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Barrons how to prepare for the SAT 2008
Your Blueprint for Test Success A diagnostic test Six full-length practice tests All questions answered and explained In-depth review of all test subjects Your Private Tutor ■ An overview of the test: What you should know about the current SAT test format ■ Additional practice questions with answers ■ Vocabulary flash cards to increase your word power ■ Study tips and test-taking strategies Personal Instruction for a Better Test Score • Extensive reviews in critical reading, grammar, and math • Coaching to help you master the Writing section • Expanded math review includes third-year college preparatory math topics 23RD EDITION Sharon Weiner Green and Ira K. Wolf, Ph.D. Visit www.barronstestprep.com ® SAT is a registered trademark of the College Entrance Examination Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this product. SAT SAT ® HOW TO PREPARE FOR THE 2008 2008 HOW TO PREPARE FOR THE SAT SAT 23RD EDITION Sharon Weiner Green Former Instructor in English Merritt College Oakland, California Ira K. Wolf, Ph.D. President, PowerPrep, Inc. Former High School Teacher, College Professor, and University Director of Teacher Preparation ® ® SAT is a registered trademark of the College Entrance Examination Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this book. DEDICATION © Copyright 2006, 2005, 2001, 1998, 1997, 1994, 1993, 1991, 1989, 1987, 1986, 1984, 1982, 1980, 1978, 1975, 1974, 1973, 1972, 1971, 1969, 1966, 1965, 1964, 1962, 1958, 1955, 1954 by Barron’s Educational Series, Inc. Formerly Published as Barron’s How to Prepare for the Scholastic Aptitude Test. Critical Reading sections adapted from previous editions of How to Prepare for SAT I by Samuel C. Brownstein, Mitchel Weiner, and Sharon Weiner Green, published by Barron’s Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by photostat, microfilm, xerography, or any other means, or incorporated into any information retrieval system, electronic or mechanical, without the written permission of the copyright owner. All inquiries should be addressed to: Barron’s Educational Series, Inc. 250 Wireless Boulevard Hauppauge, NY 11788 http://www.barronseduc.com ISBN-13: 978-0-7641-3449-4 ISBN-10: 0-7641-3449-3 ISBN-13 (with CD-ROM): 978-0-7641-7934-1 ISBN-10 (with CD-ROM): 0-7641-7934-9 International Standard Serial No.: 1069-272X PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 In memory of Mitchel Weiner and Samuel Brownstein, who first brought college entrance test preparation to the high school students of America. S.W.G. To Elaine, my wife and best friend, for all of your support and love. I.K.W. Contents Preface v Countdown to the SAT v SAT Format and Test Dates ix Acknowledgments x PART ONE Get Acquainted with the SAT 1 Let’s Look at the SAT 3 What Is the SAT? 3 The Critical Reading Sections 5 The Mathematics Sections 6 The Use of Calculators on the SAT 9 The Writing Skills Sections 10 2 Winning Tactics for the SAT 13 Setting Goals 13 Pacing Yourself 15 Guessing 16 Tactics for the Test 20 PART TWO Pinpoint Your Trouble Spots 3 A Diagnostic SAT 27 Diagnostic Test 33 Answer Key 66 Self-Evaluation 68 Answer Explanations 73 PART THREE Tactics, Strategies, Practice: Critical Reading 4 The Sentence Completion Question 87 5 The Critical Reading Question 103 6 Build Your Vocabulary 143 The SAT High-Frequency Word List 144 The SAT Hot Prospects Word List 145 The 3,500 Basic Word List 146 Basic Word Parts 248 Tactics, Strategies, Practice: Writing Skills 7 Grammar, Plain and Fanciful 269 8 Common Problems in Grammar and Usage 273 9 The Writing Skills Questions 291 10 Writing a 25-Minute Essay 307 Tactics, Strategies, Practice: Mathematics Introduction to the Math Sections 329 11 Math Strategies and Tactics 337 12 Reviewing Mathematics 371 12-A Basic Arithmetic Concepts 372 12-B Fractions and Decimals 385 12-C Percents 396 12-D Ratios and Proportions 404 12-E Averages 413 12-F Polynomials 419 12-G Solving Equations and Inequalities 425 12-H Word Problems 434 12-I Lines and Angles 441 12-J Triangles 448 12-K Quadrilaterals and Other Polygons 459 12-L Circles 465 12-M Solid Geometry 472 12-N Coordinate Geometry 477 12-O Counting and Probability 485 12-P Logical Reasoning 494 12-Q Interpretation of Data 499 12-R Functions and Their Graphs 507 PART FOUR Test Yourself 13 Six Model SAT Tests 517 Model SAT Test 1 523 Model SAT Test 2 579 Model SAT Test 3 635 Model SAT Test 4 691 Model SAT Test 5 745 Model SAT Test 6 799 Preface This edition of Barron’s How to Prepare for the SAT reflects all of the changes in the new SAT. In writing this book, we have aimed to give you the advantages on the SAT that the students we tutor and teach in classes have enjoyed for decades. Therefore, we’d like you to think of this study guide as your personal SAT tutor, because that’s precise- ly what it is. Like any good tutor, it will work closely with you, prompting you and giving you pointers to improve your testing skills. It will help you pinpoint your trouble spots and show you how to work on them, and it will point out your strengths as well. After working with your tutor, you should see marked improvement in your performance. Your personal tutor will be available to work with you whenever you like, for as long or short a time as you like. Working with your tutor, you can go as quickly or as slowly as you like, repeating sections as often as you need, skipping over sec- tions you already know well. Your tutor will give you explanations, not just correct answers, when you make mistakes, and will be infinitely patient and adaptable. Here are just a few of the things your tutor offers you: • It takes you step by step through thousands of critical reading, writing, and mathematical questions, showing you how to solve them and how to avoid going wrong. • It offers you dozens of clear-cut Testing Tactics and shows you how to use them to attack every question type you will find on the new SAT. • It enables you to simulate actual testing condi- tions, providing you with a diagnostic test and six model tests—all with answers fully explained—each of which follows the format of the SAT exactly. • It provides comprehensive mathematics review in arithmetic, algebra, and geometry—the three math areas you need to know to do well on the SAT. • It pinpoints specific sources of SAT reading passages, naming authors and books and mag- azines, and provides a college-level reading list that can guide you to these works and more. • It gives you the 365-word High Frequency Word List, 365 words from abridge to zealot that have been shown by computer analysis to occur and reoccur on actual published SATs, plus Barron’s 3,500 Basic Word List, your best chance to acquaint yourself with the whole range of college-level vocabulary you will face on the SAT. • It even gives you your own set of high- frequency word list flash cards in a convenient tear-out section at the back of the book. More than 200 words that have appeared regularly on previous SAT exams are presented, each with its part of speech, pronunciation, defini- tion, and illustrative sentence. Separate the cards and carry some with you to study in spare moments. Or devise a competitive game, and use them with a partner. No other book offers you as much. Your person- al tutor embodies Barron’s ongoing commitment to provide you with the best possible coaching for the SAT and every other important test you take. It has benefited from the dedicated labors of Linda Turner and other members of the editorial staff of Barron’s, all of whom wish you the best as you settle down with your tutor to work on the SAT. BEFORE THE TEST Set out your test kit the night before. You will need your admission ticket, a photo ID (a driver’s license or a non-driver picture ID, a passport, or a school ID), your calculator, four or five sharp No. 2 pencils (with erasers), plus a map or directions showing how to get to the test center. Get a good night’s sleep so you are well rested and alert. Wear comfortable clothes. Dress in layers. Bring a sweater in case the room is cold. Bring an accurate watch—not one that beeps— in case the room has no clock. Bring a small snack for quick energy. Don’t be late. Allow plenty of time for getting to the test site. You want to be in your seat, relaxed, before the test begins. Countdown to the SAT The day before you take the test, don’t do practice tests. Do look over all the tactics listed below so they will be fresh in your mind. v vi DURING THE TEST First answer all the easy questions; then tackle the hard ones if you have time. Pace yourself. Don’t work so fast that you start making careless errors. On the other hand, don’t get bogged down on any one question. Play the percentages: guess whenever you can eliminate one or more of the answers. Make educated guesses, not random ones. As a rule, don’t fill in answers when you haven’t even looked at the questions. Watch out for eye-catchers, answer choices that are designed to tempt you into guessing wrong. Change answers only if you have a reason for doing so; don’t change them on a last-minute hunch or whim. Check your assumptions. Make sure you are answering the question asked and not the one you thought was going to be asked. Remember that you are allowed to write in the test booklet. Use it to do your math computations and to draw diagrams. Underline key words in sen- tence completion questions, grammar questions, and reading passages. Cross out any answer choices you are sure are wrong. Circle questions you want to return to. Be careful not to make any stray marks on your answer sheet. The test is graded by a machine, and a machine cannot always tell the difference between an accidental mark and an intentionally filled-in answer. Check frequently to make sure you are answer- ing the questions in the right spots. Remember that you don’t have to answer every question to do well. TIPS FOR THE CRITICAL READING QUESTIONS Read all the answer choices before you decide which is best. Think of a context for an unfamiliar word; the context may help you come up with the word’s meaning. Break down unfamiliar words into recognizable parts. Consider secondary meanings of words. If none of the answer choices seems right to you, take another look. A word may have more than one meaning. Sentence Completion Questions First, read the sentence carefully to get a feel for its meaning. Before you look at the choices, think of a word that makes sense. Watch for words that signal a contrast ( but, although, however ) or indicate the continuation of a thought ( also, additionally, besides, furthermore ). These signal words are clues that can help you figure out what a sentence actually means. Look for words that signal the unexpected, such as abnormal, illogical, and ironic. These words indicate that something unexpected, possibly even unwanted, exists or has occurred. In double-blank sentences, go through the answers, testing the first word in each choice (and eliminating the ones that don’t fit). Reading Passage Questions When you have a choice, tackle reading passages with familiar subjects before passages with unfa- miliar ones. Make use of the introductions to acquaint your- self with the text. Read as rapidly as you can with understanding, but do not force yourself. As you read the opening sentence, try to antici- pate what the passage is about. When you tackle the questions, use any line references given to help in the passage. Base your answer only on what is written in the passage, not on what you know from other books or courses. In answering questions on the long paired read- ing passages, first read one passage and answer the questions based on it; then read the second passage and tackle the remaining questions. Try to answer all the questions on a particular passage. TIPS FOR THE MATHEMATICS QUESTIONS Whenever you know how to answer a question directly, just do it. The tactics that are reviewed below should be used only when you need them. Memorize all the formulas you need to know. Even though some of them are printed on the first page of each math section, during the test you do not want to waste any time referring to that refer- ence material. Be sure to bring a calculator, but use it only when you need it. Don’t use it for simple arithmetic that you can easily do in your head. Remember that no problem requires lengthy or difficult computations. If you find yourself doing a lot of arithmetic, stop and reread the question. You are probably not answering the question asked. Answer every question you attempt. Even if you can’t solve it, you can almost always eliminate two or more choices. Often you know that an answer must be negative, but two or three of the choices are positive, or an answer must be even, and some of the choices are odd. Unless a diagram is labeled “Note: Figure not drawn to scale,” it is perfectly accurate, and you can trust it in making an estimate. When a diagram has not been provided, draw one, especially on a geometry problem. If a diagram has been provided, feel free to label it, and mark it up in any way, including adding line segments, if necessary. Answer any question for which you can esti- mate the answer, even if you are not sure you are correct. Don’t panic when you see a strange symbol in a question; it will always be defined. Getting the cor- rect answer just involves using the information given in the definition. When a question involves two equations, either add them or subtract them. If there are three or more, just add them. Never make unwarranted assumptions. Do not assume numbers are positive or integers. If a question refers to two numbers, do not assume that they have to be different. If you know a figure has four sides, do not assume that it is a rectangle. Be sure to work in consistent units. If the width and length of a rectangle are 8 inches and 2 feet, respectively, either convert the 2 feet to 24 inches or the 8 inches to two-thirds of a foot before calcu- lating the area or perimeter. Standard Multiple-Choice Questions Whenever you answer a question by backsolving, start with choice C. When you replace variables with numbers, choose easy-to-use numbers, whether or not they are realistic. Choose appropriate numbers. The best number to use in percent problems is 100. In problems involving fractions, the best number to use is the least common denominator. When you have no idea how to solve a prob- lem, eliminate all of the absurd choices and guess. Student-Produced Response (Grid-in) Questions Write your answer in the four spaces at the top of the grid, and carefully grid in your answer below. No credit is given for a correct answer if it has been gridded improperly. Remember that the answer to a grid-in question can never be negative. You can never grid in a mixed number—you must convert it to an improper fraction or a decimal. Never round off your answers, and never reduce fractions. If a fraction can fit in the four spaces of the grid, enter it. If not, use your calcula- tor to convert it to a decimal (by dividing) and enter a decimal point followed by the first three decimal digits. When gridding a decimal, do not write a zero before the decimal point. If a question has more than one possible answer, grid in only one of them. There is no penalty for wrong answers on grid- in questions, so you should grid in anything that seems reasonable, rather than omit a question. TIPS FOR THE WRITING SKILLS QUESTIONS Read all the answer choices before you decide which is correct. Use your ear for the language to help you decide whether something is wrong. Pay particular attention to the shorter answer choices. Good prose is economical. Often the cor- rect answer choice will be the shortest, most direct way of making a point. Remember that not every sentence contains an error or needs to be improved. Identifying Sentence Error Questions First read the sentence to get a feel for its struc- ture and sense. Remember that the error, if there is one, must be in an underlined part of the sentence. Look first for the most common errors (lack of subject-verb agreement, pronoun-antecedent prob- lems, faulty diction, incorrect verb tense). Improving Sentence Questions If you immediately spot an error in the underlined section, eliminate any answer choice that repeats the error. If you don’t spot an error in the underlined sec- tion, look at the answer choices to see what is changed in each one. The nature of the changes may reveal what kind of error is present. vii viii Make sure that all parts of the sentence are logically connected. Make sure that all sentence parts arranged as a series are similar in form. If they are not, the sentence suffers from a lack of parallel structure. Improving Paragraph Questions First read the passage; then read the questions. First tackle the questions that ask you to improve individual sentences; then tackle the ones that ask you to strengthen the passage as a whole. Consider whether the addition of signal words or phrases—transitions—would strengthen the passage or particular sentences within it. When you tackle the questions, go back to the passage to verify each answer choice. Tips for the Essay First, read and re-read the prompt with care. Be sure you understand the topic. Decide on your thesis, the main point you want to make. Pace yourself: keep to your essay-writing plan. Allow yourself 5 minutes for pre-writing and outlining. Keep careful track of your time. Allow yourself time to come to a conclusion. Write as legibly as you can. Length counts: write as much as you can (while still making sense) within the allotted time. Follow traditional essay-writing conventions. Indent paragraphs. Use transitions. Upgrade your vocabulary judiciously. Avoid throwing in big words that you don’t understand. [...]... Tactics for the SAT ■ ■ ■ ■ Setting Goals Pacing Yourself Guessing Tactics for the Test Everyone wants to be a winner In this chapter we present our winning tactics for the SAT How can you become a winner on the SAT? • First, you have to decide just what winning is for you For one student, winning means breaking 1500; for another, only a total score of 2100 will do Therefore, the first thing you have to. .. with the SAT 1 Let’s Look at the SAT ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ What Is the SAT? The Critical Reading Sections The Mathematics Sections The Use of Calculators on the SAT The Writing Skills Sections What Is the SAT? Many colleges and universities require their applicants to take a standardized examination called the SAT Consequently, most of you as high school juniors or seniors will take this test as part of the college... calculator can tell you, for example, that on a particular question you should use the Pythagorean theorem All the calculator is good for is to calculate 132 in 5 seconds instead of the 10 seconds you would take to do the calculation on paper If, on the other hand, you had to calculate 67892, the calculator would save you a lot of time, but you will never have to do such a calculation on the SAT 3 Most... choices to eliminate The Use of Calculators on the SAT There isn’t a single question on any section of the SAT for which a calculator is required In fact, on most questions a calculator is completely useless There are several questions, however, for which a calculator can be used; and since calculators are permitted, you should definitely bring one with you when you take the SAT As you go through the hundreds... choices To enter this answer, you write 6.04 (without the dollar sign) in the four spaces at the top of the grid, and blacken the appropriate oval under each space In the first column, under the 6, you blacken the oval marked 6; in the second column, under the decimal point, you blacken the oval with the decimal point; in the third column, under the 0, you blacken the oval marked 0; and, finally, in the. .. Board SAT P O Box 6200 Princeton NJ 08541-6200 3 4 Let’s Look at the SAT You can ask to have a bulletin sent to you by phoning the College Board office in Princeton from 8:00 A.M to 8:45 P.M Eastern time on weekdays (9:00 A.M to 4:45 P.M on Saturdays) The number is (609) 771-7600 Many students register for the SAT online To take advantage of this service, go to: www.collegeboard.com You will need to have... is not the level of mathematics—much of the exam is based on topics in arithmetic, algebra, and geometry taught in middle school Most topics taught in high school are not included, and the majority of the questions are based on mathematics that is taught by the ninth grade Rather, the difficulty lies in the way that test-takers must use the mathematics they already know as they reason through the solutions... calculator a lot, a little, or not at all, the first thing to do is to draw a diagram This topic is discussed more fully in Chapter 8, but remember: you never do a geometry problem without first drawing a diagram 1 The reason that calculators are of limited value on the SAT is that no calculator can do mathematics You have to know the mathematics required for a particular problem and the way to apply... criticize the limitations of the sonnet (C) identify the characteristics of the sonnet (D) explain why the sonnet has lost popularity as a literary form (E) encourage readers to compose formal sonnets The first question asks you to find the author’s main idea In the opening sentence, the author says certain qualities of the sonnet should be noted In other words, he intends to call attention to certain... calculators more than they should; but, if you can solve a problem with a calculator that you might otherwise miss, use the calculator 13 x 5 The Writing Skills Sections There are three types of questions on the writing skills section of the SAT: (i) Heavy calculator use: By the Pythagorean theorem, x 2 + 52 = 132 Observe that 52 = 25, and WITH A 2 CALCULATOR evaluate: 13 = 169 Then WITH A CALCULA2 TOR . SAT SAT ® HOW TO PREPARE FOR THE 2008 2008 HOW TO PREPARE FOR THE SAT SAT 23RD EDITION Sharon Weiner Green Former Instructor in English Merritt. v Countdown to the SAT v SAT Format and Test Dates ix Acknowledgments x PART ONE Get Acquainted with the SAT 1 Let’s Look at the SAT 3 What Is the SAT? 3 The Critical