Learn / Reading and Writing / Information and Ideas
Central Ideas and Details
I worked these out from the practice questions. Each code says where to start reading, where to stop, what you can skip, and why it is safe.
1. Say the point before the options
- Start:
- Read the question, then the passage from the first sentence.
- Stop:
- Stop after you can say the point in one short sentence of your own.
- Skip:
- Skip reading the options until you have your sentence.
- Why:
- The wrong options are made to sound good. If I already hold my own sentence, they have less power over me.
Used in questions 1, 3, 5
2. Detail questions: find the words
- Start:
- Start at the sentence that contains the key name or event in the question.
- Stop:
- Stop at the end of that sentence, or the next one if it says however.
- Skip:
- Skip the rest of the text and any fact you already know from real life.
- Why:
- A detail question is answered by one stated fact, so one sentence is enough to check each option.
Used in questions 2, 6
3. Look for the surprise word
- Start:
- Look for words like instead, however, but, yet and although.
- Stop:
- Stop after the sentence that follows them.
- Skip:
- Skip the sentence before it if it only states what was expected.
- Why:
- The writer uses these words to point to the real finding or the real feeling. In questions 6 and 8 the answer sat right after such a word.
Used in questions 6, 8, 5
4. Last sentence often holds the point
- Start:
- Start at the last sentence of a science or opinion text.
- Stop:
- Stop at the first sentence, to check the topic only.
- Skip:
- Skip middle details such as numbers and names unless the question asks for them.
- Why:
- In questions 1, 3 and 5 the final sentence gave the conclusion, and the middle gave only support.
Used in questions 1, 3, 5
5. Respect hedge words
- Start:
- Underline words like may, suggests, some, and slightly in the passage.
- Stop:
- Stop once you know how strong the claim is.
- Skip:
- Skip options that say cannot, always, never or all.
- Why:
- The SAT writes correct answers with the same care as the text. Question 5 punished the strong word cannot.
Used in questions 5, 7, 3
6. Stories: follow the change
- Start:
- Start with how the person feels in the first sentence.
- Stop:
- Stop at how the person feels in the last sentence.
- Skip:
- Skip scene details such as places, objects and weather.
- Why:
- A story question is about the change from the first feeling to the last. Questions 4 and 8 followed this pattern.
Used in questions 4, 8
7. Main idea must cover the whole text
- Start:
- Start with the first sentence for the topic, then jump to the sentence after however, but or yet.
- Stop:
- Stop at the last sentence, which often gives the advice or the conclusion.
- Skip:
- Skip options that use only one detail, such as the borrowed tools or the cabbages.
- Why:
- In questions 10, 11, 13 and 15 the right option held every part of the text, and the wrong ones took one small piece and made it the whole.
Used in questions 10, 11, 13, 15
8. If they expected X, the answer is not X
- Start:
- Start at the sentence that says what someone expected or what is usually assumed.
- Stop:
- Stop at the sentence that starts with instead, however or yet.
- Skip:
- Skip the option that repeats the expectation word for word.
- Why:
- In question 14 the expected reason (fear of losing loans) was the tempting wrong answer, and in question 13 the usual assumption about trees was only the starting point.
Used in questions 14, 13, 6
9. Test every wrong option against one fact
- Start:
- Start with the detail in the text that an option seems to match, such as the full price in question 16.
- Stop:
- Stop when you find a sentence that clearly says something different.
- Skip:
- Skip any option that needs a feeling or reason the text never gives.
- Why:
- In questions 12 and 16 the close wrong options (D in each) sounded natural, but one clear sentence in the text contradicted them or never supported them.
Used in questions 12, 16