Overview of the SAT Reading Section
One of the sections of SAT includes the reading section. This section tests the student's proficiency in the English language, and the scores are handed between 200-800. A student must have a command over the language and should know the standard English usage to convey complex ideas.
The test has reading passages that a candidate must read, understand and interpret to present personal and meaningful insights about the same.
SAT reading section has 52 MCQs based on five different passages, and around 65 minutes are provided to complete it.
Four of the five passages are standalone, while one has a pair of passages a student needs to read together. The pair of passages also comprises infographics such as charts and tables. The questions following these passages focus on understanding the text clearly and include three distinct kinds: synthetic, rhetoric, or factual.
The synthetic questions require the student to draw conclusions from the information provided or the additional graphics and build a coherent relationship between the ideas presented in the passage.
The rhetorical questions demand the candidate to debate the meaning and tone of the passage. Finally, the factual questions will determine the direct and indirect references taken from the central concept of the written passage.
Reading Section in Detail: Syllabus
Before we move to the Reading section tips, let’s move to understand the syllabus.
Wondering how many passages in SAT reading section are there? Let’s take a deeper look at the format and syllabus of SAT reading section.
It consists of 52 multiple-choice questions based on one pair of passages and four independent passages. These passages will be about 500-750 words each. So, every passage will have an overall of 10-12 questions following it.
One of these passages, possibly a pair of passages, will also present information via graphics like charts, graphs, and tables.
As for the syllabus, here are the following documents from which the passage will be extracted:
- Two passages are obtained from specific scientific works that revolve around foundational concepts from subjects like physics, chemistry, biology, or Earth Science.
- One or two passages are derived from the US founding document or an inspired text from Great Global Conversation. An example of the same is the US constitution. As for the Great Global Conversation, it points to the work done around the world, focused on topics like human dignity, justice and freedom. Nelson Mandela's speech is an excellent example of the same.
- There will be one fictional literary passage.
- Lastly, one passage is drawn out from works of social science, sociology, psychology or economics.
Scoring
Getting a good score in all sections of SAT is essential if you want to make it to Ivy League colleges like Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, Yale, Cornell university, etc. SAT scoring falls on a scale of 200-800.
A student looking to get above-average scores would need an overall 1060 score. For that, one would need to score above 533 in the Reading and Writing sections.
But, to get a good score that would look good on the competitive applications for college entrances, a student must score overall of 1470-1560. In other terms, the candidate must attain 710-770 in the Reading and Writing section.