Main content
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
© 2023 Khan AcademyTerms of usePrivacy PolicyCookie Notice
Overall structure | Quick guide
What's on the test?
Common errors
Tips and strategies
Want to join the conversation?
- How do I get the most out of Khan Academy?(11 votes)
- What is the difference between this and "main idea"?(5 votes)
- Main idea is what the author is arguing or the topic. This is more on the side of how it is formatted.(11 votes)
- I sometimes get questions at the beginning of each passage, including how over the course of the passage, the main focus shifts. What I don't know is where to start and end. Do I find the main idea at the beginning and end of the passage? The main focus shifts frequently sometimes, so I don't know which focus to take in the passage.(1 vote)
- Regardless of where the shift happens, the first idea will be in the first paragraph, and the last idea will be in the last paragraph. You could use that. The shift will likely be nice and generalized and broad, so don't worry about specific, itty-bitty shifts throughout the passage.
Many SAT passages take what I like to call a "old idea, new idea" structure, in which they discuss a previous notion (the Earth is flat), then provide evidence to a contrary new idea (the Earth is round). The main shift here happens when going from old idea to new idea, which is usually somewhere around the second paragraph.(8 votes)
- what´s the different between pronoun and common noun :P(3 votes)
- A pronoun is a word that stands for a noun, like how you can use "he" for a boy named "Usnavi" instead of repeating Usnavi all throughout the story.
A common noun (as opposed to a proper noun) is a noun that you can find multiple of, and that isn't specific to any one entity. Usnavi would be a proper noun because it specifically refers to the one and only Usnavi, even if there are multiple people named Usnavi. When a noun is unique and specific to one individual or item, then it is a proper noun. Otherwise it is a common noun.(4 votes)
- What is the difference between this and "main idea"?(2 votes)
- What is the difference between this and "main idea"?(1 vote)
- Focus on these general relationships instead of getting lost in the details. If we know how the passage progresses in a general sense, we'll be better able to identify shifts in focus.(1 vote)
- How long is the sat I would love to know?(1 vote)