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As a standardized test, the SAT gives you certain guaranteed question types. Yes, there are going to be lots and lots of reading passages, and you will have to decipher, understand and then answer questions. It’s an absolute fact that the many of the reading passages are intensely dull. However as a standardized test, the SAT allows us to predict the types of reading passages we will come across

Here is a list of the five most common reading passages:

The Art Passage

The definition of “art” encompasses various disciplines from literature, painting, sculpture, music, architecture, theatre or lives of well-known individual artists. Every single art passage will be paired with a positive tone. Often, there will be some criticisms along the way but overall, no one is going to say that, Van Gogh’s paintings are shockingly bad.”

The History Passage

This passage will look at a particular point in history, whether it’s a historical trend or an interpretation of that trend.  The author will always support their argument and interpretation by providing evidence and examples.  Another clue to watch out for is when the author refers or relates to a historian that agrees or disagrees with their view. In addition, circle the name of any historian mentioned and note whether they agree or disagree with the argument presented by the author. Most likely, the SAT will ask you a question on it.

The Science Passage

If you’re not a complete science wiz, then, like many other students, you may be slightly intimidated by the scientific terms and jargon used within the science passage. In all honesty, you don’t need to panic as you don’t need to know the scientific terms! It is most likely that the terms will be almost irrelevant to understanding the passage. If you need to understand the tricky science vocabulary for a particular question, remember to use contextual clues. Look at the sentences before and after to decipher the general meaning of the word in question.

The Minority Passage

So that the ETS examining board doesn’t get accused of being discriminatory, they introduced a minority passage into every SAT exam. This makes it lovely and easy for SAT takers as every minority passage is going to be both politically correct and extremely positive towards all minority groups.

The Fiction Passage

Fiction is defined as a literary piece of work which is an imaginative creation that is not necessarily based on fact or truth. These are more difficult to predict as we cannot possibly imagine what some else is imagining. This is not a passage you can easily skim. Pay close attention to the author’s style and tone (voice).