SAT Reading & Writing flashcards
SAT Reading & Writing · Build recall with a focused review session.
32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.
- Words in context strategy
- Substitute each answer choice into the original sentence and check whether both the local logic and the passage's overall tone remain coherent.
- Secondary meaning trap
- A common word used in an unfamiliar sense (qualify = limit, check = restrain) is often the tested meaning; test the less common sense before rejecting an option.
- Text structure function
- The role a sentence or paragraph plays, such as introducing a counterclaim, supplying evidence, restating a thesis, or shifting chronology, rather than its content summary.
- Author's purpose
- The rhetorical goal behind including a detail, which the correct answer must link to an aim stated or implied in the surrounding passage.
- Cross-text relationship types
- Two passages may agree, disagree, extend, or qualify each other; qualifying adds a limitation rather than fully contradicting the other author's claim.
- Concession markers
- Words like admittedly or it is true that signal an author granting a point before rebutting it, often revealing tone and argumentative structure.
- Tone indicators
- Evaluative adjectives, verbs of judgment, and concession structures reveal an author's attitude, while plain verbs like reports or notes signal neutral reporting.
- Paired-passage response method
- Locate the specific claim in the first passage that the second author addresses, then determine whether the response agrees, disputes, or qualifies it.
- Textual evidence standard
- The correct answer must be directly supported by a quoted line; an option merely consistent with the passage but not stated is a distractor.
- Quantitative evidence checklist
- Read axes, units, and legend first, then confirm the choice matches the data's direction and magnitude, not just its general trend.
- Best-support evidence
- The right evidence choice usually contains specific data, a direct quotation, or a concrete example tied to the claim's key term.
- Main idea scope test
- The correct main idea covers the whole passage; eliminate choices that are too narrow (one detail) or too broad (beyond the passage's scope).
- Valid inference test
- An inference answer is unstated but follows necessarily from the text; reject choices needing outside knowledge or an extra assumption.
- Detail-question distractors
- Wrong detail answers often swap the subject, reverse a cause-effect relationship, or exaggerate a stated quantity, so verify each element against the lines.
- Quantitative synthesis rule
- When asked which choice best illustrates a finding, confirm the data supports the conclusion and that the conclusion is not overstated.
- Hypothesis support test
- The strongest evidence names the specific variable or comparison the hypothesis predicts; accurate but unrelated data does not support it.
- Comma splice fix
- Two independent clauses joined only by a comma is an error; repair with a period, semicolon, or comma plus coordinating conjunction such as and or but.
- Nonessential element punctuation
- Nonrestrictive elements are set off by a matching pair of commas, dashes, or parentheses; mixing one comma with one dash is incorrect.
- Colon rule
- A colon must follow an independent clause and introduce an explanation or list; it cannot separate a verb from its object or a preposition from its object.
- Subject-verb agreement rule
- Find the true subject, ignoring prepositional phrases and parenthetical asides; compound subjects with and take plural verbs, while or and nor agree with the nearer subject.
- Indefinite pronoun agreement
- Singular indefinite pronouns such as each, everyone, neither, and one take singular verbs and pronouns unless the antecedent is genuinely plural.
- Verb tense consistency
- Maintain the passage's established tense unless a time marker such as by 1990, since then, or will have requires a deliberate shift.
- Conjunctive adverb punctuation
- A conjunctive adverb like however or therefore between independent clauses needs a semicolon or period before it and a comma after it.
- Modifier placement rule
- An introductory participial phrase modifies the subject of the main clause, so the noun right after the comma must be the logical doer of the action.
- Parallel structure rule
- Items in a list or comparison must share grammatical form, and comparisons must compare like categories, such as people with people or amounts with amounts.
- Transition classification
- Identify the logical relationship first (addition, contrast, cause-effect, example, sequence, concession), then choose the transition encoding exactly that relationship.
- Common transition meanings
- However signals contrast, therefore signals result, for example signals illustration, in addition signals accumulation, and indeed signals emphasis or confirmation.
- Rhetorical synthesis method
- Read the bullet notes, identify the stated goal such as emphasizing a similarity, and select the sentence that meets that goal using only the notes.
- Synthesis distractor types
- Wrong synthesis choices add information absent from the notes, omit the comparison the goal requires, or are grammatical but fail the stated goal.
- Precision of word choice
- Prefer the option whose connotation and specificity match the context; vague or absolute words like all, never, or prove often distort meaning.
- Concise expression rule
- When two choices are grammatical, the shorter one preserving meaning is preferred; redundancy such as annual yearly and wordiness are errors.
- Style and tone matching
- Match the register of the surrounding passage; informal diction in a formal passage is incorrect even when the meaning is accurate.