Barron's SAT 2400: Aiming for the Perfect Score

by Carnevale, Linda

• ISBN13: 9780764132698
• ISBN10: 0764132695
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-02-01
• Publisher: Barrons Test Prep

Summary

Most university-bound test-takers already know that 2400 represents a perfectcore on the new-format SAT. This book focuses on meeting the needs of toptudents, the young men and women who believe they can approach that perfectcore when it's time for them to take the SAT. The authors skip past obviousest-taking strategies, coaching students on the do's and don'ts of smartest-taking, using focused and effective techniques. Their goal is to helpop students score 700 or above on all three sections of the new SAT -ritical Reading, Writing, and Maths. A score of 2100 or higher will set testakers apart from the crowd, placing them in the top 5 per cent ofigh-achieving students throughout the country, and virtually guaranteeinghem acceptance to the most prestigious and academically challengingniversities. The authors present strategies for tackling the hardestuestions on the SAT. Critical Reading strategies are given for both long andhort passages. Coaching for the Writing Section covers essential grammar forhe three question types and guides students on how to write an exemplary

Table of Contents

Welcome to the 2400 Club	p. 1
Who Is This Book For?	p. 1
What Sets This Book Apart from the Rest?	p. 1
What Exactly Is on the SAT?	p. 2
Get in the Game	p. 3
2400 Club Test-Day Checklist	p. 3
The Critical Reading Sections	p. 5
Sentence-Level Reading	p. 7
2400 Club Strategies	p. 7
Bring Your Word to the Blank	p. 8
Locate a Context Clue	p. 9
Assign a Positive or Negative Value to the Blank	p. 9
Never Do's!	p. 11
Keep Level-headed	p. 12
Say the Sentence to Yourself to Ensure That It Makes Sense	p. 14
High Scorer's Strategy Acronym	p. 14
Practice Test Questions	p. 15
Answers and Explanations	p. 17
Paragraph-Level Reading	p. 21
2400 Club Strategies (the 4Ps of Paragraph Reading)	p. 21
Paraphrase as You Read	p. 21
Predict the Answer	p. 22
Pare Down the Answer Choices	p. 22
Pick the Best Answer	p. 22
Practice Test Questions on Paragraphs	p. 22
Answers and Explanations	p. 24
Practice Test Questions on Paired Paragraphs	p. 27
Answers and Explanations	p. 28
Long-Passage Reading	p. 31
2400 Club Global Strategies	p. 31
Hunting and Gathering	p. 31
Passage Evidence	p. 31
Listening	p. 32
Critical Reading Secret Formula	p. 32
Read	p. 33
React	p. 33
Interact	p. 33
Visualize	p. 33
2400 Club Strategies	p. 34
Read Longer Passages Piece by Piece	p. 34
Sip, Don't Slurp	p. 38
Skim, Don't Skip	p. 39
Be Savvy about Sidebars	p. 39
The Italicized Blurb-Know the Author/Know the Topic	p. 39
Outline Reading	p. 40
Extract the Main Idea from the Passage	p. 42
Answer Line-Reference and Sidebar Questions First	p. 43
Words-in-Context Questions	p. 44
Delve into Higher-Order Thinking Questions	p. 45
Skipping Hard Questions Responsibly	p. 45
Identify the Author's Mood and Tone as You Read	p. 46
The Vocabulary of Tone	p. 47
The Vocabulary of Mood	p. 47
Narrow In on the Best Answer Choice	p. 47
Global Questions Should Be Answered at the Very End	p. 49
Remember Those Globals!!	p. 50
Paired-Passages and Global Questions	p. 50
Additional Strategies for Reading Long Passages	p. 51
To Read or Not to Read the Questions First-That Is the Perennial Decision	p. 51
No Line References, So Not a Global Question! What Now?	p. 51
Critical Reading No-No's	p. 52
Debunking the Myth: Vocabulary Just Doesn't Matter That Much Anymore to Rank on the (New) SAT	p. 52
High Scorer's Strategy Acronym	p. 54
Practice Test Questions	p. 54
Answers and Explanations	p. 59
Very Hard Long Passages	p. 63
Practice Test Questions	p. 63
Answers and Explanations	p. 65
Practice Test Questions/Paired Long Passages	p. 67
Answers and Explanations	p. 73
2400 Club Grand Mixture	p. 77
Practice Test Questions	p. 77
Answers and Explanations	p. 88
The Writing Sections	p. 97
Writing the 25-Minute Essay	p. 99
2400 Club Strategies	p. 99
Take a Side	p. 99
Have a Timing Plan	p. 100
Engage Your Reader	p. 104
Edit, Using the 2400 Club Checklist	p. 104
Support Your Thesis with Examples	p. 106
Sentence and Vocabulary Variety	p. 106
Assess What You Have Written	p. 108
Your Voice	p. 108
More 2400 Club Strategies	p. 109
Eliminate SMOG	p. 109
High Scorer's Strategy Acronym	p. 113
Practice Assignments	p. 113
Essay Scoring Guide	p. 114
Sample Essays: 11-12 Range, 10-11 Range, and 8-9 Range	p. 116
English Grammar and Usage	p. 123
2400 Club Grammar-Savvy TIPS	p. 124
Take Care to Read the Original Versions of Sentences or Paragraphs Very Carefully	p. 124
Identify, First, All Verbs and Pronouns That Are Underlined	p. 124
Pay Close Attention to the Nonunderlined Portions of Sentences and Paragraphs	p. 125
Select "No Error" Approximately 15-20 Percent of the Time	p. 125
Hierarchy of Grammar Glitches	p. 126
Verb Errors	p. 126
Pronoun Errors	p. 129
Faulty Idioms	p. 131
Lack of Parallelism	p. 133
Diction Errors	p. 134
Misplaced Modifiers	p. 136
Adjective Versus Adverb Errors	p. 136
Plural-Singular Inconsistency	p. 137
Redundancy and Wordiness (Relatives of Flabby Phrasing)	p. 138
Faulty Comparisons	p. 139
Run-ons (Comma Splices) and Fragments	p. 141
Improving Sentences	p. 145
2400 Club Strategies: The 4Cs of Improving Sentences	p. 145
Correctness	p. 146
Clarity	p. 146
Conciseness	p. 146
Colloquialisms	p. 147
Be Alert to Introductory Phrases	p. 147
Be a Grammar Guru-Know Your Mantras	p. 148
Follow Through	p. 148
Practice Test Questions	p. 148
Answers and Explanations	p. 153
Identifying Sentence Errors	p. 155
The Overpreparation Method: Find the Error, Name the Error, Fix the Error	p. 155
Warm-Up Exercises	p. 156
Practice Test Questions	p. 159
Answers and Explanations	p. 163
Improving Paragraphs	p. 167
You Become the Editor	p. 167
Peer Editing	p. 167
Your Job in a Nutshell	p. 168
2400 Club Strategy: Read, Read, Reread	p. 168
Practice Test Questions	p. 169
Answers and Explanations	p. 171
2400 Club Grand Mixture	p. 173
Practice Test Questions	p. 173
Answers and Explanations	p. 180
The Math Sections	p. 185
Getting Started	p. 187
The New SAT	p. 187
Easy Versus Hard Questions	p. 187
Grid-Ins	p. 192
What Are They?	p. 192
What the Answers Cannot Be	p. 193
Gridding-in Rules	p. 193
Question Difficulty	p. 193
Scoring	p. 193
Final Tip	p. 194
Tips for the SAT Math Sections	p. 196
Question Difficulty	p. 196
Guessing	p. 196
The Test Booklet	p. 197
Your Answer Sheet	p. 197
Calculators	p. 197
How to Use the Graphing Calculator	p. 198
Some Final Tips	p. 199
Strategies for Solving SAT Math Problems	p. 201
Pick a Number	p. 201
Plug-In	p. 205
The Graphing Calculator	p. 209
Identifying a Graph	p. 209
Intersection of Two Graphs	p. 210
Transformations	p. 211
Inequalities	p. 212
Some Additional Tips	p. 213
Geometry	p. 213
Simultaneous Equations	p. 214
Shaded Areas	p. 215
Sets	p. 216
Topics in Arithmetic	p. 217
Sets	p. 217
Sets of Numbers	p. 217
Consecutive Integers	p. 217
Factors and Multiples	p. 218
Prime Numbers	p. 218
Rational Numbers	p. 218
Sets and Elements	p. 218
Union and Intersection	p. 219
Squares and Square Roots	p. 219
Ratio, Proportion, Percents	p. 220
Percent Increase and Decrease	p. 221
Counting and Probability	p. 222
Counting	p. 222
Permutations and Combinations	p. 222
Probability	p. 223
Events	p. 223
Probability of an Event	p. 223
Mutually Exclusive Events	p. 224
Independent Events	p. 224
Sequences and Series	p. 227
Arithmetic and Geometric Sequences and Series	p. 227
Sequences Involving Exponential Growth	p. 228
Practice Test Questions	p. 229
Answers and Explanations	p. 231
Topics in Algebra	p. 237
Exponents	p. 237
Scientific Notation	p. 238
Polynomials	p. 239
Factoring	p. 239
Rational Expressions	p. 240
Absolute Value	p. 240
Direct and Indirect Variation	p. 240
Rate Problems	p. 240
Solving Equations and Inequalities	p. 242
Linear Equations and Inequalities	p. 242
Quadratic Equations and Inequalities	p. 242
Equations with Radicals	p. 242
Equations with x[superscript 2]	p. 243
Exponential Equations	p. 243
Equations with Rational Expressions	p. 243
Inequalities with Rational Expressions	p. 243
Equations and Inequalities with Absolute Value	p. 243
Systems of Linear Equations and Inequalities	p. 246
Functions	p. 247
Definition	p. 247
Function Notation	p. 249
Domain and Range	p. 249
The Linear Function	p. 251
The Quadratic Function	p. 253
Transformations	p. 257
Functions as Models	p. 261
Unfamiliar Definitions of Functions	p. 262
Practice Test Questions	p. 263
Answers and Explanations	p. 267
Topics in Geometry	p. 275
Points, Lines, Angles	p. 275
Parallel Lines	p. 276
Triangles	p. 278
Types of Triangles	p. 278
Some Triangle Facts	p. 279
Special Right Triangles	p. 279
Trigonometric Ratios	p. 279
Similar Triangles	p. 280
Quadrilaterals and Polygons	p. 282
Quadrilaterals	p. 282
Angles in a Quadrilateral	p. 282
Polygons	p. 283
Areas and Perimeters	p. 284
Area	p. 284
Perimeter	p. 285
Circles	p. 286
Circumference and Area	p. 286
Arc and Sector	p. 286
Tangents	p. 287
Inscribed Circles and Polygons	p. 287
Solid Geometry	p. 288
Prisms and Cylinders	p. 288
Cones and Pyramids	p. 289
Coordinate Geometry	p. 291
Distance	p. 291
Slope	p. 292
Geometric Transformations	p. 292
Symmetry	p. 293
Geometric Probability	p. 295
Practice Test Questions	p. 296
Answers and Explanations	p. 299
Topics in Statistics	p. 307
Averages	p. 307
Arithmetic Mean	p. 307
Median	p. 307
Mode	p. 308
Weighted Average	p. 308
Data Interpretation	p. 309
Tables (Matrices)	p. 309
Graphs	p. 309
Circle Graphs	p. 309
Line Graphs	p. 310
Bar Graphs	p. 311
Pictographs	p. 311
Scatterplots	p. 312
Line of Best Fit	p. 313
Tips For Solving Problems that Involve Statistical Graphs	p. 314
Practice Test Questions	p. 314
Answers and Explanations	p. 318
Word Problems	p. 321
Why the Fuss?	p. 321
How to Approach a Word Problem	p. 321
Problem Types	p. 322
Translating English into Math	p. 323
Some Additional Tips	p. 323
Practice Test Questions	p. 327
Answers and Explanations	p. 330
2400 Club Grand Mixture	p. 335
Practice Test Questions	p. 336
Answers and Explanations	p. 346
Upper-level Vocabulary Building	p. 357
2400 Club Vocabulary Immersion	p. 357
Four-Letter-Word List for Club Members	p. 358
Upper-Level Word Lists for Club Members	p. 359
Useful Math Formulas	p. 365
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