Today in AVID 10 at Palos Verdes High School, Rob and SP introduced our first lesson for the Critical Reading section of the SAT. Training for the SAT can be very difficult, and for many students, the vocabulary component of the Critical Reading section can be extremely daunting.

In an effort to keep things simple, but at the same time teach students a new and complex concept, Rob decided to start the SAT tutoring with the “plus-minus-neutral” approach, a strategy that can help students eliminate incorrect answer choices by assigning a value or feeling of worth to the blank space, as well as each of the answer choices.

Students then practiced eliminating wrong answer choices and making educated guesses about which vocabulary words would and would not work in each sentence. The process was rigorous and slightly painful, but I think we all walked away from the experience with a new tool in our quiver of SAT strategies.

Here is an example of a question students will see on the Critical Reading section of the SAT. You will probably understand why training is the only way to attack a test that contains hundreds of problems like this:

1. Today Wegener’s theory is ____ ; however, he died an outsider treated with ____ by the scientific establishment.

A. unsupported – approval
B. dismissed – contempt
C. accepted – approbation
D. unchallenged – disdain
E. unrivaled – reverence

Please let Study Hut know if you need any tutoring or training for the SAT, specifically the Critical Reading section. We have excellent SAT tutors who earned great scores, went to top universities, and follow our streamlined approach to no-nonsense SAT training.