Craft & Structure
The most question-dense domain on the test. Words in Context alone accounts for the highest frequency of any single question type. Learn to read for context, not definition.
Words in Context
There is absolutely no debate on the correct choice. All wrong answers contain at least one element not directly in the text.
Never look at the answers until you have solidified your own definition based on the passage logic.
Read with the specific purpose of finding the clue for the blank, not just to understand the passage generally.
Accuracy is king. It is better to run out of time on the hardest questions than to rush and make mistakes.
Text Structure & Purpose
Never look at the answer choices until you have established your own understanding of the text's purpose.
A choice can be 90% correct, but if a single word is not in the passage, the entire choice is 100% wrong.
Predict incorrectly while reading? That is fine. It still helps you understand why the text went a different direction.
To get a question wrong, you must fail three times: misunderstand the text, think a wrong answer is right, and think the right answer is wrong.
Cross-Text Connections
Never let the answer choices tell you what the passage said. You tell the choices what the passage said.
One wrong word disqualifies an entire choice, even if every other word is correct.
If you get halfway through a passage and cannot recite the main points from memory, you are passive reading.
Even when skipping hard questions to save time, fight for your life to understand every word the first time you read it.