Practice with Long Reading Passages in the SAT

In this lesson, you'll get some practice working through one of the long reading passages on the SAT. You'll work through several questions and get some strategy and test-taking tips for the day of the test.

SAT Long Reading Passages

Erin is taking the SAT soon, and she's very stressed out. She's pretty good at math, but she's concerned about the reading test. She's not sure what to expect, or how she can do well. There are a couple of different types of reading passages on the SAT. The long reading passages involve reading a text and answering questions about it. Unlike the double reading passages of the SAT, these texts stand alone and are not presented with another text.

The long reading passages are often focused on science, literature, and social studies, and at least one will be paired with a graph or chart. Erin won't have to do any math with the graph or chart, but she will have to know how to read it and understand how it links to the passage. To help Erin practice and plan for the long reading passages on the SAT, let's look at an example of one and talk about strategies that Erin can use.

Example Long Passage

On the SAT reading test, Erin will come across a few reading passages. As we said, these passages will likely be taken from the field of science, literature, or social studies. For example, let's look at the following excerpt from Clarence Darrow's 1922 book Crime: Its Cause and Treatment:

Some writers claim that the small number of women in penal institutions shows that women are better than men; but this is a hasty conclusion arrived at from insufficient facts. There are fewer female prisoners because women have lived a more protected life…The great consideration shown to them by prosecuting witnesses, prosecuting officers, judges and juries, supplements the protected life and is an added reason for the showing made by statistics. It is notorious that a woman is seldom convicted of murder. This has been the subject of much complaint on the part of the public; still a man may condemn such acquittals and when placed on a jury will himself vote for acquittal…No doubt as woman enters the field of industry formerly monopolized by man, and as she takes her part in politics and sits on juries, the percentage of female criminals will rapidly increase. In fact, the percentage of women prisoners has been climbing for many years. As she takes her place with men she will be more and more judged as men are judged, and will commit the crimes that men commit, and perhaps furnish her fair quota to the penitentiaries and jails. Whether this will be better or worse for the race is no part of the discussion, and can only be told by long experience. Women must accept the facts and make their choice of activities in view of these facts.

As with other passages on the SAT, this one is paired with this graph.

The first type of question that Erin might come across on the SAT is actually two questions in one. These evidence-based questions ask a question and then follow it with a question that asks for evidence to support the answer to the first question. Let's start by looking at the first question.

The main argument in the passage is that:

• women should be convicted more often
• women are kinder and gentler than men
• women are treated differently than men, and will be convicted more often when they achieve equality
• juries are too kind to women, and let them off the hook too often

This question is a little tricky. For one thing, many of the answer choices are made in the passage. For example, consider this part of the passage:

The great consideration shown to them by prosecuting witnesses, prosecuting officers, judges and juries, supplements the protected life and is an added reason for the showing made by statistics. It is notorious that a woman is seldom convicted of murder. This has been the subject of much complaint on the part of the public…

This section seems to support the idea that women should be convicted more often (answer choice a) and that juries are too kind to women (answer choice d). But, notice that the question is asking for the main argument of the passage. When you look at the passage as a whole, you'll see that Darrow is building an argument that basically consists of the following points:

1. Women are convicted less often than men.
2. This is because society shelters and protects women, including from convictions.
3. As women become liberated, they will be convicted more often.

So which one is the main argument? The best answer choice is c, because it best encompasses the three points that Darrow makes in the passage. Once Erin has figured out what the main argument of the passage is, she moves on to the second question.

What evidence from the graph supports the main argument of the passage?

• women's violent crimes have increased since the women's lib movement of the 1970s
• the gap between violent crimes committed by men and women has decreased since the women's lib movement of the 1970s
• women's convictions for crimes have increased as more women have sat on juries since the 1970s
• women's convictions for crimes have outpaced men's convictions in recent years

This question is doing two things that Erin will almost certainly see on the SAT. First, it is asking for evidence to support the answer of the previous question (about the main argument of the passage); and second, it is asking Erin to link the information from the passage and the information from the graph.

When she looks at the graph, Erin notices that it seems to support Darrow's argument that women's liberation will decrease the disparity between male and female criminals' convictions. But when she looks at the answer choices, she notices a few things. First, she sees that there are two answer choices (a and c) that say that women's convictions have increased since the 1970s. But the graph doesn't show that; in fact, women's convictions for violent crimes, according to the graph, have gone down slightly in the period between 1973 and 2003. Answer choice d says that women's convictions have 'outpaced' men's in recent years. But the graph doesn't show that, either. If that were the case, the line for women's convictions would be above that for men's on the right side of the graph.

So she's left with answer choice b. This one says that the gap between the convictions of women and the convictions of men has decreased as women have gained equality in society. The graph certainly shows that. But, Erin still has to ask, 'Does that answer support Darrow's argument?' Remember that Darrow's argument was that gender equality in society will lead to gender equality in convictions. The fact that the gap between the convictions of women and men has decreased since the women's lib movement seems to support Darrow's argument. Thus, answer choice b is the best answer.

There's one more question that Erin comes across for this passage. This one is a vocabulary question, which can sometimes be tricky. Let's look at it with Erin.

In the passage, the word 'consideration' means:

• a careful deliberation
• payment or reward
• sensitivity toward others
• importance or consequence

Now, astute students will notice that the answer choices are all definitions for the word consideration. So, how does Erin choose? Notice that the question asks about the word consideration in the passage, so she has to figure out which meaning best fits with the context in the passage. One way to solve these types of questions is to reread the sentence and substitute the answer choices for the word.

For example, in the passage, the word consideration is used in the following sentence:

The great consideration shown to them by prosecuting witnesses, prosecuting officers, judges and juries, supplements the protected life and is an added reason for the showing made by statistics.

Now, let's go back with Erin and substitute the answer choices for the word consideration. Let's start with answer choice a:

The great careful deliberation shown to them by prosecuting witnesses, prosecuting officers, judges and juries, supplements the protected life and is an added reason for the showing made by statistics.

Hmmm…that might be right, but it doesn't seem spot on. After all, Darrow is saying that the members of the court are not carefully deliberating, but are instead favoring women based on their gender. Let's try answer choice b.

The great payment or reward shown to them by prosecuting witnesses, prosecuting officers, judges and juries, supplements the protected life and is an added reason for the showing made by statistics.

Okay, that's a little better. After all, they are giving women the reward of not being convicted as often. That might be the right answer. But, consideration used to mean payment or reward is usually monetary. Just in case, let's try the other answer choices.

The great sensitivity toward others shown to them by prosecuting witnesses, prosecuting officers, judges and juries, supplements the protected life and is an added reason for the showing made by statistics.

That's a good one, too. Darrow's arguing that the people involved in the trial are showing female defendants more sensitivity than they show male defendants. That aligns not only with the first part of the sentence, but also with the second part, where Darrow talks about the 'protected life' of women.

So far, there are two decent choices, b and c. Upon examination, Erin has decided that choice c is better than choice b. But there's still another choice, so she decides to put answer d in the sentence.

The great importance or consequence shown to them by prosecuting witnesses, prosecuting officers, judges and juries, supplements the protected life and is an added reason for the showing made by statistics.

That doesn't work as well. After all, Darrow's argument that women receive 'special consideration' in the courtroom is based on the idea that they are not considered equal in the eyes of the public. So, at the end of the day, Erin's choice is answer c, sensitivity to others. That's the best choice available.

Strategies

At this point, Erin's feeling a little better about the long reading passages, but she's still a little worried. Are there things she should be doing to help her?

One strategy Erin can employ is to pay attention to graphics. As we've seen, graphics are often the focus of questions about the passages, and so careful consideration should be given to them. In fact, Erin might want to look at the graphics before reading the passage so that she has in mind what the graph or chart shows as she reads.

Erin should also look for evidence for answer choices. Like we said, there's a good chance she'll see at least one question that asks for the evidence that supports the answer to the previous question. But even for questions that don't require evidence, it's always a good idea to look for evidence in the passage or graphic to help support whatever answer choice Erin is choosing. That's how she'll know it's the right choice!

Finally, Erin should guess if the answer is not clear. There's no penalty for guessing wrong, so Erin shouldn't leave any questions blank. In the best-case scenario, she'll be able to eliminate wrong answer choices until she has only two or three answer choices. From there, if she's not sure, she can guess.

Lesson Summary

The long reading passages on the SAT involve reading a text and answering questions about it. Unlike the double reading passages of the SAT, these texts stand alone and are not presented with another text. The long reading passages are often focused on science, literature, and social studies, and at least one will be paired with a graph or chart.

Some questions will ask for evidence to support the answer of the previous question, and vocabulary questions will ask for the meaning of a word in context. To help with vocabulary questions, test-takers should substitute the answer choices for the word in the sentence to see which one makes the most sense.

Other strategies that can be of use on the long reading passages include paying attention to graphics, looking at the graphics before reading the passage, looking for evidence for answer choices, and guessing if the answer is not clear - especially if you are able to eliminate wrong answer choices before guessing.