📝 Reading Evidence

Part 1 of 7 — Finding Main Ideas

Main idea = what the passage is mostly about.

Look at the first and last paragraphs for the thesis.

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Key Insight: Eliminate answers that are too broad, too narrow, or not supported.

SAT Tip: The main idea is supported by the details in the passage — not the other way around.

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Textual Evidence Questions

Part 2 of 7 — Textual Evidence Questions

"Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?".

Work backwards: check each line reference against the previous answer.

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Key Insight: Evidence must directly support the claim, not just relate to the topic.

SAT Tip: These are paired with command-of-evidence questions — tackle them together.

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Author Purpose & Tone

Part 3 of 7 — Author Purpose & Tone

Purpose: why did the author write this? (inform, persuade, entertain, analyze).

Tone: the author's attitude (objective, critical, enthusiastic, skeptical).

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Key Insight: Look at word choice (diction) for tone clues.

SAT Tip: Don't confuse the author's tone with a character's or speaker's tone.

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Vocabulary in Context

Part 4 of 7 — Vocabulary in Context

Context clues: look at the surrounding sentence for meaning.

Replace the word with each answer choice — which makes the most sense?.

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Key Insight: SAT tests secondary meanings of common words (e.g., "address" = deal with, not a street address).

SAT Tip: Read 3-5 words before and after the target word.

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Paired Passages

Part 5 of 7 — Paired Passages

Compare/contrast the two passages.

Questions may ask: how would Author 1 respond to Author 2?.

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Key Insight: Find shared topics but differing perspectives.

SAT Tip: Some questions target just Passage 1 or Passage 2; others ask about both.

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Problem-Solving Workshop

Part 6 of 7 — Problem-Solving Workshop

Compare/contrast the two passages.

Questions may ask: how would Author 1 respond to Author 2?.

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Key Insight: Find shared topics but differing perspectives.

SAT Tip: Some questions target just Passage 1 or Passage 2; others ask about both.

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Review & Applications

Part 7 of 7 — Review & Applications

Compare/contrast the two passages.

Questions may ask: how would Author 1 respond to Author 2?.

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Key Insight: Find shared topics but differing perspectives.

SAT Tip: Some questions target just Passage 1 or Passage 2; others ask about both.

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Match the Concepts 🔍