Cheat codes / Math
Last sentence first
Read what the question asks before you touch the numbers, and you will stop solving the wrong thing.
How I think about it
The code in steps
- 1Jump to the last sentence and read it slowly.
- 2Underline the target: x + y, how many more, NOT, greatest, the unit.
- 3Say what the answer should look like before you solve.
- 4Now read the story and take only the numbers you need.
- 5Before you choose, look back at your underline.
Learn it
1. What it is
Almost every Math word problem puts the real question in the last sentence. It starts with words like 'What is', 'How many', 'Which of the following' or 'For what value'. The sentences before it only give you facts.
The code is simple: read the last sentence first, underline the target, and only then read the rest. You read the same words, but you read them with a purpose.
2. Why students lose marks without it
Many wrong options on the SAT are not random. They are the answers to a different question. If the problem asks for x + y, the value of x alone will be in the options. If it asks 'how many are NOT', the number who ARE will be in the options. If it asks for minutes, the answer in hours may be there.
When you only read the last sentence at the end, you are tired and in a hurry, and your eyes see a number that looks right. When you read it first, you know what you are looking for the whole time.
3. The steps
1. Go straight to the last sentence. Read it slowly, once.
2. Underline the target. Underline words like x + y, 'how many more', 'NOT', 'greatest', 'in minutes', 'per week'. Use the highlight tool on the screen or draw a line on your scratch paper.
3. Say in your own words what the answer will look like: a number? a count? a unit? a point? a sum of two things?
4. Now read the beginning and collect only the facts you need.
5. Before you choose, look at the underline again.
4. A tiny drill
Read only the last sentence of each problem below and say what the answer will look like. Do not solve.
a) 'What is the value of 2x - 3?' Answer: a number made from x, not x itself.
b) 'How many club members are NOT in Grade 12?' Answer: a count of the people left out.
c) 'How many more kilometers does Car A travel than Car B?' Answer: a difference of two distances.
This takes 5 seconds each. It is the whole code.
5. How to know when to use it
Always. It costs about five seconds and it is the cheapest habit in this book. It helps most in word problems, systems of equations, percent, rate and geometry questions, and in any problem with two or more unknowns.
It helps less in a bare question like 'What is the value of f(5)?' because the whole question is already one line. Even there, a glance at the last words is free.
Why it works
The SAT writes wrong options to match the common mistakes of students who answered a different question: the single variable instead of the sum, the amount that is left in instead of left out, the wrong unit. Because each Math module gives you only about 95 seconds a question, you cannot afford to solve a full problem and then find out you solved the wrong thing. Reading the target first costs a few seconds and tells you which numbers matter. It also works for every Math question, because every Math question is built the same way: facts first, question last.
Watch out: Do not skip the first part of the problem. The last sentence tells you what to find, but the facts you need are above it, and sometimes a key condition such as 'for x not equal to 3' is hidden there. Use the code to guide your reading, not to replace it.
See it work on real questions
Try each question your usual way first. Then open the box to see the code at work.
Linear equations in one variable · question 4
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Systems of two linear equations · question 3
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Percentages · question 6
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Ratios, rates and units · question 8
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Nonlinear equations and systems · question 6
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Do not just believe me. Test it.
Take 10 Math word problems from this app. Do 5 the way you normally do, and 5 with this code. For each one, write down the time you used and whether you were right. Also count how many times you caught yourself about to answer a different question than the one asked. After the 10 questions, compare the right answers and the average time. If the code does not help you, you will see it in the numbers.