Lesson: Chapter - 12

Taking a Practice Test

Through the example of Marie Pasteur, we’ve shown you why studying practice tests is an extremely powerful stratgey. Now we’re going to backtrack and explain what you should do while you’re actually taking a practice test.

Controlling Your Environment

Do everything in your power to make the practice test feel like the real SAT II Biology. The closer your practice resembles the real thing, the more helpful it will be. When taking a practice test, follow these rules:

Time the test.

Don’t give yourself any extra time. Be stricter with yourself than the meanest proctor you can think of. Also, don’t give yourself time off for bathroom breaks. If you have to go to the bathroom, let the clock keep running; that’s what will happen on the real SAT II.

Take the test in a single sitting.

Training yourself to endure an hour of test taking is part of your preparation.

Find a place to take the test that offers no distractions.

Don’t take the practice test in a room with lots of people walking through it. Go to a library, your bedroom, a well-lit closet, anywhere quiet.

Now, having stated the rules of practice test taking, we can relax a little bit: don’t be so strict with yourself that studying and taking practice tests becomes unbearable. The most important thing is that you actually study. Do whatever you have to do in order to make your studying interesting and painless enough for you to actually do it.

Practice Test Strategy

You should take each practice test as if it were the real SAT II Biology. Don’t be more daring than you would be on the actual test, guessing blindly even when you can’t eliminate an answer. Don’t carelessly speed through the test. Don’t flip through this book while taking the practice exam just to sneak a peek. Follow the rules for guessing and for skipping questions that we outlined in the chapter on strategy. The more closely your attitude and strategies during the practice test reflect those you’ll employ during the actual test, the more predictive the practice test will be of your strength s and weaknesses and the more fruitful your studying of the test will be.

Scoring Your Practice Test

After you take your practice test, you’ll want to score it and see how you did. When you score your test, don’t just write down how many questions you answered correctly and tally your score. Instead, keep a list of every question you got wrong and every question you skipped. This list will be your guide when you study your test.

Studying Your . . . No, Wait, Go Take a Break

Go relax for a while. You know how to do that.

Next to display next topic in the chapter.