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SAT
Course: SAT > Unit 11
Lesson 1: Reading- Active Reading Step | Science passage | Reading test | SAT
- SAT Reading: How to approach a Science passage
- Survey step | Literature passage | Reading Test | SAT
- SAT Reading: How to approach a Literature passage
- Active reading step | History passage | Reading test | SAT
- SAT Reading: How to approach a History passage
- Survey step | Social Science passage | Reading Test | SAT
- SAT Reading: How to approach a Social Science passage
- Worked example: Science passage, part 1
- Worked example: Science passage, part 2
- Worked example: Literature passage, part 1
- Worked example: Literature passage, part 2
- Worked example: History passage, part 1
- Worked example: History passage, part 2
- Worked example: Social science passage, part 1
- Worked example: Social science passage, part 2
- Explicit information | Quick guide
- Implicit information | Quick guide
- Point of view | Quick guide
- Analyzing relationships | Quick guide
- Citing evidence | Quick guide
- Main idea | Quick guide
- Analogical reasoning | Quick guide
- Overall structure | Quick guide
- Purpose | Quick guide
- Part-whole relationships | Quick guide
- Words in context | Quick guide
- Word choice | Quick guide
- Evaluating evidence | Quick guide
- Graphs and data | Quick guide
- Paired passages | Quick guide
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Main idea | Quick guide
What's on the test?
Common errors
Tips and strategies
Want to join the conversation?
For the Reading Test, is it worth it to allocate more time understanding the main points of the passage rather than to just dive right into the questions and find the main message of passage as you progress through the questions?(6 votes)
I believe that saving the main idea questions for last is the best strategy because while answering the other questions you often reread the passage (or the important parts because the questions won't ask insignificant things), and as you think about the answer choices to the questions you naturally gain a better understanding of the passage, making it easier to understand the main idea.(24 votes)
In Literature passages on the SAT Reading Section, is the main idea of a paragraph usually found in the first or last sentence of the paragraph? Also, should the main idea of a paragraph/passage have the most details to support it?(4 votes)
Literature passages tell a story, unlike the other passage types, so its hard to predict their structure like you can with the others. Usually, in one of these passages, you'll meet a couple of characters, who will think or say or do something, and then some event will happen, and then the characters will think/say/do more things. You'll want to focus on these characters, their personalities, and relationships.
For most paragraphs, the topic will be found within the first three sentences. The last sentence sometimes has the topic again, sometimes has the topic from a different perspective, and sometimes transitions to the topic of the next paragraph. The main idea of a paragraph will be what the paragraph concerns itself with the most, so it will have the most details.(9 votes)
How does one answer the question about "the main idea" or the "main purpose" without having to actually read the whole passage?(4 votes)- Most of the time, you can use the first paragraph and last paragraph to determine the main idea.(6 votes)
does khan academy have main idea articles or videos for fiction texts?(4 votes)- There is no dedicated video for main idea questions in fiction tests, but you can check out the videos titled "Worked example: Literature passage". There, you can find a couple example main idea questions from a fiction text.(4 votes)
- Do they have opinion writing guys?(3 votes)
- On the Reading section, you might have passages which argue for a certain position, such as the Paired Passage, which will give you two most commonly conflicting points of view on a topic, such as a speech promoting a strong central government and a speech against it. Other than that, there isn't much opinion in the Reading section. Fiction passages tell a story, and most of the social science and science passages more objectively describe an experiment or process or theory or something like that. Don't treat opinion passages any differently than you would any other reading passage by using background knowledge or preconceptions or anything like that.(6 votes)
How would I answer the questions like "Over the course of the passage, the main focus shifts from...". These questions are always the ones where I have the most trouble(5 votes)- the main idea is the author's message about the topic and the central idea is what the text is mainly about.
can somebody explain how they can be the same thing and different at the same time?(3 votes) - is it okay to skim through the passage and look at the questions to see what the questions are about before I jump onto the passage(2 votes)
Yeah, I know some people find that strategy really helpful! I suggest you try it. If it works for you, keep doing it!(2 votes)
- Some wrong choices may draw upon a point made in the passage, but then take it further than can be directly supported. They might express a claim more strongly or with more certainty than the author would.(2 votes)
- Is it better to read the first question and then use the pieces of evidence in the second question to figure out which one best answers the first question? I feel like this has always worked for me. Or should we just answer the first question first? Thanks for any answers!(1 vote)
