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Approach the Passages Methodically

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Though the lengths of short and long passages can vary significantly, your approach to them should be the same. Your
main goals are to 
Read
, 
Assess
, and 
Predict and Answer
. 
Read 
Read the entire passage and look for the key components discussed above: main point, key transitions, tone, and general
organization of the passage before moving on to the various question stems and answer choices. You should commit
to reading the entire passage so you do not miss critical information that may be integral to answering the questions. 
Some strategies suggest you should read only the topic and concluding sentences. This is generally not an effective
strategy and will oftentimes cause you to have to go back and re-
read the passage again. As a result, you spend more time re-
reading than actually answering questions, a situation that can significantly impact your score. 
Assess 
Once you have read the passage, take a quick second to assess and process. What is the main point? What type of
attitude does the author have about whatever is being discussed in the prompt? Are there any weaknesses in the
argument? If you have a shorter prompt, not all of these considerations may be relevant. However, every passage 
have a main point. You should pinpoint that before moving on to the questions. 
Predict and Answer 
After you have read a particular question stem, take a second to pause and think about what the answer might be. 
Remember that your answers should be based on the information stated in or inferred from the passage. Predicting
your answer can help you avoid tricky incorrect answer choices and save you time when you are eliminating incorrect
answers. Once you have evaluated all the answer choices, however, select the answer(s) that best address the question
stem.