Sat Help

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Master The LSAT (560 pages, includes an official LSAT exam)
The MCAT Physics Book (444 pages)
The MCAT Biology Book (416 pages)
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Copyright © 2005 by Nova Press
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IS BN 1 –88 905 7–2 8–2
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iii

ABOUT THIS BOOK
If you don’t have a pe ncil in your ha nd, get one now! Don’t just re ad this book—study it, sc rutinize it! In
short, for the next six weeks,this book should be a part of your life.
Although the SAT is a difficult test, it is a very learnable test. This is not to say that the SAT is
“be atable .” The re is n o bag of tr icks tha t will show you how to ma ste r it ove rnight. Y ou proba bly have
already realized this. Some books, nevertheless, offer "inside stuff" or "tricks" which they claim will
enable you to beat the test. Theseinclude declaring that answer-choices B, C, or D are more likely to be
correct than choices A or E. This tactic, like most of its type, does not work. It is offered to give the
student the feeling that he or she is getting the scoop on the test.
The SA T c annot be “be ate n.” B ut it c an be master ed—through har d w ork, a nalytical thought, and by
training yourself to think like a testwriter. Many of the exercises in this book are designed to prompt you
to think like a test w riter . F or e xample , in the math se ction, you will find “D uals. ” The se are pa irs o f
similar problems in which only one property is different. They illustrate the process of creating SAT
questions.
The SA T is not ea sy—n or is this book. To improve your S AT sc or e, you must be willing to work; ifyou study ha rd and ma ste r the tec hniques in this book, your sc ore will improve—significa ntly.
This book will introduce you to numerous analytic techniques that will help you immensely, not only
on the SAT but in college as well. For this reason, studying for the SAT can be a rewarding and satisfying
experience.
Although the quick-fix method is not offered in this book, about 15% of thematerial is dedicated to
studying how the questions are constructed. Knowing how the problems are written and how the test
writers think will give you useful insight into the problems and make them less mysterious. Moreover,
familiarity with the S AT’s struc tur e will he lp re duce yo ur anxiety. The more you know a bout this te st, the
less anxious you will be the day you take it.

vACKNOWLEDGMENT
Be hin d any succ essful te st- prep book, there is mor e tha n just the author’ s e ffor ts.
I would like to thank Kathleen Pierce for her many contributions to the book and for her continued
support and inspiration.

Reading passages were drawn from the following sources:
Passage page 35, from The Two Faces of Eastern Europe, © 1990 Adam Michnik.
Passage page 38, fromDeschooling Society, © 1971 Harper & Row, by Ivan Illich.
Passage page 45, from The Cult of Multiculturalism, © 1991 Fred Siegel.
Passage page 49, from Ways of Seeing, © 1972 Penguin Books Limited, by John Berger.
Passage page 54, from Placebo Cures for the Incurable, Journal of Irreproducible Results, © 1985 Thomas
G. Kyle.
Passage page 59, from Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things, © George...