3 Practical Approaches to SAT & ACT Verbal Questions

On the surface, the verbal section from the SAT seems a bit different from the verbal section of ACT verbal. The SAT uses short passages with one question per passage while the ACT uses long passages with questions alongside (English section) or at the end (Reading section).

Nevertheless, the goal of the verbal assessment on both the SAT and ACT is the same: identify if a student can read, comprehend and analyze written work.

Assessing reading comprehension and verbal skills is nothing new. The SAT and ACT have been doing this via standardized tests decades. And since the assessment is standardized, one can easily develop and improve verbal skills with consistent reading practice.

Yet, practice alone might not do the trick, especially with today's teenagers who consume content mostly through videos instead of written work. For this reason, here at CROSSWALK, we work with our students on precise practical reading and verbal analysis approaches for the verbal section.

For example, I like to work with my students on the three concrete approaches to verbal questions for both SAT and ACT listed below. As you practice your SAT and ACT verbal sections, try to see if any or all of these appraoches help you:

1) The Isolation Approach: This approach is best for long answer choices with a lot of text. After skimming the passage first, students attack answers choices by isolating short parts of the long answers. Instead of getting bogged down by long answer choices, students can keep or eliminate answers based on just a portion of the answer. By using just a portion of the answer choice, you will eliminate wrong answers faster. This approach is best for the longer reading comprehension questions on both the SAT and ACT.

2) The Flipping Approach: This approach is essentially working backwards: instead of spending a ton of time reading the text initially, read the question and answers first. Based on the question and the answers provided, ask yourself what you might soon read based on the answer choices. For example, let's say the question was, "What is the primary purpose of the passage?" and the answers offered somethink like "A) Debate two ideas, B) Present an argument, C) Address a conflict, D) Summarize a proposal." In this approach, I would quickly think to myself, "If this is debate, then I need to have two sides." Then I would read the passage and if I don't see two sides, then A is not a correct answer. I would do the same activity for the other answer choices and figure out which answer choice is exactly what the passage covers. This approach may sound like it takes a lot of time but the more you try it, the more you actually save time since you are reading with greater intention. In addition to reading comprehension questions, this approach works for the grammar, craft and structure and vocabulary questions on both tests.

3) Cover-The-Answer Approach: Any time have have to fill in the blank, usually for vocabulary or grammar questions, cover up the answers and see if you can come up with a possible word to fill in the blank. Armed with your own word to fill in the blank, you might find that exact answer in the answer choices or maybe one very close. Again, this may seem to take more time since you should look to find the right answer as quickly as possible, but with practice you will see this approach actually saves you time since you eliminate wrong answers faster.

Try the above approaches as you practice the SAT and ACT. See which one works for your best.

Happy prepping!