READING

STR ATE GY G U I D E
THE BOOK IS A COMPANION
OF THE AP GURU CLASSES

SAT Instructional
Guides
1. SAT Math Classroom Book

2. SAT Reading Classroom Book

3. SAT Writing Classroom Book

4. SAT Reading Strategy Guide

5. SAT Writing Strategy Guide

6

© AP Guru
Dear Student,

Thank you for choosing AP Guru for your Digital SAT prep. This is a companion book to our AP

Guru Digital SAT classes. We hope that our program provides you with the preparation that you

need to ace your Digital SAT Test.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, I understand. The SAT is a big deal, but there’s no need to be

nervous. Just follow our instructions, step-by-step, and a great score on this test is going to be

totally achievable.

Our classes along with our strategy guides will give you the foundation necessary to ace the

test. We have worked with thousands of students, and our classes and books are based on our

experience of working with all these kids. Through our classes and these books, you’ll be learning

strategies and tactics to improve your score. They are fun to learn and, hopefully, more fun to

use.

At AP Guru, we continually aspire to provide the best instructors, study materials, and technology

possible. We hope that you will find our commitment manifest in our classes and these books. If

you have any questions or comments, please email us at info@[Link]. We look forward to

reading your comments.

Thanks again, and best of luck preparing for the SAT.

Sincerely,

Team AP Guru
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distribution - without the prior written permission of AP Guru.

 Table of Contents
1. Basics of the Reading Test  6
2. Words in Context  11
3. Central Ideas & Details  20
4. Text Structure & Purpose  32
5. Cross-Text Connections  46
6. Evidence - Quantitative  56
7. Evidence - Textual  65
8. Inference Questions  74
9. Eliminating Answer Choices  81
 Chapter 1
Digital SAT
Writing Basics
The Digital SATs reading and writing (RW) section is made of short
passages or passage pairs, followed by a single multiple-choice
question. The RW section will be tested over two modules that will, in
total, have 54 questions across 64 minutes.

In terms of the entire SAT, the Reading questions are the first set of sections you will attempt

in both the modules of the reading and writing section.

Two different modules make up the reading and writing section. Each module is 32 minutes

and has 27 questions. Each question will have a passage, so you will have 27 passages for

each module. Passages range in length from 25 to 150 words.

Now, out of the 54 questions in the entire RW section, about 30-31 questions (about 55%) will

be from the reading section.

Now you might be wondering, what’s the difference between the modules? The first module

will mix easy, medium, and difficult multiple-choice questions.

Digital SAT Reading Guide 6

 Your performance in the first module will determine your difficulty level in the second

module. After completing the first section, how many questions you answered correctly

will send you down one of two paths. The first path is a second section with average

difficulty that is easier than what you experienced in the first module.

The second path is a second section with average difficulty that is harder than what you

encountered in the first module. This is crucial since harder questions have more weight

than more straightforward questions. A second section with access to harder questions will

open up a higher possible score range for your overall reading and writing section score.

Since this is a reading strategy guide, we will focus on the reading questions. The reading

questions are further divided into the following categories:

1. Words in Context - questions that will ask you to select the most logical and precise

word or phrase in a given context

2. Central Ideas and Detail - questions that will present a short passage (70-120 words)

and ask you to identify the main idea of the text or to answer a specific question based

on the text

3. Text Structure & Purpose - questions that will present a short passage (70-120 words)

and ask you the purpose of the author to write the text and how the text is structured

4. Cross-Text Questions - These questions will present two short texts (70 - 100 words

each) and ask you to compare the points of view of the authors of the two texts

5. Command of Evidence: Quantitative - questions will provide you with a graph or table

and some background information. You will have to complete a sentence by effectively

7 © AP Guru
using data from the graph or table and the text

6. Command of Evidence: Textual - questions that will introduce a claim about an unfamiliar

subject and ask you to identify the piece of evidence that most strongly supports that claim

7. Inference Questions - some questions will provide an unfinished passage that introduces

information about an unfamiliar topic. Based on that information, you’ll be asked to select

the choice that most logically completes the text

While you can’t predict exactly where your passages will come from, you will know

the genre from which each was selected. You’ll get passages from U.S. or world literature,

history or social studies, natural science, and literary works like poems and novels.

The reading texts are often written in a dense and complex academic style. We often

need a Ph.D. to decipher many of the reading texts we read!

So, let’s get to the questions that most AP Guru students usually ask us: “How can I

possibly get better at reading?”

If you’ve been reading your entire life, this is a legitimate question. If you’re 16 years old,

you’ve probably been reading for about 13 of those years. How are you suddenly supposed

to improve in a few months of study? How can you make a big difference to your SAT

reading scores?

There are actually several answers to this question, all of which should give you an idea of

how the AP Guru program works and what it will do for your SAT reading scores:

1. You’ll read the passages in a different way. Most likely, you’ve spent your whole reading

Digital SAT Reading Guide 8

life without any specific goal in mind. You read just for the heck of reading. From now

onwards, you will work with a proven strategy about how to read.

2. You’ll think of the SAT “Reading” Test as the “Finding Specific Information Quickly” Test.

You’re not being tested on your analytical skills or overall comprehension ability in this portion

of the test. Instead, the SAT evaluates your ability to find information within a large body

of text quickly and accurately. This is NOT what you do at school, and it’s NOT what you do

at home. It’s a different skill, and, fortunately, it’s one that you can learn quickly with the

correct methods.

3. You’ll cultivate two essential skills: crafting your own answers and eliminating tricky,

wrong answers. Both these skills take work, practice, and the right tactics, but they are

very learnable, even by students who think they are “bad readers.” These skills will help you

master the Reading Test, and you’ll be impressed with how well your score improves!

Reviewing an SAT Reading Test Passage

However, none of the above points are possible without IMMEDIATE review. For most of our

lives, we read without feedback. For you, that’s about to change.

As you move through this SAT prep, you are going to get into more specific tactics and

strategies for conquering the Reading Test. For now, there are three things you need to ask

yourself.

After you read a passage, go to the answer key or explanations, check your answers, and

then for every reading problem you got wrong or had difficulty with, ask yourself:

1. “What was the answer I came up with before looking at the answer choices provided?”

Could it have been better? Did I focus on the wrong information? Was I looking at the

9 © AP Guru
wrong things? From this point forward, come up with an answer for EVERY reading problem

on your own BEFORE looking at the answer choices. Reviewing this way will keep you in the

habit of thinking critically. It’ll also offer insight into the methods you’re using to come up

with your answers and help you improve them.

2. “Why was my answer wrong?” As you’ll learn soon, the focus of the Reading Test is

all about finding errors. If you picked “A,” but the answer was “C,” there was something

objectively wrong with answer A. Figure out what it was. Use your memory of the passage,

along with the answer explanations, to explain this to yourself.

3. “Why is the right answer NOT wrong?” Don’t want you to focus on “rightness.” That gets

you nowhere. Instead, just ask yourself, “why is the answer they say correct, NOT wrong?

What error did I think I saw in this answer choice?”

That’s all there is to it! Whenever you miss a reading passage question, ask yourself why

your wrong answer was wrong and why the right answer you eliminated was NOT wrong.

Building this sense of “wrongness” will be your best ally in the battle against the SAT.

Digital SAT Reading Guide 10

 Chapter 2
Words in Context
Words-in-context questions are usually among the most straightforward
questions on the Digital SAT Reading Test and some of the least time-
consuming.

These are the first questions to appear in the verbal module section.

The following are the number of words in context questions you can expect in each section of

the digital SAT’s verbal sections:

− Module 1: 4-5 Questions

− Module 2 Easy: 6-7 Questions

− Module 2 Hard: 3-4 Questions

Words in context questions will look like this:

Rydra Wong, the protagonist of Samuel R. Delany’s 1966 novel Babel-17, is a poet, an occupation

which, in Delany’s work, is not _______: nearly a dozen of the characters that populate his novels

are poets or writers.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

A. infallible

B. atypical

© AP Guru 11
 C. lucrative

D. tedious

The most important thing to understand about these questions is that they do not test the

definitions of words or phrases in an abstract or absolute sense but how words are used in

the context of actual writing pieces.

As a result, you do not need to know the exact definition of the word being tested. On the

contrary, you only need to understand how it is being used in that particular place.

Remember that most of the words tested will not be used in their most common definition

- there would be little point in testing them that way. Consequently, if you see the literal

definition listed as an answer choice, you can assume it’s most likely incorrect.

Follow this strategy to answer words-in-context questions:

1. Identify the contextual clues in the text

2. Based on the contextual clues, predict a word (or group of words); the word you select

should make sense in the context of the text

3. Select the answer choice that closely matches the one you chose

Using the above 3-step strategy, let’s answer the example question from the previous page:

EXAMPLE 1:
Rydra Wong, the protagonist of Samuel R. Delany’s 1966 novel Babel-17, is a poet, an

occupation which, in Delany’s work, is not _______: nearly a dozen of the characters that

populate his novels are poets or writers.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

12 Digital SAT Reading Guide

 A. infallible

B. atypical

C. lucrative

D. tedious

Solution:

Step 1: Identify the contextual clues - Highlighted in orange font in the paragraph below:

Rydra Wong, the protagonist of Samuel R. Delany’s 1966 novel Babel-17, is a poet, an occupation

which, in Delany’s work, is not _______: nearly a dozen of the characters that populate his

novels are poets or writers.

Step 2: Make a prediction - Based on the orange font above, the prediction could be a word

like “unexpected. “ Again, there is no correct answer here - you can make any prediction based

on the contextual clues you have highlighted.

Step 3: Select the answer choice that closely matches the prediction: The closest answer choice

to the prediction “unexpected” is atypical. The correct answer is B.

EXAMPLE 2:
For all of modern history, a small, carnivorous South American mammal in the raccoon family

has ____________ the scientific community. Untold thousands of these red, furry creatures

scampered through the trees of the Andean cloud forests, but they did so at night, hidden by

dense fog. Nearly two dozen preserved samples - mostly skulls or furs - were mislabeled in

museum collections across the United States.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

A. devalued

© AP Guru 13
 B. eluded

C. confirmed

D. exploited

Solution:

Step 1: Identify the contextual clues - Highlighted in orange font in the paragraph below:

For all of modern history, a small, carnivorous South American mammal in the raccoon family has

____________ the scientific community. Untold thousands of these red, furry creatures scampered

through the trees of the Andean cloud forests, but they did so at night, hidden by dense fog.

Nearly two dozen preserved samples - mostly skulls or furs - were mislabeled in museum

collections across the United States.

Step 2: Make a prediction - The mammal evaded the scientific community, and the correct

answer must, therefore, mean something like evaded.

Step 3: Select the answer choice that closely matches the prediction: The closest answer choice

to the prediction “evaded” is eluded. The correct answer is B.

If you still do not spot the correct answer immediately, there are a few other strategies you

can try:

1. In Context - Restatement
The text provides all the information you need to know. Whatever point the text is making, the

correct word will reinforce that idea.

Often the author will restate his point in the text. Often, the underlined word will be

provided a second time within the text.

14 Digital SAT Reading Guide

Many of the words in context questions follow a similar pattern of

Statement. Restatement.

The trick then is to often find the sentence in the text that is a restatement of the sentence

that contains the underlined missing word. Match the word we’re looking for with the equivalent

idea in the other statement.

For example: In recommending Bao Phi’s collection Sông I Sing, a librarian noted that pieces

by the spoken-word poet don’t lose their ______ nature when printed: the language has the

same pleasant musical quality on the page as it does when performed by Phi.

We have two matching statements here:

− The poems keep their _____ nature when printed.

− The poems have the same pleasant musical quality when “on the page”.

Notice how the blank in the first statement lines up with the phrase pleasant musical quality in

the second statement. This context tells us what word we should choose: the word that most

closely means “pleasant” and “musical”.

2. Positive/Negative
We often know whether a word feels positive or negative.

For example, “promising” and “ominous” mean something predictive of the future. However, while

“promising” has a strongly positive feeling, “ominous” has a strongly negative connotation.

If you’re stuck on words in context questions, try focusing on these positive/negative

connotations. Is the sentence positive? Then the word we choose should be positive too!

© AP Guru 15
For example:

− The basketball star’s promising play this season suggests a bright future.

− The dark, ominous clouds on the horizon suggest a storm is coming.

Based on context clues like “bright” and “storm”, it’s clear where the positive and negative

words are most appropriate.

Sometimes connotation alone is enough to answer these questions. Is the text expressing

something positive? If so, we can eliminate any choices that are too negative or neutral.

3. Use Transition Words

Identify and focus on transitions in the text. Transition words will help you identify contextual

clues. Whenever you read a sentence, one of the first things you should look for is the

presence of transition words - words that indicate logical relationships between parts of the

sentence.

The primary types of transitions are:

1. Continuers - indicate an idea is continuing in the direction it began. The correct answer will

express the same idea as another keyword.

2. Cause and Effect - indicate that someone or something is causing a particular result or

explain why an action is occurring.

3. Contradictors - indicate that a sentence is shifting directions or that contrasting

information is being introduced.

4. Avoid Unknowns
On test day, you may encounter some words you don’t know. Many students make the mistake

of selecting words that they don’t know in the choices instead of ones they know better and

“feel right.”

16 Digital SAT Reading Guide

These students think the words they know better must be “traps” because they might “seem too

easy.” This strategy can often backfire.

To raise your chances of getting words in context questions correct, try this instead:

− Eliminate what you can from the words you do know

− Select an option from what remains.

Note: The only time you should select a word you don’t know is if you can confidently eliminate

all other choices.

EXAMPLE 3:
Mrs. President and Sisters, I might almost say daughters - I cannot tell you how much joy has

filled my heart as I have sat here listening to these papers and noting those characteristics

that made each in its own way beautiful and masterful. I would in no ways lessen the

importance of these expressions by your various representatives, but I want to say that the

words that specially ___________ what I may call the up-gush of my soul were to be found in

the paper read by Mrs. Swaim on “The Newspaper as a Factor of Civilization.”

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

A. recorded

B. rose

C. strained

D. conveyed

Solution: Anthony is basically saying that of all the speeches, she particularly liked Mrs. Swalm’s

speech because it voiced the gush-up of (her) soul. In other words, it “expressed” her deepest

feelings. Conveyed is closest to expressed, making D the correct answer.

© AP Guru 17
 EXAMPLE 4:
While I have been sitting here, I have been thinking that we have made strides in journalism

in the last forty years. I recall the first time I ever wrote for a paper. The periodical was

called the Lily. It was edited and quite appropriately—by a Mrs. Bloomer. The next paper to

which I contributed was the Una. These two journals were the only _______________ women had

through which to face themselves in type to any extent worthy of note before the war.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

A. routes

B. means

C. escapes

D. conventions

Solution: If you plugged in your own word, you might have said something like channels. Means

is a synonym, so it is correct. If you think this sounds strange, you can work by process of

elimination. None of the other answers make sense at all in context. The correct answer is B.

EXAMPLE 5:
I tried an experiment editing a newspaper myself. I started a paper and ran it for two

years at a vast cost to every one _____________ in it. I served seven years at lecturing to pay

off the debt and interest on that paper and I considered myself fortunate to get off as easily

as that.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

A. worried

B. involved

C. bothere

D. altered

18 Digital SAT Reading Guide

Solution: “Worried” is the most common definition of concerned, meaning you can eliminate it from

the get-go. If you had to plug in your own word, there’s a pretty good chance you’d come up

with something like involved, which is, in fact, the answer. The correct answer is B.

© AP Guru 19
 Chapter 3
Central Idea &
Details
Reading comprehension is question-driven. To be successful, you need
to be an active reader – quickly consuming a passage’s main ideas and
then saving time to locate relevant information within the passage to
answer detail-oriented test questions.

On the Reading and Writing section of your SAT, some questions will present a short

passage for you to read. The passage may be excerpted from a work of literature or from

a scholarly essay.

There are two broad types of questions on the central ideas and details question types:

1. Main Idea Questions - General questions that ask about the main idea of the text

2. Detail-oriented questions - specific questions on the information presented in the text

1. Main Idea Questions

What is the main idea of the text? The main idea is nothing more than the subject of the

text. Usually, the main idea is the word or phrase that appears most frequently throughout

the text, either by name or in rephrased form. For example, a computer could also be

referred to as “the technology,” “the invention,” or “the machine.”

20 Digital SAT Reading Guide

A main idea question will be like the following:

EXAMPLE 1:
Citrus greening is a plague that could wipe out Florida’s $9 billion orange industry, For

the past decade, Florida’s oranges have been literally starving. Since it first appeared in 2005,

citrus greening, also known by its Chinese name, huanglongbing, has swept across Florida’s

groves like a flood. By one estimate, 80 percent of Florida’s citrus trees are infected and

declining. The disease has also now spread beyond Florida to nearly every orange-growing

region in the United States. Despite many generations of breeding by humanity, no citrus plant

resists greening; it afflicts lemons, grapefruits, and other citrus species as well.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

A. describe some effects of citrus greening

B. point out the consequence of giving plants too many nutrients

C. suggest that farmers often harvest their crops too early

D. demonstrate the difficulty of growing crops in a humid climate

Solution: Often, when students at AP Guru are asked to identify the topic of this passage,

they say: “Ummrn...I think it talks about oranges and stuff” or “it mentions Florida,” or, a bit

closer, “diseases.” However, the topic is not, in fact, “diseases.” It is actually one specific disease,

namely citrus greening.

The only answer that directly refers to the passage’s main idea is A, which is correct. Yes, this

is a fairly straightforward question, but understanding the topic lets you jump right to the

answer.

While this discussion might sound very basic, identifying the main idea is crucial because correct

answer choices will refer to the main idea. The correct answer is sometimes the only choice to

© AP Guru 21
include the main idea. Furthermore, many incorrect answers are wrong because they are off-

topic, and you can only recognize when a statement is off-topic if you know the main idea.

The strategy to answer the main idea questions is the following:

Step 1: Read the entire text

Step 2: Summarize the text in the simplest form in less than 10 words

Step 3: Eliminate the three wrong answer choices using the effective summary from Step 2

A Simple Summary
When summarizing the main idea, try to use no more than a few words (e.g., the rise of

social media, the importance of Venus) and avoid saying things like, “Well, I think that the

passage is like talking about xyz...” The former takes almost no time and gives you precisely

the information you need; the latter is time-consuming, vague, and often off-topic.

Effectively summarizing the text is a method used to understand challenging, confusing, or

detail-rich technical material and is a beneficial approach for the SAT Reading and Writing

Test.

The idea is simple: As you read the text, pause very briefly at the end of the text and

mentally summarize the text in as few words as possible. By the time you’re done, you already

have the answer to the main idea question.

It may help you to pretend you’re explaining what you read in the fewest words possible to a

5-year-old kid. All you’re doing here is “summarizing” the text. It doesn’t need to be fancy.

One last tip before we move onto a solved example is every time you predict an answer,

strive to come up with THE MOST BASIC, SIMPLE, STUPID ANSWER IMAGINABLE.

For instance:

22 Digital SAT Reading Guide

Before: He thinks that Suzy is being mean to Marc even though she likes him.

After: Suzy is mean to Marc.

Before: The author is proving that relative time is a figment of our collective imagination.

After: The author is proving something.

Before: Dolphins aren’t actually the only creatures in the ocean capable of swimming with

such great speeds.

After: Disproves something about dolphins’ speed.

Do you see how, even without context, the “after” answers are all clearer, simpler, and less

likely to be tripped up with nonsense?

The devil is in the details, so they say. And this is especially true for the SAT Reading Test

and its tricky answer choices. Details derail you, tempt you, and throw you off track. If you

can build up the fortitude to ignore details and stick with hyper-basic answers whenever

possible, you’ll be much less likely to fall for the SAT’s tricks (and you’ll be much faster too).

For example, if a passage is about the Health Benefits of Peanut Butter, and a question asks:

“What’s the main idea of this passage?”

A. The author is arguing against an opponent

B. The nutritional values of all foods are underrated

C. The nutritional value of peanut butter is underrated

D. Peanut butter is dangerous

Don’t get caught up in the details. Just say something like: “He’s making a point about peanut

© AP Guru 23
butter.” Most of the time, that’s all you’ll need.

Based on your ludicrously simple, boiled-down answer, you know that A and B are trash. Now

you can look for details that’ll let you eliminate C or D (the only two solutions that have to do

with peanut butter). What you don’t want to do is try “researching” A and B to see how they

could be valid. This is arguing on behalf of the answer choices, which is EXACTLY what this

test wants you to do!

Your job is to make the “tricky” answer choices so dumb and un-tempting that you couldn’t

possibly consider them, and you do this most effectively by coming up with answers stripped

of all imaginable details.

Got it? Good!

Patterns in Main Idea Questions

Both correct and incorrect answers to “main idea” questions tend to follow some general

patterns. At the same time, there are, of course, many exceptions. These patterns can be

helpful to keep in mind when eliminating answer choices.

The correct answers to the main idea questions are more likely to be phrased in a general (or

“vague”) manner, whereas incorrect answers tend to refer to specifics from the passage.

The more specific the information in a given answer choice, the more unlikely the information

applies to the entire passage.

Secondly, you should be suspicious of answers that include specific words from the passage,

especially challenging vocabulary words that many test-takers are unlikely to know. “Main

idea” questions are not merely testing your ability to recognize words from the passage but

24 Digital SAT Reading Guide

require you to leap from concrete to abstract. As a result, answers that quote the passage

verbatim are less likely to be correct.

Lastly, another important component of primary purpose questions relates to the first word

or phrase of the answer choices themselves. Most answer choices in these questions start with

a verb that must match the passage type properly. In this problem, the four verbs or verb

phrases are “detail,” “defend,” “suggest,” and “make the case.”

For example, if a passage is opinionated, answer choices having words like “defend,” “suggest,”

and “make that case” all relate to presenting an opinion and are more likely to be correct. You

should always read all answer choices, but the first signal word could disqualify an answer

choice quickly if it does not match the passage type.

EXAMPLE 2:
The concept of quantum entanglement in physics refers to the circumstance in which two

or more particles become linked in such a way that the characteristics of one particle can

affect the characteristics of the other instantaneously, even when they are separated by vast

distances. This occurrence contradicts our traditional understanding of physics, which holds that

information cannot be transmitted faster than the speed of light. Some scientists suggest that

quantum entanglement may have implications for the advancement of technologies such as

quantum computing and quantum cryptography.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

A. Quantum entanglement contradicts our traditional understanding of physics.

B. Quantum entanglement has implications for the advancement of technologies such as

quantum computing and quantum cryptography.

C. Quantum entanglement is a circumstance in which two or more particles become linked.

D. The concept of quantum entanglement in physics refers to the phenomenon in which the

© AP Guru 25
 properties of two or more particles become linked, regardless of distance.

Solution:

Summary: An innovative new concept in physics contradicts our traditional understanding and

has positive implications.

A. Quantum entanglement contradicts our traditional understanding of physics - Half true

but does not speak about positive implications

B. Quantum entanglement has implications for the advancement of technologies such as

quantum computing and quantum cryptography. Positive implication mentioned - the

correct answer

C. Quantum entanglement is a circumstance in which two or more particles become linked.

- Not even close to our summary

D. The concept of quantum entanglement in physics refers to the phenomenon in which

the properties of two or more particles become linked, regardless of distance. - Again,

this speaks about what quantum entanglement is but not the implications

EXAMPLE 3:
Just like humans, dogs have various blood types. If a dog needs a transfusion, such as

after an accident, there must be a match or the dog could become extremely ill or even

die. Most veterinarians only test for one factor, the presence of a protein called DEA1.1, but

there are twelve proteins that can combine in different ways, creating a large variation. For

example, 75 percent of Doberman pinchers have only DEA4, which is almost unheard of in

other breeds, and 30 percent of greyhounds have the otherwise extremely rare DEA3. Since

most veterinarians cannot maintain a kennel of hundreds of dogs to match every blood type,

they should adopt a policy for emergencies, such as keeping records of patients’ blood and

exchanging donations for free services such as vaccinations.

26 Digital SAT Reading Guide

What is the main idea of the text?

A. Just like people, dogs have different types of blood.

B. Veterinarians should have policies for matching dog blood types.

C. Some breeds of dogs have extremely rare types of blood.

D. Most veterinarians cannot cope with the variety of dog blood type.

Solution:

Summary: The summary is in the concluding sentence of the text: veterinarians should have a

policy for emergencies to match blood types.

Only answer choice B is similar to our summary. B is the correct answer.

2. Detail Questions
Detail questions ask about the details present in the text. You will need to re-read and grasp

the relevant details in the text.

Literal translation or comprehension questions are phrased in the following ways:

− The author’s discussion of antibiotics indicates that...

− The author claims which of the following is a longstanding tradition?

− Which reaction does Watson have to the statement in lines x-y?

You can use these steps to attack these questions:

Step 1: Highlight the keywords in the question

Step 2: Based on the keywords, highlight the answer in the passage

Step 3: Chose the answer that is true based on Step 2

In short, the correct answer will be a simple paraphrase of the relevant part of the text.

The answer will rarely use the exact same wording as that found in the passage. The test

© AP Guru 27
is whether you understand the ideas well enough to recognize when they’re stated using

different, often more general, language.

Make sure you answer the question asked; some answer choices may be true according to the

text but are not relevant to the question at hand. Additionally, the test makers will entice you

by creating incorrect answer choices that are likely to occur but are not certain to occur.

You must only select the answer choice most clearly supported by what you read. Do not bring

in information from outside the text; all the information necessary to answer the question

resides in the passage.

Let’s say you just read a passage on the oil formation under ancient oceans. The first

question is: What is the main purpose of this passage?

They aren’t going to give you “sub-ocean oil formation” as one answer and “porcupines eating

electric cables” as the other three answers. Instead, the answers will probably look something

like this:

A. To describe a specific process and its effects on human beings

B. To explain the development of natural substances

C. To explain why ancient oceans were perfect sites for future oil development

D. To show the reader how and why a certain substance is formed

Do you see what’s happening here? Every answer choice seems like it could be legitimate. Sure,

you’ll get some silly answers periodically, but they all look legitimately right answers for the

most part.

The SAT makers make their living by creating answer choices that seem correct and,

therefore, can trick the test-taker. That’s why they’re getting paid. Even worse, they’re good at

28 Digital SAT Reading Guide

making legitimate answers seem wrong!

Generally speaking, in the Reading Test, if you are picking an answer choice because it seems

correct and not because you have found a concrete piece of evidence in the passage, it is the

sucker choice.

The reading answers seem so correct, similar to why discounts on e-commerce websites seem

so attractive. Have you been online and seen a sign on a pair of shoes posting that reads,

“Now at INR 3,000! Original price INR 6,000.”

I bet you have. And here’s the funny thing - even though you’ve seen this sort of trickery

countless times, you can’t keep your brain from thinking, “Wow! What an amazing deal. I need

to buy it before it reverts to its original price!”

The pair of shoes is worth less than INR 3,000, which is why they’re selling it for INR 3,000,

but you see INR 6,000 and immediately anchor onto it. You assume that INR 6,000 is the

correct price for the shoe. You make buying decisions based on false information that your

brain is justifying rather than disproving.

You will do the same with tricky answer choices unless you protect yourself. When you see a

trap answer, you think, “Hmmm, yeah, they did mention that. Actually, they talked about it quite

a bit. I mean, it’s right there in the passage! It seems like a correct answer!” You just justified

an incorrect answer. No one is immune to this; everyone does it. It is part of our mental

makeup.

EXAMPLE 4:
On Christmas Island in Australia, there is a remarkable phenomenon at the start of the wet

season in October or November: millions of crabs migrate from the mountains to the ocean,

© AP Guru 29
forming what appears to be a seething red carpet at the thickest points. Typically, these

omnivorous scavengers live in the forest undergrowth, but migrate to mate and lay eggs by

the water. The adults soon return to the forests, but the larvae remain in the water until they

reach a juvenile stage that can walk. The red crabs have no natural enemies aside from filter

feeders like whale sharks that eat the immature crabs, but in recent years, the introduction of

yellow crazy ants has greatly reduced the population.

According to the text, why do the larvae of red crabs stay in the ocean?

A. To prevent being eaten by the adults

B. To attain adequate locomotion

C. To wait until the following wet season

D. To avoid predators including yellow crazy ants

Solution: B is the correct answer. because the text states that the larvae remain in the ocean’s

water “until they reach a juvenile stage that can walk.” Since “attain adequate locomotion”

refers to “getting enough ability to move around,” Choice B explains the reason for waiting.

Choice A is incorrect because, while the adults are omnivores, there is no indication that they

eat their young. Choice C is incorrect because there is no sign that the larvae must wait for

weather conditions, only for the ability to walk. Choice D is incorrect because the text states

that there are natural predators like whale sharks that eat the “immature crabs,” or “larvae,” so

the purpose of remaining in the water is not to avoid various predator.

EXAMPLE 5:
The following text is adapted from Thornton Wilder’s 1926 novel, “The Cabala.” The narrator is

observing passengers on a train.

In another compartment an adventuress in silver sables leaned one cheek against the

30 Digital SAT Reading Guide

shuddering windowpane. Opposite her a glittering-eyed matron stared with challenging

persistency, ready to intercept any glance the girl might cast upon her dozing husband. In

the corridor two young army officers lolled and preened and angled for her glance, like

those insects in certain beautiful pages of Fabre, who go through the ritual of flirtation under

futile conditions, before a stone, merely because some associative motors have been touched.

According to the text, why do the two young army officers resemble insects?

A. They are extremely beautiful yet destined to fail

B. They are more focused on their behavior than its results

C. They are trying to garner attention from an impassive source

D. They are not aware that they are vying for attention

Solution: C is the correct answer because the comparison is between the way the officers

“preen and angle” for the girl’s glance, which the text indicates is “under futile conditions”

or “will not succeed in this case.” The comparison is extended to the way insects flirt with a

stone that does not respond to them. In this case, the girl has no desire to respond.

Choice A is incorrect because there is no indication that the insects or the officers are

“beautiful.” Choice B is incorrect because there is no indication that the officers or the insects

are not interested in the results of their flirting. Choice D is incorrect because, presumably, the

officers know that they are “vying for attention” or “competing to attract” the girl; there is

no evidence to the contrary.

© AP Guru 31
 Chapter 4
Test Structure
& Purpose
Text structure and purpose questions are all about seeing past the
surface of a text. Instead of just what a text says, these questions dig
into why and how the text says it.

In the text structure and purpose questions, you will have to read a short text of 60 - 100

words and answer a question that will test your understanding of that text.

Three question types are tested as a part of text structure and purpose:

1. Primary Purpose Questions - the purpose is the why behind the text. Why did the author

write it? What did they want to accomplish? What’s the point?

2. Text Structure questions - structure is how a text works to achieve its purpose. How

does the text flow from one idea to the next? Where does the author place particular

emphasis?

3. Function Questions - will require you to read a short text with one underlined sentence.

The question will then ask you to identify the function of the underlined sentence within

the text as a whole.

32 SAT Digital Writing Guide

1. Primary Purpose Questions
The primary purpose of a reading is the main idea that the author wants to convey. The

primary purpose is an argument that answers the question, “so what?” It tells us why the

author thinks the topic is important.

You can use this “formula” to determine the primary purpose:

Primary Purpose = Topic + So What?

For a Humanities or Social Science passage, the primary purpose will generally be a relatively

straightforward explanation of an event, project, or individual’s importance. Personal narratives,

it will usually relate to the insight or goal a person drew from a given experience. For Natural

Science passages, the main point will often relate to a new finding or discovery or to the

ways in which new research has challenged a previously accepted theory.

Determining the primary purpose for fiction texts and poetry is unfortunately, less

straightforward: these texts/poems tend to revolve around characters’ (re)actions and

interactions, and it can be much more challenging to discern a clear idea. As a result, it can be

easier to think of the “primary purpose” as a very, very short summary of the central action,

relationship, or dilemma the passage describes.

A text’s purpose is often framed using the following structure:

− to explain ______

− to illustrate ______

− to criticize ______

− to argue ______

− to introduce ______

© AP Guru 33
You can often identify the correct answer because it is the only choice that relates directly

to the primary purpose. You can often answer nearly 60% of the primary purpose questions

directly identifying the primary purpose.

The art of summarizing is one of the key ways to identify the primary purpose of a text.

The Art of Summarizing

A majority of AP Guru students aren’t entirely clear on the difference between describing

the content of a text and summarizing its argument. Describing content is recounting the

information presented in the text, often in sequential “first x, then y, and finally z” form,

without necessarily distinguishing between main ideas and supporting evidence.

Summarizing an argument is identifying the essential point that the author wants to convey

and eliminating any unnecessary detail. The goal is not to cover all of the information

presented but rather to recognize the parts of the text that are most important. As a result,

you must be able to separate the larger, more central ideas from the details.

Let’s try to effectively summary the below text:

Sometime near the end of the Pleistocene, a band of people left northeastern Asia,

crossed the Bering land bridge when the sea level was low, entered Alaska and became the

first Americans. Since the 1930s, archaeologists have thought these people were members of

the Clovis culture. First discovered in New Mexico in the 1930s, the Clovis culture is known for

its distinct stone tools, primarily fluted projectile points. For decades, Clovis artifacts were the

oldest known in the New World, dating to 13,000 years ago. But in recent years, researchers

have found more and more evidence that people were living in North and South America

before the Clovis.

The most recently confirmed evidence comes from is Washington. During a dig

34 SAT Digital Writing Guide

conducted from 1977 to 1979 researchers uncovered a bone projectile point stuck in a mastodon

rib. Since then, the age of the find has been debated, but recently anthropologist Michael

Waters and his colleagues announced a new radiocarbon date for the rib: 13,800 years ago,

making it 800 years older than the oldest Clovis artifact. Other pre-Clovis evidence comes from

a variety of locations across the New World.

When students are asked to summarize the above text, they generally state the topic as “the

Clovis People.” Or they describe the content like this: “The Clovis people, right? They were, like,

the first people who came across the Bering...Oh no, wait, they weren’t actually the first people

to come across, it’s just that they thought that those people were first. But, so anyway, those

people settled in New Mexico - I think it said like 13,000 years ago? Only now he’s saying

that other people were actually there before the Clovis, and then he says something about a

mastodon rib and then something about radiocarbon dating.”

Notice how long, not to mention how vague, this version is. It doesn’t distinguish between

important and unimportant information; everything gets mushed together, and frankly, it doesn’t

make a lot of sense. This summary gives us exactly zero help in figuring out the main idea.

It’s a colossal waste of time.

This is not what you want to do.

Effective Summary: New evidence shows the first inhabitants of the Americas were NOT Clovis

people.

Notice how this version lists the big idea and omits all the details. Now notice how this version

cuts out everything to focus on the essentials. It doesn’t even attempt to incorporate any

detail beyond the subject of the text (Clovis People) or the “so what?” (they weren’t the first

people in the Americas).

© AP Guru 35
How to approach text structure and purpose questions
You should first glance at the question to see if it asks about “the main purpose”.

To solve a primary purpose question, consider following these steps:

Step 1: Read the Entire Passage

Step 2: Extremely condensed summary of the primary purpose of the passage in 10-12 words

Step 3: Eliminate the three wrong answer choices using the effective summary from Step 2

For summarizing the text, it might also help to rephrase the purpose in your own words.

EXAMPLE 1:
The success of Africanized honey bees in the Americas has been attributed to a combination

of ecological and genetic factors that have provided them with increased fitness compared to

the native pollinators. The increased aggression of these bee hybrids, according to a study by

biologist Mauela Pucca, is thought to cause significant ongoing livestock losses and health issues,

yet there is a scarcity of reliable information on the frequency of massive stinging events.

However, she asserts that with advancements in the applicability of different biotechnological

techniques, it is likely that significant measures to mitigate bee poisoning will occur in the next

few decades.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. It presents a study by a researcher that criticizes the import of honey bees that pose

environmental risks from Africa into regions in America.

B. It provides the findings of Pucca’s study showing the factors contributing to the health

issues posed by honey bees from Africa.

C. It argues for the need for more research on the impact of invasive species on native

ecosystems across multiple continents.

D. It describes a potential approach suggested by a researcher that can address a

problem in the environment.

36 SAT Digital Writing Guide

Solution:

Summary: Biological techniques will have the potential to “mitigate bee poisoning.”

Choice D is the best answer and closest to our summary.

Choice A is incorrect because the researcher Pucca does not express a criticism of the import

of honey bees. Choice B is incorrect because the main purpose of the text is to not only show

factors contributing to health issues. Choice C is incorrect because the purpose of the text is

not structured for an argumentation based on a “need for more research” across “multiple

continents.”

EXAMPLE 2:
The following text is from Emily Dickinson’s 1864 poem “Success is counted sweetest.”

Success is counted sweetest

By those who ne’er succeed.

To comprehend a nectar

Requires sorest need.

Not one of all the purple Host

Who took the Flag today

Can tell the definition

So clear of victory

As he defeated dying –

On whose forbidden ear

The distant strains of triumph

Burst agonized and clear!

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

© AP Guru 37
 A. To express the understanding of success by contrasting a group with a fallen soldier

B. To suggest that success is most cherished by those who do not fear obstacles in life

C. To warn against the vanity among individuals who follow groups to achieve success

D. To convey the idea that failure in endeavors is a necessary requirement for developing

faith

Solution:

Summary: The poem conveys the idea that the appreciation of success is most understood by

those who fail. The poem compares a victorious army and a fallen soldier to express this idea.

Choice A is the best answer.

Choice B is incorrect because the topic of not fearing obstacles is not expressed in the text.

Choice C is incorrect because the topic “vanity among individuals” is not relevant to the purpose

of the text. Choice D is incorrect because the purpose is not to convey a requirement for

developing faith. “Faith” is not topically relevant.

Structure Questions
The structure is how a passage works to achieve its purpose. How does the text flow from one

idea to the next? Where does the author place particular emphasis?

To solve a structure question, consider following these steps:

Step 1: Read the entire passage

Step 2: Extremely condensed summary of the passage in 10-12 words

Step 3: Eliminate the three wrong answer choices using the effective summary from Step 2

Separating a text’s structure from its content can be difficult, but it often helps to consider

how the ideas within the text relate to one another. Do they disagree? Does one idea build upon

another? These relationships support the goals of the author.

38 SAT Digital Writing Guide

The following couple of tips to help you to answer the structure questions:

1. Stay specific - Don’t stray beyond the focus of the text. Eliminate choices that describe a

structure that introduces information not directly addressed in the text. Likewise, avoid choices

that shift or blur the structure of a text by emphasizing details that aren’t a central focus.

2. Lean on transitions - Transitions like “however” and “therefore” contribute significantly to the

structure of a text by showing how one idea flows into the next. Take note of any transition

words you encounter while reading; these can be very helpful when trying to map out the

structure of the text.

EXAMPLE 3:
The following text is adapted from Sinclair Lewis’s 1922 novel, “Babbit.”

The Babbitts’ house was five years old. It was all competent and glossy. It had the best

of taste, the best of inexpensive rugs, a simple and laudable architecture, and the latest

conveniences. Throughout, electricity took the place of candles and slatternly hearth-fires. Along

the bedroom baseboard were three plugs for electric lamps, concealed by little brass doors.

In the halls were plugs for the vacuum cleaner, and in the living-room plugs for the piano

lamp, for the electric fan. The trim dining-room (with its admirable oak buffet, its leaded-

glass cupboard, its creamy plaster walls, its modest scene of a salmon expiring upon a pile of

oysters) had plugs which supplied the electric percolator and the electric toaster. In fact there

was but one thing wrong with the Babbitt house: It was not a home

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A. The appliances and features of a house are outlined in order to highlight its modern

nature.

B. The appearance of a house is outlined to give an indication of the care the owners

© AP Guru 39
 put into decorating it.

C. A house is described as very fashionable in order to emphasize its lack of personality.

D. Details of the electricity in a house are pointed out to show that the owner prefers

luxury to comfort.

Solution:

Summary: The text begins by explaining how good the house is but ends up with a negative

view of the house. Answer C is the closest and the correct answer.

Choice A is incorrect because the essential point of the passage is the last sentence: the

modern nature of the house is used as a contrast to its lack of being a home. Choice B is

incorrect because the house is not a “home,” so it does not have “care” or “love.” Choice D is

incorrect because there is no indication of what the owner prefers or would rather have in the

house.

EXAMPLE 4:
The following text is from Walt Whitman’s 1867 poem “Starting from Paumanok.”

I have seen where the she-bird, the mocking-bird,

sat on her nest hatching her brood.

I have seen the he-bird also;

I have paused to hear him, joyfully singing.

And while I paused, it came to me that what he really sang for was not

there only,

Nor for his mate nor himself only, nor all sent back by the echoes;

But subtle, clandestine, away beyond,

A charge transmitted, and gift, for those being born.

40 SAT Digital Writing Guide

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A. It presents varying descriptions showing a change in the behavior of a bird.

B. It describes a series of observations from the perspective of an individual.

C. It makes an extended comparison of different types of songs sung by birds.

D. It depicts the influence of a bird’s actions on a person’s endeavor in life.

Solution:

Summary: The author describes his observations of the birds. Answer B is the closest and the

correct answer.

Choice A is incorrect because the text does not indicate a behavior change. Choice C is incorrect

because the structure of the text does not aim to compare different songs. Choice D is

incorrect because the text does not refer to a person’s endeavor in life.

Function Questions
On the Reading and Writing section of your SAT, some questions will require you to read a

short text with one underlined sentence. The question will then ask you to identify the function

of the underlined sentence within the text as a whole.

These questions focus on the role/function of a sentence in the entire passage. The typical

question stems are the following:

− What information does the underlined portion contain?

− How does that information relate to the rest of the text?

− What is its function? In other words, what does it do?

− How does that information relate to the rest of the text?

In short, all the above questions ask you what does the sentence with the underline do? What

is its function?

© AP Guru 41
The common functions of a sentence in a text are the following:

− Further description​

− Effective transition​

− Specific evidence or supporting detail​

− Explanation of a certain term or phenomenon​

− Introduction of a topic​

− Emphasis of a previous point​

− Summary of the passage

To solve the function questions, use the following steps:

Step 1: Summarize the entire passage in one or two simple points

Step 2: Make a prediction of the role/function of the underlined sentence in the passage

Step 3: Eliminate the answer choices based on your prediction

When you read the text, give some extra attention to the underlined portion: you know the

question will focus on it!

Comparing the information in the underlined portion with what comes immediately before and

immediately after will often reveal how that information contributes to the flow of the text.

Rephrasing things in your own words will give you a strong understanding of the text. This

will make it much easier to identify how the underlined sentence works within the text.

Lastly, ensure your choice applies directly and specifically to the underlined portion. Other

choices may correctly identify the function of other sentences within the text, so ensure you’re

looking in the right place!

42 SAT Digital Writing Guide

 EXAMPLE 5:
The following text is adapted from Elizabeth Taylor’s 1957 novel Angel. Mrs. Deverell finds

herself in a new home that she and her daughter Angel share.

“I never thought I would live in such a beautiful place,” Mrs. Deverell told Angel when they

first moved in. But nowadays she often suffered from the lowering pain of believing herself

happy when she was not. “Who could be miserable in such a place?” Mrs. Deverell asked. Yet,

on misty October evenings or on Sundays, when the church bells began, sensations she had

never known before came over her. Mrs. Deverell sometimes felt better when she went back

to see her friends at her old residence; but it was a long way to go. Angel discouraged the

visits, and her friends seemed to have changed.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?

A. To refer to Mrs. Deverell’s natural inclination to harbor feelings of nostalgia

B. To provide Mrs. Deverell’s justification for visiting her friends on Volunteer Street

C. To give further reasoning that explains Mrs. Deverell’s true attitude

D. To convey a contrasting sentiment that may differ from Mrs. Deverell’s

Solution:

Step 1 - Summarize Text: Mrs. Deverell is not entirely happy in her current place.

Step 2 - Underlined Portion: The question Mrs. Deverell asks is used to convey the idea that

most people would be happy in a beautiful place.

Choice D is the best answer. Choice A is incorrect because the underlined text does not

directly express her feelings of nostalgia. Choice B is incorrect because the underlined text

does not justify visiting her friends directly. Choice C is incorrect because the underlined text

does not provide reasoning.

© AP Guru 43
EXAMPLE 6:
The following text is adapted from Jean-Jaques Rousseau’s Discourse on Inequality and Social

Contract.

Just as, before putting up a large building, the architect surveys the site to see if it will bear

the weight, the wise legislator does not begin by laying down laws good in themselves, but by

investigating the fitness of the people. Even those nations that could have endured good laws

could have done so only for a very brief period of their long history. Most nations, like most

men, are docile only in youth. As they grow old, they become unable to be corrected. Once

customs have become established, it is useless to attempt their reformation.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?

A. It provides an analogy about the behavior of individuals to explain a characteristic of

nations.

B. It provides further details about the process of making laws discussed earlier in the

text.

C. It offers an example of an obstacle that prevents the preservation of culture in

societies.

D. It introduces an alternative viewpoint regarding the legislator’s role in judging the

merits of good laws.

Solution:

Step 1 - Summarize Text: The importance of laying down good laws

Step 2 - Underlined Portion: An analogy to explain how nations cannot accept laws and only

do so in brief periods of their history.

Choice A is the best answer

44 SAT Digital Writing Guide

Choice B is incorrect because the text does not refer to a process. Choice C is incorrect because

the preservation of culture needs to be more relevant. Choice D is incorrect because the

underlined text does not provide an alternative viewpoint in the context of the text.

© AP Guru 45
 Chapter 5
Cross-Text
Connections
The Digital SAT English Test will contain 2-3 cross-text connection
questions. These questions will present you two short texts (70 - 100
words each) to read. The question will then ask you to compare the
authors’ points of view of the two texts.

Cross-text connections questions will look like this:

Text 1

Conventional wisdom long held that human social systems evolved in stages, beginning with

hunter-gatherers forming small bands of members with roughly equal status. The shift to

agriculture about 12,000 years ago sparked population growth that led to the emergence of

groups with hierarchical structures: associations of clans first, then chiefdoms, and finally,

bureaucratic states.

Text 2

In a 2021 book, anthropologist David Graeber and archaeologist David Wengrow maintain that

humans have always been socially flexible, alternately forming systems based on hierarchy

and collective ones with decentralized leadership. The authors point to evidence that as far

46 SAT Digital Writing Guide

back as 50,000 years ago some hunter-gatherers adjusted their social structures seasonally, at

times dispersing in small groups but also assembling into communities that included esteemed

individuals.

Based on the texts, how would Graeber and Wengrow (Text 2) most likely respond to the

“conventional wisdom” presented in Text 1?

A. By conceding the importance of hierarchical systems but asserting the greater

significance of decentralized collective societies

B. By disputing the idea that developments in social structures have followed a linear

progression through distinct stages

C. By acknowledging that hierarchical roles likely weren’t a part of social systems before

the rise of agriculture

D. By challenging the assumption that groupings of hunter-gatherers were among the

earliest forms of social structure

For most students, answering this question type is the real challenge of the Digital SAT verbal

section.

The following are the type of questions that will be asked:

− Based on the texts, how would Focarelli and Panetta (Text 2) most likely respond to

Fan’s findings (Text 1)?

− Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to the claim

in the underlined sentence of Text 1?

− Which choice best describes a difference in how the authors of Text 1 and Text 2

view Barbara Tuchman’s The Guns of August?

− Which choice best describes a difference in how the author of Text 1 and the author

of Text 2 view Strassburg’s team’s study?

© AP Guru 47
Name That Relationship
Every paired text follows the same basic format. The authors either:

A. Disagree about something

B. Agree on something but don’t agree on its cause or effects

C. Talk about two different elements or angles of the same topic

Example of A: Author 1 thinks that quantum theory can explain origin of life whereas Author 2

believes that the Big Bang theory can explain the origin of life.

Example of B: Both authors agree on the positive effects of DDT in curbing malaria, but

Author 1 believes that legalizing DDT will do more harm than good, whereas Author 2 claims

that legalizing DDT will have widespread positive effects on developing nations.

Example of C: Author 1 talks about the link between science and religion, and Author 2 talks

about the role of science and religion in today’s society.

There will be details/background information/implications that the two authors use to make

their points. However, your job is to identify the primary point each author wants to convey.

You want to name the relationship in the most simple, bare statements possible.

Why is it so important to determine the relationship between the texts? First, the question

will always explicitly ask you to identify the relationship between the texts. If you’ve already

defined the relationship, you’ve essentially answered those questions before you’ve even looked

at the answer choices.

When the authors of the text disagree, the answers will be negative, and you can

automatically eliminate any positive or neutral answer just by reading its first few words.

Similarly, when the authors agree, most correct answers will be positive.

48 SAT Digital Writing Guide

This drill should give you a sense of the relationships that can exist between the two texts:

Text A:

Jeffrey C. Goldfarb suggests public-spirited dialogue need not happen after a traditional

theater show, as it is most successful when it happens through a show. He believes that the

live component of the theater allows meaning to arise from the interaction between performers

and audience as the performance is happening. The theatrical text becomes the medium, and

the performers speak through the way in which they perform the text, while the audience does

so through a number of culturally sanctioned actions: applause, laughter (both laughing with and

laughing at), sighing, gasping, cheering, and booing.

Text B1:

Augusto Boal famously complained about how still everyone is expected to keep during any

performance, constantly policed by other audience members. The high prices on professional

theater tickets and an elitist value on cultural tradition combine to produce an aristocratic

culture surrounding theater. In this manner, a “high class” code of etiquette is imposed upon the

performance space, dictating that audience members are to remain quiet: the actors speak, the

audience listens. As Boal criticizes in Legislative Theatre, traditional form sets up a relationship

where “everything travels from stage to auditorium, everything is transported, transferred in

that direction - emotions, ideas, morality!—and nothing goes the other way.”

On the following lines, write down the relationship between those two texts:

Text A/Text B2:____________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Now take a look at these alternative B texts. After reading each, identify the relationship

to Text A. Note that the relationships modeled in this drill are not meant to represent all the

possible relationships between the texts of a comparative text set.

© AP Guru 49
Text B2:

A production of Dziady (Forefather’s Eve) in Poland in 1968 had been ordered to close and,

on its last night, the theater was overcrowded with supporters. They were an enthusiastic,

vocal audience who read into the play’s anti-czarist language a critique of Soviet government.

When the performance ended, the crowd went into the streets to protest. The play’s content

became political through the audience’s interpretation of the content, and, in a way, the

theater building held a public sphere where an anti-Soviet public gathered to affirm their

political sentiment before taking it to the street in open, public protest.

Text A/Text B2:__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Now compare your answers with what we’ve have come up with:

Text A/Text B1: This text directly counters Text A, criticizing theater for not allowing for

dialogue.

Text A/Text B2: In some ways, this text offers an example of the general phenomenon

described in Text A: the theater in Poland became a “public sphere” in which the anti-Soviet

audience responded to the themes in the play. However, this example isn’t a perfect match

for Text A - the audience does feel the need to engage in “public dialogue” after the play,

and there is no real mention of the actual communication between the performers and the

audience. So Text B2 is looking at the same phenomenon in a way that only partially supports

Goldfarb’s position.

Strategy to Answer Cross-Text Connection Questions

The more you focus on the basic setup of each text and the differences between them, the

better you’ll do. To answer the relationship questions, all you need is the primary purpose of

each text.

50 SAT Digital Writing Guide

Let’s say author 1 is a “dolphins are smart” guy, and Author 2 is a “dolphin intelligence

overrated” guy. If you’re asked what Author 2 thinks about Author 1’s evidence that dolphins are

smart, what do you think he’d say? “Stinks.” Now go in and eliminate the answers that don’t

say that. Ninety percent of the time, this is all the information that you’ll need!

On a cross-text connection question, the strategy to follow is:

1. Re-read the question and figure out which author’s perspective you’re being asked about. It

is your job to be 100%, triple-positive that you’re attributing the right opinion to the right

person

2. Summarize both texts

3. Name the relationship between both the texts

4. Look at the answers: if the authors would agree, cross out all negative answers; if the

authors would disagree, cross out all positive answers

5. Check the remaining answers against the text, focusing on the specific part of each answer

EXAMPLE 1:
Text 1

Conventional wisdom long held that human social systems evolved in stages, beginning with

hunter-gatherers forming small bands of members with roughly equal status. The shift to

agriculture about 12,000 years ago sparked population growth that led to the emergence of

groups with hierarchical structures: associations of clans first, then chiefdoms, and finally,

bureaucratic states.

Text 2

In a 2021 book, anthropologist David Graeber and archaeologist David Wengrow maintain that

humans have always been socially flexible, alternately forming systems based on hierarchy and

collective ones with decentralized leadership. The authors point to evidence that as far back

© AP Guru 51
as 50,000 years ago some hunter-gatherers adjusted their social structures seasonally, at

times dispersing in small groups but also assembling into communities that included esteemed

individuals.

Based on the texts, how would Graeber and Wengrow (Text 2) most likely respond to the

“conventional wisdom” presented in Text 1?

A. By conceding the importance of hierarchical systems but asserting the greater

significance of decentralized collective societies

B. By disputing the idea that developments in social structures have followed a linear

progression through distinct stages

C. By acknowledging that hierarchical roles likely weren’t a part of social systems before

the rise of agriculture

D. By challenging the assumption that groupings of hunter-gatherers were among the

earliest forms of social structure

Solution:

Text 1 Summary: Human social systems evolved in stages

Text 2 Summary: Human social systems have been socially flexible throughout ages

Relationship: Authors of Text 1 & 2 have an opposing view on the history

Only Answer Choice B mentions that both authors have opposing views. Answer choice B is the

correct answer.

EXAMPLE 2:
Text 1

Today the starchy root cassava is found in many dishes across West Africa, but its rise to

popularity was slow. Portuguese traders brought cassava from Brazil to the West African

coast in the 1500s. But at this time, people living in the capitals further inland had little

52 SAT Digital Writing Guide

contact with coastal communities. Thus, cassava remained relatively unknown to most of the

region’s inhabitants until the 1800s.

Text 2

Cassava’s slow adoption into the diet of West Africans is mainly due to the nature of the crop

itself. If not cooked properly, cassava can be toxic. Knowledge of how to properly prepare

cassava needed to spread before the food could grow in popularity. The arrival of formerly

enslaved people from Brazil in the 1800s, who brought their knowledge of cassava and its

preparation with them, thus directly fueled the spread of this crop.

Based on the texts, the author of Text 1 and the author of Text 2 would most likely agree with

which statement?

A. The climate of the West African coast in the 1500s prevented cassava’s spread in the

region.

B. Several of the most commonly grown crops in West Africa are originally from Brazil.

C. The most commonly used methods to cook cassava today date to the 1500s.

D. Cassava did not become a significant crop in West Africa until long after it was first

introduced.

Solution:

Text 1 Summary: Cassava took time to rise in popularity because people living inland were not

introduced to it

Text 2 Summary: Cassava’s slow adoption is due to the nature of the crop itself

Relationship: Authors of Texts 1 & 2 have opposing views on the reasons why Cassava took time

to rise in popularity.

Both the authors would agree that Cassava took time to become a significant crop in West

Africa. The correct answer is choice D.

© AP Guru 53
EXAMPLE 3:
Text 1

Soy sauce, made from fermented soybeans, is noted for its umami flavor. Umami - one of

the five basic tastes along with sweet, bitter, salty, and sour - was formally classified when

its taste receptors were discovered in the 2000s. In 2007, to define the pure umami flavor,

scientists Rie Ishii and Michael O’Mahony used broths made from shiitake mushrooms and

kombu seaweed, and two panels of Japanese and US judges closely agreed on a description

of the taste.

Text 2

A 2022 experiment by Manon Jünger et al. led to a greater understanding of soy sauce’s

flavor profile. The team initially presented a mixture of compounds with low molecular weights

to taste testers who found it was not as salty or bitter as real soy sauce. Further analysis

of soy sauce identified proteins, including dipeptides, that enhanced umami flavor and also

contributed to saltiness. The team then made a mix of 50 chemical compounds that re-created

soy sauce’s flavor.

Based on the texts, if Ishii and O’Mahony (Text 1) and Jünger et al. (Text 2) were aware of

the findings of both experiments, they would most likely agree with which statement?

A. The broths in the 2007 experiment most likely did not have a substantial amount of

the dipeptides that played a key part in the 2022 experiment.

B. On average, the diets of people in the United States tend to have fewer foods that

contain certain dipeptides than the diets of people in Japan have.

C. Chemical compounds that activate both the umami and salty taste receptors tend to

have a higher molecular weight than those that only activate umami taste receptors.

D. Fermentation introduces proteins responsible for the increase of umami flavor in soy

sauce, and those proteins also increase the perception of saltiness.

54 SAT Digital Writing Guide

Solution:

Text 1 Summary: The definition of the 5th flavour - Umami. Soy Sauce is defined by its Umami

flavour.

Text 2 Summary: Soy sauce contains both Umami and Saltiness as flavours

Relationship: Authors of Text 2 differ from Text 1 in the flavours of Soy Sauce and include

Saltiness as one of the flavours described in Text 1

The only answer choice to speak about both saltiness and umami flavour is answer choice A.

The correct answer is A.

© AP Guru 55
 Chapter 6
Evidence -
Quatitative
Some questions on the Reading and Writing section of your SAT will
provide you with a graph or table that presents information about
an unfamiliar topic. The question will then give some background
information and ask you to complete a sentence by effectively using
data from the graph or table.

No matter how unfamiliar the terminology may be, all the information you need to answer

graph-related questions will be right in front of you. These questions are set up precisely so

you can figure them out without any outside knowledge.

Quantitative evidence questions will look like this:

56 SAT Digital Writing Guide

The share of the world’s population living in cities has increased dramatically since 1970, but this

change has not been uniform. France and Japan, for example, were already heavily urbanized

in 1970, with 70% or more of the population living in cities. The main contributors to the world’s

urbanization since 1970 have been countries like Algeria, whose population went from ______

Which choice most effectively uses data from the graph to complete the assertion?

A. less than 20% urban in 1970 to more than 50% urban in 2020.

B. less than 40% urban in 1970 to around 90% urban in 2020.

C. around 40% urban in 1970 to more than 70% urban in 2020.

D. around 50% urban in 1970 to around 90% urban in 2020.

Shifting from sentences to lines and numbers can be jarring. You’re solidly in reading

comprehension mode, then wham… you have to answer a question about a graph.

The good news is, however, that information graphic questions are rarely as complicated as they

appear.

While graphs/charts are always related in some way to the text they accompany, many

infographic questions can be answered based on the graph or chart alone; you do not need to

take the text into account at all.

Another potential “trick” the SAT could throw at you involves not graphs but the wording of

the questions. It is important to understand that although infographic questions may look very

different from other questions, they are still reading questions; you must pay careful attention

to how they are phrased.

Strategy For Answering Evidence Quantitative Questions

To solve a quantitative evidence question, follow these steps:

© AP Guru 57
Step 1: Validate the answer choices
For each answer choice, check if it’s 100% true based on the graph/table. If not, eliminate it.

Quantitative evidence questions will offer two different types of incorrect choices alongside the

correct answer.

1. False statements - These choices are false according to the information in the graph or

table. They misread or misrepresent data.

2. True statements - These choices are true according to the information in the graph or table.

They accurately represent data, but they fail to provide direct evidence for the argument

being made.

False statements are easy to eliminate. You can compare the claim in the choice to the data

in the graph. If those things disagree, you can eliminate that choice. In this step, we aim to

eliminate false statements.

Remember, though: graphs and tables will include more data than you need, which will require

you to sift through and read around that extra information. If you’re working quickly or looking

back and forth between the question and the graph, your eyes can easily drift. Double-check

that you’re looking in the right place and data.

Just to recap, read the choices and check them against the information in the graph. Are the

choices true or false?

If they’re false, eliminate the false choices. If they’re true, proceed to step 2.

2. Summarize the argument

Every quantitative evidence question will provide text in addition to the graph/table. The text

should be your main focus. It will tell you what data to look for.

58 SAT Digital Writing Guide

Sometimes, like in our example question, the text will direct you to a specific piece of

information: a certain time, place, or set of conditions that can be pinpointed within the graph

or table. In these cases, you can simply identify the correct information in the graph or table

and/or test the choices against the provided data.

Other times, the text will present a general argument, and you’ll need to select data that backs

up that argument. This argument in the text is the most important part of the question. The

answer choice to complete the sentence must provide evidence supporting that argument. In

other words: it tells us what to look for.

The best thing to do here is to summarize the argument in your own words. Then you can test

that summary against each choice to see which provides effective evidence.

You may also have to skim through the graph to understand the argument. You don’t need to

dig into the graph or table yet, as you don’t know what data to look for. However, it can

still be useful to familiarize yourself with what the graph or table contains. You can read the

title, the labels, the units, and the key. Those should give you a good idea of what the graph

contains without taking up too much of your time.

3. Eliminate The Remaining Answer Choices

As we identified earlier, quantitative evidence choices can contain both true and false

statements. The false statements were eliminated in step 1.

True statements, however, are trickier to handle. Instead of deciding if they’re true or false,

you’ll need to decide if they support the argument made in the text. This is why the challenge

of “understanding the argument” in Step #2 is so important.

This leaves you with choices that are true, but that may not provide effective evidence for the

© AP Guru 59
argument in the text.

Take your summary of the argument and test it against each remaining choice. Only one choice

will provide direct support for that argument. You can select this choice with confidence.

The challenges of answering quantitative evidence questions can be split into three parts.

Let’s look at each challenge separately. An answer may accurately convey the information

represented in the graph but not answer the particular question asked.

If, for example, a question asks which answer best summarizes the information in the graph,

you may see an option that correctly describes a specific aspect of that graph. Although that

answer may be factually correct, it will still be wrong because it needs to answer the question.

EXAMPLE 1:

The share of the world’s population living in cities has increased dramatically since 1970,

but this change has not been uniform. France and Japan, for example, were already heavily

urbanized in 1970, with 70% or more of the population living in cities. The main contributors to

the world’s urbanization since 1970 have been countries like Algeria, whose population went from

______

60 SAT Digital Writing Guide

Which choice most effectively uses data from the graph to complete the assertion?

A. less than 20% urban in 1970 to more than 50% urban in 2020.

B. less than 40% urban in 1970 to around 90% urban in 2020.

C. around 40% urban in 1970 to more than 70% urban in 2020.

D. around 50% urban in 1970 to around 90% urban in 2020.

Solution:

Step 1: Validate the answer choices:

Based on the question, the country in discussion is Algeria. Checking each answer choice against

the graph of Algeria:

A. Wrong, since its 40% around 1970

B. False since its around 70% urban in 2020

C. Correct answer. It was around 40% urban in 1970 to more than 70% urban in 2020.

D. False as its around 20% urban in 1970

We arrived at the correct answer even without reading the text.

EXAMPLE 2:

© AP Guru 61
To investigate the influence of certain estrogen-responsive neurons on energy expenditure,

biologist Stephanie Correa et al. treated female and male mice with either saline solution or

clozapine-N4-oxide (CNO), which activates the neurons. Monitoring the activity levels of the mice

by measuring how frequently the animals broke infrared beams crossing their enclosures, Correa

et al. found that the mice in their study showed sex-specific differences in response to neuron

activation: _______________

Which choice most effectively uses data from the graph to complete the assertion?

A. the four groups of mice differed greatly in their activity levels before treatment but

showed identical activity levels at the end of the monitoring period.

B. CNO-treated females showed a substantial increase and then decline in activity over

the monitoring period, whereas CNO-treated males showed a substantial decline in

activity followed by a steep increase.

C. saline-treated females showed substantially more activity at certain points in the

monitoring period than saline-treated males did.

D. CNO-treated females showed more activity relative to saline-treated females than CNO-

treated males showed relative to saline-treated males.

Solution:

Step 1: Validate the answer choices:

A. Only 1 differed greatly from the others. Eliminate.

B. It’s true for CNO-treated females but incorrect for CNO-treated males. There is no

substantial decline. Eliminate.

C. There was a small difference only at 2 points: 66 and 80. Nothing substantial. Eliminate.

D. Yes, this is true. The correct answer.

We again arrived at the correct answer even without reading the text.

62 SAT Digital Writing Guide

EXAMPLE 3:

During the first year of a study, researchers found that approximately 80 percent of the

deer that came within range of underpass KP49 passed through it successfully. By contrast, at

the KP58 site the rate was about 65 percent and at KP65 it was only 40 percent. Passage

rates at all sites increased over time, however, and by the third year the ______________ .

Researchers concluded that the deer needed time to habituate to these new landscape features;

once the underpasses were familiar, deer used them without hesitation. This accounts for the

higher-than-average passage rates at KP49 in the first migratory cycle. Crucially, greater

migratory use of underpasses coincided with an 81 percent decrease in collisions between

vehicles and deer.

Which choice best describes data in the graph that support the researchers’ conclusion?

A. passage rates at every underpass had climbed to approximately 90 percent

B. passage rate for KP49 had leveled off

C. KP58 site had, by a small margin, the highest passage rate of all

D. success rate of KP65 was consistent with those of the other three sites

© AP Guru 63
Solution:

Step 1: Validate the answer choices: The underlined portion is in the sentence that speaks

about the 3rd year:

A. True, passage rates at every underpass is 90 percent. Keep.

B. They have increased and not leveled off. Eliminate

C. KP58 site had the highest passage rate of all. Keep.

D. Yes, the success rates of all 4 sites were similar in year 3. Keep.

Step 2: Summarize the Text: The Passage rates at all sites increased over time and were

highest in year 3. As deers became habituated and familiar with the underpasses, their

success passage rates increased.

Therefore, the correct answer should be similar to the summarization above. The correct

answer is A.

64 SAT Digital Writing Guide

 Chapter 7
Evidence -
Textual
In the Reading and Writing section of your SAT, some questions will
introduce a claim about an unfamiliar subject. The question will then
ask you to identify the piece of evidence that most strongly supports
that claim.

There are two types of textual evidence questions, and we need to think about each type a

little differently.

1. Scientific evidence - Identify the research outcome/hypothesis, and then select the choice

that supports it. Subject in science or social science usually.

2. Literary evidence - An argument concerning a particular literary work, like a poem or

novel. The choices will then offer a set of quotations from that literary work.

No prior science or literary work knowledge is required. Everything you need will be

contained in the short text.

While these two types of questions seem quite different, the skills we need to succeed in

them, and our approach to finding the answer, are similar for both.

65 © AP Guru
1. Scientific Evidence Questions
In these textual evidence questions, a hypothesis will be presented about a subject in

science or social science, usually in the context of new research or experimentation.

We won’t need to rely on previous scientific knowledge: everything we need will be

contained in the text.

Your task is to understand the research/hypothesis and then choose an answer to support/

weaken that hypothesis.

This task should remind you of your science classes, in which you’ve likely needed to

confirm or refute a hypothesis based on the outcomes of an experiment.

You must analyze the answer choices, not from a perspective of asking which is

grammatically correct (they all will be) or even which sounds the best (they all might sound

equally good), but how they can fulfill the desired outcome as specified in the question.

The strategy to attack inference questions is the following:

Step 1: Read the entire text and check if the question wants you to support or weaken

the hypothesis

Step 2: Create a bullet point summary of the entire text

Step 3: Use the bullet-point summary from Step 2 to eliminate the wrong answer choices

A key tool to create a bullet point summary is summarizing each sentence into a very

simple bullet point. You can do this mentally as you read the text. For each bullet, simplify

each sentence into the basic, simple summary possible.

Strive for the simplest summary with the fewest details possible.

SAT Digital Writing Guide 66

 The following are two examples of how to summarize sentences effectively:

Before: Black beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) are a nutritionally dense food, but they are

difficult to digest in part because of their high levels of soluble fiber and compounds like

raffinose.

After: Black beans are difficult to digest due to soluble fibers.

Before: In 2001, the Peruvian government began requiring tourists to buy permits to hike

the Inca Trail to the ancient city of Machu Picchu: the Peruvian government claims that

this permit program has successfully prevented deterioration of archaeological treasures

along the Inca Trail.

After: New permit program prevented deterioration along the Inca Trail.

By the end of this step, you should have a solid understanding of the experiment/

argument bring presented. This should give you some idea of what might support/weaken

the hypothesis. At the very least, you’ll be better prepared to recognize what doesn’t work.

Look at the choices one by one - the correct answer has to be validated by the passage.

For each answer choice, try to find support in your passage or bullet points.

The answer is incorrect if it’s not supported by the passage/bullet point summary. Eliminate

any choices that stray from or disagree with the points made in the passage.

EXAMPLE 1:
Business succession has been described as the most crucial decision family businesses have

to make given that business succession is a process of preparing and grooming family

leaders to develop and transfer firm and family knowledge. Researchers have indicated

that many family business leaders fail to effectively plan for succession. Factors include

67 © AP Guru
ownership, management, succession, age of business, and financial performance. Hence, an

effective succession of the management is to build potential successors up to and down the

entire leadership chain.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support the researchers’ claim?

A. Family-owned organizations make up two-thirds of all businesses around the world,

but the failure rate of these businesses is high.

B. The majority of the respondents in a survey submit that it is important to keep

100% ownership of the business within the family.

C. There is no one standard definition of what a family business is because of

differences in cultures across nations.

D. Family business leaders who acknowledged their need to retire submitted that the

founder’s role will be advisory once the potential successor has taken over.

Solution: Let’s first create the bullet points of the text:

− Business succession is important to groom the next family leaders

− Many family business leaders fail to plan for succession effectively

− Various factors for this failure

− To succeed, one needs to build successors throughout the leadership chain

Now, let’s go through each answer choice at a time to see which one supports the argument:

A. Family-owned organizations make up two-thirds of all businesses around the world,

but the failure rate of these businesses is high. - Supports the point of the high

failure rate. Potential answer.

B. The majority of the respondents in a survey submit that it is important to keep

100% ownership of the business within the family. - Unrelated to the point being

made

C. There is no one standard definition of what a family business is because of

SAT Digital Writing Guide 68

 differences in cultures across nations. - Different from the bullet points summary

D. Family business leaders who acknowledged their need to retire submitted that

the founder’s role will be advisory once the potential successor has taken over. -

Unrelated to the point being made

The correct answer is A.

EXAMPLE 2:
Oceanologist Victor Smetacek has studied the plankton - tiny animals, algae, and bacteria

- –that fill the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica. He asserts that many of these

plankton pastures are held back by iron shortages. Using an iron sulphate waste, Smetacek

and his colleagues set out to supply the plankton with the nutrients they needed. Fertilizing

the waters, they hoped, would promote blooms to help sea life thrive all the way up the

food chain. And, more importantly, the uneaten plankton could remove carbon dioxide

from the air until they died and sank to the sea floor, thereby providing natural carbon

sequestration.

Which finding, if true, would most directly undermine Smetacek’s claim?

A. The shortage of iron in the habitats where plankton thrive has led to the increase

in other minerals that have decreased the removal of carbon dioxide from the air.

B. Higher quantities of iron sulfate waste that was used to supply the plankton with

nutrients corresponded with higher amounts of blooms in the sea.

C. Iron at some sites where fertilizers were introduced from rivers resulted in

plankton blooms being consumed and causing the available oxygen in waters to

suffocate marine organisms.

D. Uneaten plankton could remove carbon dioxide from the air, but the shortage of

iron in ocean environments can lead to nutritional deficiencies.

69 © AP Guru
Solution: Let’s first create the bullet points of the text:

− Plankton fill the Southern Ocean

− Plankton are impacted by iron shortages

− An experiment supplied plankton with iron

− This would help sea life thrive all the way up the food chain

− Plankton had more benefits, like removing carbon dioxide and providing carbon

sequestration.

The primary point is the benefit of plankton. Now, let’s go through each answer choice at a

time to see which one would weaken the above bullet points summary:

A. The shortage of iron in the habitats where plankton thrive has led to the increase

in other minerals that have decreased the removal of carbon dioxide from the air.

- The shortage of iron that reduces the effective removal of carbon dioxide does

not undermine the author’s claim

B. Higher quantities of iron sulfate waste that was used to supply the plankton with

nutrients corresponded with higher amounts of blooms in the sea. - This supports

the author’s point of the benefits of Plankton

C. Iron at some sites where fertilizers were introduced from rivers resulted in

plankton blooms being consumed and causing the available oxygen in waters to

suffocate marine organisms. - Marine organisms were negatively affected by the

introduction of iron and plankton boom. This undermines the author’s point. The

correct answer.

D. Uneaten plankton could remove carbon dioxide from the air, but the shortage of

iron in ocean environments can lead to nutritional deficiencies. - This supports the

author’s point.

SAT Digital Writing Guide 70

 2. Literary Evidence Questions
In these textual evidence questions, the passage will make an argument concerning

a particular literary work, like a poem or novel. The choices will then offer a set of

quotations from that literary work.

We don’t need any previous knowledge of the literary work under discussion. What we

will need is the ability to evaluate whether the content of each quotation serves as direct

evidence for the argument identified in the question.

This task should remind you of your English classes, in which you’ve likely needed to pull

quotations from a text to support your arguments in an analytical essay.

The strategy to attack inference questions is the following:

Step 1: Identify the question type as literary evidence question type

Step 2: Highlight the primary claim in the literary work

Step 3: Eliminate the answer choices which do not explicitly support the claim

EXAMPLE 3:
“Mending Wall” is a 1914 poem by Robert Frost. In the poem, the speaker describes

experiencing a different point of view with a neighbor: ______

Which quotation from “Mending Wall” most effectively illustrates the claim?

A. “If I could put a notion in his head, / But he will still not go behind his father’s

saying, / And he likes having thought of it so well.”

B. “I let my neighbor know beyond the hill, / And on a day we meet to walk the

line.”

C. “Before I built a wall I’d ask to know, / What I was walling in or walling out, /

My apple trees will never get across.”

71 © AP Guru
 D. “He says, ‘Good fences make good neighbors,’ / ‘That sends the frozen-ground-swell

under it,’ / ‘Evidently, spring mending-time we find them there’.”

Solution:

Claim: A different point of view with a neighbor

Now, let’s go through each answer choice at a time:

A. “If I could put a notion in his head, / But he will still not go behind his father’s

saying, / And he likes having thought of it so well.” - This seems like a difference

of opinion with someone else. This could be the correct answer.

B. “I let my neighbor know beyond the hill, / And on a day we meet to walk the

line.” - This is just describing an action with the neighbor

C. “Before I built a wall I’d ask to know, / What I was walling in or walling out, /

My apple trees will never get across.” - Not a difference of opinion with anyone

D. “He says, ‘Good fences make good neighbors,’ / ‘That sends the frozen-ground-swell

under it,’ / ‘Evidently, spring mending-time we find them there’.” - Speaks about

good neighbors - no disagreement.

The correct answer is A.

EXAMPLE 4:
“The Garden of Eden” is a 1922 novel by Ernest Hemingway. In the novel, the main

characters, David and Catherine, struggle with their desires and the consequences of their

actions:

Which quotation from “The Garden of Eden” most effectively illustrates the claim?

A. “David and Catherine, lost in their own paradise, / unaware of the serpent lurking

in the shadows”

B. “Their love, a fiery passion, / would ultimately lead to their downfall”

SAT Digital Writing Guide 72

 C. “The garden of Eden, a place of temptation, / where innocence is lost and sins

are committed”

D. “David and Catherine, trapped in a cycle of longing and remorse, / unable to

evade the ramifications of their choices”

Solution:

Claim: Two people struggle with their desires and the consequences of their actions

Now, let’s go through each answer choice at a time:

A. “David and Catherine, lost in their own paradise, / unaware of the serpent lurking

in the shadows” - it only describes the characters’ state of mind and does not

mention the consequences of their actions

B. “Their love, a fiery passion, / would ultimately lead to their downfall” - The

struggle is not mentioned. This just speaks about their downfall

C. “The garden of Eden, a place of temptation, / where innocence is lost and

sins are committed” - it only describes the setting and does not mention the

characters’ struggles with their desires and the consequences of their actions.

D. “David and Catherine, trapped in a cycle of longing and remorse, / unable to

evade the ramifications of their choices” - This quote speaks of being stuck in

desires and evading the consequences of their actions,. Similar to our claim and

the correct answer.

The correct answer is D.

73 © AP Guru
 Chapter 8
Inference
Questions
On the Reading and Writing section of your SAT, some questions
will provide an unfinished text that introduces information about an
unfamiliar topic. Based on that information, you’ll be asked to select
the choice that most logically completes the text.

Inferences questions are all about how we connect information and ideas to create

arguments.

We can break arguments into two basic parts:

1. Premises - facts on which an argument is based. Usually in the form of facts and help

provide evidence to support the author’s conclusion.

2. Conclusion - the heart of the argument. It’s the primary point the author is trying to

make.

The inference questions will either:

− present a set of premises, and your task will be to determine the appropriate

SAT Digital Writing Guide 74

 conclusion

− include the conclusion, and your task will be to identify a gap in the premises that

must be filled

Your task is the same: identify what is missing from the argument, and fill that gap with

one of the choices.

It is crucial that you analyze the answer choices, not from a perspective of asking which

is grammatically correct (they all will be) or even which sounds the best (they all might

sound equally good) but how they are able to fulfill the desired outcome as specified in the

question.

Inference Questions Strategy

The strategy to attack inference questions is the following:

Step 1: Read the Entire Text

Step 2: Create a bullet point summary of the entire text

Step 3: Use the bullet point summary to eliminate the wrong answer choices

A key tool to create a bullet point summary is summarizing each sentence into a very

simple bullet point. You can do this mentally as you read the text. Summarize each

sentence in only 8-10 words. The more concise your prediction, the quicker it will be to

check it against the choices. Just summarize each sentence of the text in 8-10 words as

soon as you complete reading it. Do this for every sentence in the text.

By the end of this step, you should have a solid understanding of the argument being

made. This should give you an idea of what might fit in the blank. At the very least, you’ll

be better prepared to recognize what doesn’t fit in the blank.

Look at the choices one by one - the correct answer has to be validated by the text. Try

75 © AP Guru
to find support in your text or bullet points for each answer choice. The answer is only

correct if the text supports it.

Be wary of choices that broaden the discussion or introduce ideas not explicitly mentioned

in the rest of the text. The arguments made in inferences texts are often highly specific.

Eliminate any choices that stray from or disagree with the points made in the text.

Here are a few more important points to help you answer inference questions:

1. Stay specific - Stay within what is written in the passage. Be cautious with words like

“most” or “many” when a passage only discusses one thing in particular. The best way

to avoid this trap is to ensure you compare each answer choice with your bullet point

summary.

2. Lean on transitions - Pay close attention to the transition words used throughout an

inferences text. These transitions will show you how the ideas in the text are related. In

particular, the transition words used before the blank at the end of the text will provide a

useful clue as to what information you’re looking for.

3. Let the punctuation help - Similar to transitions, punctuation marks shape the ideas in the

text and show how those details are connected. Colons, semicolons, and dashes can all be

used to inject conclusions, examples, and exceptions. Take a closer look at these punctuation

marks to see what type of information they signal within the text.

EXAMPLE 1:
Mexican painter Frida Kahlo assimilated socialist principles, which were a natural fit with

the nationalist theory of the period. However, the origins of her creativity can be traced

back to 1925, when she was hit by a streetcar, resulting in her fractured body filling her

SAT Digital Writing Guide 76

life with pain until the end of her days. Although socialism, and even certain touches of

the Mexican Revolution, were sources of inspiration for her paintings, historians who focus

primarily on these sources ______.

Which choice most logically completes the text?

A. risk misrepresenting the diverse themes conveyed in Kahlo’s paintings.

B. overlook an earlier period in Kahlo’s life when she encountered a tribulation.

C. may draw inaccurate conclusions regarding Kahlo’s impact on nationalist theories.

D. undervalue Kahlo’s contributions outside of politics and art.

Solution: Let’s first create the bullet points of the text:

− Kahlo uses socialist principles, which were in sync with the time

− However, her creativity came from a painful car accident

− Historians should focus on this accident as the true source of inspiration

Now, let’s go through each answer choice at a time:

A. risk misrepresenting the diverse themes conveyed in Kahlo’s paintings. - The answer

is about the origin of her inspiration

B. overlook an earlier period in Kahlo’s life when she encountered a tribulation. -This is

in sync with our bullet point summary. The correct answer.

C. may draw inaccurate conclusions regarding Kahlo’s impact on nationalist theories. -

This answer choice is about her impact on nationalist theories, nothing about origins.

D. undervalue Kahlo’s contributions outside of politics and art. - Completely out of sync

with our bullet point summary.

EXAMPLE 2:
Omega-3 fatty acids - essential in human diets - have been linked to reductions in

diseases. Humans also need omega-6 fatty acids in their diets, and the ratio of omega-3

77 © AP Guru
to omega-6 consumed has a significant impact. Grasses have a lower concentration of

omega-6 than omega-3, while grain has more omega-6 than omega-3. Scientists state that

a pasture diet of grass produces beef and other livestock products that have a ratio of

omega-3 to omega-6 that is closer to human requirements. These scientists therefore imply

that ______.

Which choice most logically completes the text?

A. grass is a significant source of both omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.

B. livestock products raised on a pasture diet have varying ratios of omega-6 and

omega-3.

C. the intake of omega-6 should be less than the intake of omega-3.

D. the excessive consumption of omega-3 is not beneficial for health.

Solution: Let’s first create the bullet points of the text:

− Omega-3 reduces diseases

− Omega-6 also important -> importance of mega-3 to omega-6 ratio

− Grasses: omega-3 > omega-6. Grains: omega-6 > omega-3

− A diet of grass produces livestock products with the desired ratio of omega-3 to

omega-6

Now, let’s go through each answer choice at a time:

A. grass is a significant source of both omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. - Grass

has omega-3 > omega-6. Therefore, this answer choice is not factually correct

B. livestock products raised on a pasture diet have varying ratios of omega-6 and

omega-3. - None of our points speak about varying ratios.

C. the intake of omega-6 should be less than the intake of omega-3. - Yes, the bullet

points mentioned the ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 is very important. Correct

answer

SAT Digital Writing Guide 78

 D. the excessive consumption of omega-3 is not beneficial for health. - Opposite to our

first bullet point

EXAMPLE 3:
Activities on the sun can significantly affect the environment of all planets in the solar

system, particularly Earth’s atmosphere. These include solar flares and coronal mass

ejections (CME). Solar flares are sudden releases of huge amounts of energy from the sun

toward Earth, and CMEs are explosive ejections of plasma (electrons, protons and helium

ions) from the sun. Researcher Mohamed Youssef, studying 776 events when solar flare

events were associated with CME events, observed more CMEs after a solar flare event,

suggesting that ______.

Which choice most logically completes the text?

A. the higher frequency of coronal mass ejections observed following solar flare events

may indicate that coronal mass ejections are a byproduct of solar flare events.

B. coronal mass ejections and solar flare events vary in the amount of energy

released in the form of electrons, protons, and helium ions from the sun toward

Earth.

C. The number of coronal mass ejections can affect the total amount of energy from

the sun that is released toward Earth and other planets in the solar system during

a period of time observed.

D. the incidence of coronal mass ejections and solar flare events are dependent on

the rate of coronal mass ejections directed toward Earth.

Solution: Let’s first create the bullet points of the text:

− Sun affects Earth’s atmosphere

− Solar flares & CMEs are two examples of things from the sun coming toward Earth

− CMEs spike up after a solar flare event and are linked to each other

79 © AP Guru
Now, let’s go through each answer choice at a time:

A. the higher frequency of coronal mass ejections observed following solar flare

events may indicate that coronal mass ejections are a byproduct of solar flare

events. - This speaks about the link between CME and solar flare. Similar to our

last bullet

B. coronal mass ejections and solar flare events vary in the amount of energy

released in the form of electrons, protons, and helium ions from the sun toward

Earth. - solar flare events are not electrons, protons and helium

C. The number of coronal mass ejections can affect the total amount of energy

from the sun that is released toward Earth and other planets in the solar system

during a period of time observed. - The text does not speak about the number of

CMEs and how they affect the total energy

D. the incidence of coronal mass ejections and solar flare events are dependent on

the rate of coronal mass ejections directed toward Earth. - No, the text does not

say that CMEs are dependent on solar flares - the opposite, actually

SAT Digital Writing Guide 80

 Chapter 9
Eliminating
Answer Choice
The most important strategy on the SAT reading test is eliminating
answer choices. Therefore, we have dedicated an entire chapter in
this guide to how to eliminate answer choices.

Your teachers have taught you your entire life to find the correct answer. Unfortunately,

finding the right answer is the worst strategy on the SAT Reading Test.

From this point forward, stop trying to find the correct answers. Instead, your mission is

to find and eliminate the wrong answers. On every possible reading problem you solve, the

“right” answer will be the last answer choice left standing after you eliminate the three

others.

Many students believe it’s a lot more time-consuming to eliminate three wrong answers than

pick the right one from the start. However, it’s much faster to prove something wrong than

to prove something right. And, if you have predicted the answer, you can eliminate wrong

answer choices as quickly as swatting a fly.

Wrong answers are easy to spot and eliminate, and it’ll only take you a few seconds to

© AP Guru 81
do it. Conversely, it is practically impossible at times to prove something right, even with a lot

of data on your side.

For example: “Lions only kill gazelles.” If we showed you pictures of lions hunting gazelles, it

would not prove the above statement correct. No amount of evidence or effort could ever

prove this statement. But what if we tried proving it wrong instead? We could show you

one picture of a lion killing a buffalo, and the statement would be proved wrong instantly.

The above example was a bit silly, but the point we’re trying to make is that even when you

know something is right, it’s still almost impossible to prove it so.

How to Eliminate Answer Choices

There is only one right answer to every question. The other answers are all wrong. And

since they’re all wrong, they’ll have objective, identifiable errors that you can find and use as

evidence against them.

Most students eliminate answer choices by asking themselves which one is ‘more right.’ “Is this

right? Well, maybe. Is this right? Mmmmm…kinda seems right too…”

Each answer should be marked as:

1. Wrong

2. May Be Right

That’s it. There’s no other option possible.

Once you have quickly moved through all four answer choices, return to the ones you marked

as ‘May Be Right.’ Sometimes, you’ll have 2-3 maybes. Other times, you’ll only have one. If you

only have one, that means it’s the correct answer! Otherwise, keep focusing on all the maybes

82 SAT Digital Writing Guide

left, figure out what’s wrong with them, and eliminate them one by one once you find their

errors.

In other words, you are trying to find the answer choice you dislike the least or with the

fewest flaws. When it comes to the SAT Reading Test, this is the greatest, most efficient

strategy to succeed.

There will be times when an answer is obviously correct. For example, there may be answer

choices that match your prediction. That’s great. Select that answer, but take the time to go

through all the other answer choices, eliminating them one by one.

Now, let’s discuss a few more tricks to help you eliminate the wrong answer choices:

1. Beware of Specifics
Specifics make things more likely to be wrong, not right. Think about it: the more exact details any

sentence contains, the more likely that sentence is to be false in at least some way. “I like cats” is

more likely to be accurate than “I like big cats.”

The human brain thinks that more details make something more accurate and reliable. In

reality, the exact opposite is true!

“The author thinks people are nice” is way more likely to be correct than, “the author thinks all

people are nice,” or “the author thinks people are nice on Tuesdays.” If you keep this principle

in mind when comparing, you’ll be able to identify potential errors within wrong answer choices

and eliminate them.

From this point forward, you must remember this: 99% Right is 100% Wrong! The answer has

to be 100% correct. The SAT is a standardized test that has to ensure that the correct answer

© AP Guru 83
does not include even the tiniest of errors. Use this to your advantage. Therefore, if you see

even a microscopically small error in an answer choice, eliminate it.

The only thing that matters is that the answer you choose is supported directly and

specifically in the text in a way that requires no interpretation. In other words, you must

hone the skill of reading exactly what’s on the screen and taking in everything stated

directly in the text.

A Real-Life Example
Let’s imagine a typical English classroom discussion and then consider how the skills developed

during such a discussion might be incorrectly applied to a reading question on the SAT.

Imagine you’re in an English class discussing a passage from a book you’re currently

reading. In this passage, the main character is very upset. She’s just learned that her cousin

has a serious illness, and the passage describes how worried and concerned she is for his

health. Your teacher asks the class for opinions on the main character’s emotional state.

You raise your hand and say something like, “I think the main character seems troubled

and conflicted.” Your teacher asks, “Conflicted? Why do you say conflicted?” You then go on

to explain that you were in a position like this once, and you remember feeling conflicted,

so you think the character probably feels conflicted, too. Your teacher thanks you for your

contribution and probably agrees that, yes, it’s possible the main character in this passage

might feel conflicted.

This sort of open interpretation is often encouraged in a classroom, but it’ll cause you to

miss a lot of questions on the SAT. We’ve talked about the idea that all SAT questions have

to be “bullet proof” and objective in order for the test to serve its function in the admissions

process.

84 SAT Digital Writing Guide

The only way for a correct answer on an SAT Reading Test question to satisfy this

requirement is to avoid any kind of interpretation because interpretation is always subjective.

And the only way for a correct answer choice to refer to a passage without interpreting it

is to restate some element of the passage exactly. Any other description of the text would

necessarily involve interpretation, and the correct answer wouldn’t be objectively correct

anymore.

So, if the same hypothetical text we were talking about appeared on the SAT, and you chose

an answer saying that the main character felt “conflicted,” you’d get the question wrong, even

though your English teacher would probably accept that analysis.

Suppose an SAT text describes someone in a difficult spot as upset, worried, and concerned.

In that case, we can choose any answer that means the same thing as “upset,” “worried,”

or “concerned,”… but we can’t pick a word like “conflicted” unless the text specifically states

that a character feels two different emotions at the same time that seem to go against each

other, because that’s what the word “conflicted” literally means.

On the other hand, if the text said something like, “I was worried about my cousin’s illness, but

I was also optimistic that he was strong enough to overcome it.” You could pick an answer

choice that described the character as “conflicted,” because being “worried” and “optimistic” are

two conflicting emotions. Further, the ideas of those emotions would be connected by the word

“but,” which shows that the speaker considers them conflicting ideas. See how that works?

The SAT Test butters its bread by forcing you to justify its wrong answers. When you

always focus on why answers are wrong, you’ll always use the best strategy possible. You’re

walking into a trap if you focus on why they’re right.

© AP Guru 85
2. The “What ______?” Rule
The best way to explain what we call the “what _______?” rule is through an example. Let’s

say you read a quick passage with this thesis: “People are always trying hard to impress their

friends.”

The question is: “What is the author trying to accomplish with this passage?”

A. He’s trying to disprove an argument.

B. He’s trying to recount an anecdote.

C. He’s trying to win over an adversary.

D. He’s trying to prove a point

As you work to eliminate answer choices, the easiest and best tactic you can use is to define

the nouns within the answer choices by asking: WHAT _______?

A. What argument? What is he disproving? There’s nothing he’s disproving - no argument

he’s trying to prove wrong. Wrong.

B. What anecdote? What story is he telling? He never told an anecdote. Wrong.

C. What adversary? Who is the person he’s trying to win over? I didn’t see an

adversary anywhere. Wrong.

D. What point? Oh…the point that “people are always trying hard to impress their friends.”

Okay…so I can answer that “What ______?” question. Correct.

The only answer that isn’t wrong will be the one you can answer the “what _______?” question

for!!!

If you ask “what _____?” for a particular noun in an answer choice, and you realize that you

can’t think of the answer to that question, then that answer choice is automatically wrong!

86 SAT Digital Writing Guide

Now that you know about this strategy, you’ll be blown away by how frequently you’ll be able

to use it.

© AP Guru 87
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