Dealing with “Old” Passages in SAT & ACT Reading
For many students, different styles of writing present problems for reading comprehension. In particular, many students find it difficult to understand passages written in earlier centuries, really anything from before the mid-1900s. While these passages, like more modern works, are written in grammatically correct English, they tend to be more stylized: authors from earlier times tended towards ornate vocabulary atypical of modern writing or speech. Their writing also include more metaphors and figurative speech. For many students, this combination makes understanding what the author is trying to say exceedingly difficult. Like it or not, both the College Board and ACT, Inc. love to delve into the archives for excerpts from Dickens, Bronte, and their esteemed peers. If you struggle with these types of passages (and you’re not alone!), try the following strategies: 1. Always focus the topic and main idea for the passage as a whole. Don’t get caught up…
Only a Third of Teens Ready for College
For a growing number of our nation’s teens, the question is never, “Am I ready to go to college?” Rather, they ask, “How soon can I get there?!” But the first question deserves further consideration. Since 2003, the twelfth-grade mathematics and reading assessments from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) have been used as an indicator of students’ academic preparedness for college. According to the 2015 data released in The Nation’s Report Card, only 37% of twelfth-graders met the standard for success in mathematics or reading. Even more troubling, the percents of students meeting preparedness standards are down across the board from last year. College readiness is no joke. Students who arrive at school with deficient math, reading, and writing skills face a higher likelihood of struggle and failure. Even the ones who don’t drop out are forced to take remedial no-credit classes, which extends the already pricey proposition…
The ACT is a Reading Test
Just when you think you have the SAT and ACT figured out, the testmakers can still surprise you. Our two estimable college entrance exams have never seemed more alike, and yet certain dramatic differences between the two have emerged. In the past, students who identified as avid readers tended to prefer the SAT, where Sentence Completions rewarded the prodigious vocabularies that result from growing up with your nose in a book. But the SAT has abandoned explicit vocabulary questions and the pendulum has now swung the other way: students who are stronger in reading and writing than in math will flock to the ACT in droves. This makes sense, because the ACT has always been a reading test. READING ACT, Inc. committed long ago to rewarding real reading skills when the testmaker chose to base the ACT Reading Test on long passages that students actually needed to read to understand.…
Five More Reasons to Read Every Day
Life is tough, right? We’re always looking for ways to become happier, smarter, richer, and just plan better with the least effort possible. So why, when the obvious time-tested answers are staring us in the face, do we look away in search of something new and gaudy? The answer, when wondering how to become better in almost all possible ways, is to READ. Reading makes us better in so many profound ways. Obviously, through the right kind of reading, we become more knowledgeable. We also become clearer thinkers with more expansive vocabularies. But if you need more incentive than that to pick up a book, consider five more ways reading will make you better: 1. Reading makes you happier. “A nationwide survey commissioned by the National Year of Reading to explore the importance of reading in everyday life confirmed that reading can have real benefits for your health, as…
How to Make The Most of Your School Breaks
Happy Holidays! Gifts are nice, but everyone knows that the best present is having a break from school! You might feel like throwing your school books into a closet and watching TV for a week, but why not find an activity that’s fun AND educational? Consider these amazing ways to stimulate your brain, while also taking full advantage of vacation: Read for fun. Reading is truly fundamental. Not only is reading the best way to improve your vocabulary, but this essential practice is also a killer way to improve your brain. Find a fun fiction or nonfiction book in a topic that interests you, and spend your free time indoors with a blanket and a great book. Listen to a podcast. There are so many interesting podcasts out there, you’re bound to find one that interests you. Whether you’re interested in crime, fashion, languages, or history, podcasts bring stories and…
Reading is Thinking
Every admissions test, from the exams used by private and parochial schools to the ones guarding the gates of law, medical, business, and graduate schools, challenges what we consider to be a core skill: reading. And yet, though every candidate comes to a test already knowing how to read, only the smallest fraction get every reading question right. Reading, particularly reading to quickly and efficiently understand non-fiction text, is a fundamental skill, one that can be practiced and improved. But why bother learning to read better, apart from the obvious impact on test scores? Simply put, reading the right texts in the right way provides direct access to the knowledge, wisdom, and feelings of the greats in every field. We don’t need to be them… we just need to read them. “When we read, another person thinks for us: we merely repeat his mental process. It is the same…