If you want to ace the SAT Critical Reading (CR) section, you need to know more than just a bunch of vocabulary words and a few test-taking tricks. You need solid analytical and critical reading skills to help you tackle any difficult hunk of prose the SAT can throw at you. The most important of these skills is “active reading,” which means reading with key questions in mind.

　　The Three Key Questions

　　To ace SAT Critical Reading questions, read each passage with these questions at the front of your mind:

　　1. What is the purpose of this passage?

　　2. What is the central idea of this passage?

　　3. What is the general structure of this passage?

　　SAT CR questions focus on these questions, so you should, too. Here’s a quick explanation of each of the three questions you should keep in mind:

　　1. The purpose of the passage can be either

　　• to examine a topic objectively,

　　• to prove a point, or

　　• to tell a story.

　　2. The central idea of the passage is the single idea that provides the focus of the entire passage.

　　3. The general structure of the passage is the way the paragraphs work together to convey the central idea.