fast.
5. How to know when to use it
Use it on every Reading and Writing question that has a passage and a question line: central ideas, text structure, cross-text, command of evidence, inferences and rhetorical synthesis.
Very short grammar questions (where the whole question is 'Which choice completes the text...') are different. There the question line is always the same, so reading it tells you nothing new. Go straight to the sentence and work from the gap.
Why it works
The Digital SAT asks a small set of question types again and again, and each type needs a different part of the passage. A main-idea question needs the conclusion, a function question needs one sentence and its neighbor, and a cross-text question needs one claim from each text. Because the question is printed under the passage, you lose nothing by reading it first. You only change where your eyes go, and a reader with a target reads faster than a reader with no target.
Watch out: Do not read the question and then skip the passage. You still need to read carefully, the code just tells you where to look. On short grammar questions the question line is always the same, so this code adds nothing there.
See it work on real questions
Try each question your usual way first. Then open the box to see the code at work.
Central Ideas and Details · question 5
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Cross-Text Connections · question 8
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Text Structure and Purpose · question 8
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Inferences · question 8
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Command of Evidence · question 6
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Rhetorical Synthesis · question 7
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Do not just believe me. Test it.
Take 10 Reading and Writing questions that have passages. Do five the way you normally do, passage first, and five question first. Use a stopwatch on your phone and write the time and whether you were right for each one. After the ten, compare the average time and the number correct for the two groups. Ten questions is a small test, so do it again with ten more on another day before you decide. If question-first is not faster or better for you, keep your own way. I only want what works for you.