10.1. Reading on Exam Day
Walk through the Reading hour as it will actually happen.
The short version
The hour includes typing or choosing every answer.
Split the hour by text before you start.
Give the last text at least as much time as the first.
Spend the final minute filling empty boxes.
The hour, as it happens
Reading has no extra time at the end, so the plan below includes typing or choosing every answer. Give the last text at least as much time as the first.
Academic Passage 1 in about 20 minutes; General Training Section 1 in about 15. Take the answers you can locate and do not reread for comfort.
About 20 minutes on either paper. Use your gist map, and for question types that run in passage order scan forwards from the last answer you found.
Academic Passage 3 in about 20 minutes; General Training Section 3 in about 25, since it is the longest. Guess anything still open.
Last three minutes
- 1Empty boxes
Fill every one, even if it is a guess. A wrong answer costs nothing more than a blank.
- 2Word limits
Shorten any answer that has crept over the stated limit.
- 3Stop
Do not start a fresh full read of anything at minute 57.
Quiz time1 question
Check
Choose the best decision.
It is minute 57. Two boxes are still empty, and one of your answers is three words against a NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS limit. What should you do?
Recap
Know your split before the test starts.
Leave a text when its time is up, finished or not.
Use the last minute to fill every empty box.
Next: quick answers to the questions that come up most.