The objective of the Common Sense SAT Workbook is simple: To help as many students as possible improve their SAT scores (Reading, Writing, Math) as much as possible. To achieve this end, the following means are provided: For each subject, a concise synopsis of test-taking techniques to help answer more questions correctly; for Reading, a basic study of Latin prefixes, roots and suffixes to improve vocabulary; for Writing, a complete English primer to learn or review the rules of grammar; and for Math, also a complete primer to learn or review all the skills and operations required for the test. For Writing and Math, each rule, skill or operation is defined, exemplified, proceeded by a set of ten related problems, then cross-referenced against the ten tests within the Official SAT Study Guide TM: Second Edition, the only available source for real SAT's. Summarily, if a student makes an effort as well as learns from his or her mistakes - a cornerstone to any good education - then his or her SAT scores will naturally and significantly increase.
The Common Sense SAT Workbook
The Unofficial Companion to the Official SAT Study GuideBy Jon C. FreemanAuthorHouse
Copyright © 2009 Jon C. Freeman, IGL
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4490-3799-4Contents
How to Use This Workbook...............................1Progress Report........................................3I. History of the SAT................................5II. Orientation.......................................31Test Structure.........................................33Level of Difficulty....................................35How the Test Is Scored.................................37Another Way to Look at SAT Scoring.....................42Leaving Questions Blank................................44Process of Elimination & Guessing......................47Common Sense Advice....................................49Establishing a Goal Score..............................50Orientation Summary....................................51III. Reading...........................................53Orientation & Techniques...............................55Roots Vocabulary.......................................71200 Words..............................................107IV. Writing...........................................125Orientation............................................127The Word...............................................137The Phrase.............................................193The Sentence...........................................239The Essay..............................................323V. Math..............................................357Orientation & Techniques...............................359Arithmetic.............................................377Algebra................................................429Geometry...............................................495SAT Math...............................................561VI. Appendix..........................................591Reading Answers........................................593Writing Answers........................................598Math Answers...........................................621Answer Key to Official SAT.............................633Writing Index..........................................663Math Index.............................................666
Chapter One
History of the SAT
What Is Intelligence? 8 Nature Versus Nurture 11 The Bell Curve 13 The IQ Test 16 The SAT 18 The Controversy Surrounding the SAT 22 Can You Significantly Improve Your SAT Score or Not? 26 Footnotes 27
Year in and year out, students asked the same three questions: One, "Why do I have to take this stupid test?" Two, "Is the SAT supposed to measure intelligence or what?" And three, "Can I improve my score or not?" Now naturally, having been a dedicated and conscientious teacher, these questions were taken seriously each and every time, no matter how many times they have been heard before. Such lovely mutants, teenagers. Thus, through wisdom born of infinite patience, I developed standard answers to these standard questions about standardized testing. To wit, one, "You have to take the stupid test, because it's there"; two, "The SAT measures don't know, don't care"; and three, "No, you can't improve your score. We're hanging out together in a classroom after school for fun."
But then one day, while dedicatedly and conscientiously teaching an SAT course, either I started to go crazy- Afterall, the SAT is the same test with the same type of questions in the same format year in and year out- Nevermind the same questions from the same students?? Or ambition got the better part of me. Meaning, I either needed to find a new career ... Boot Lackey, Cat Burglar, Dog Catcher ... Or I needed a new challenge in my present career, like offering my SAT course to every high school in the world, thereby taking on lots of office hours and employees, planning two-week vacations years in advance, with retirement nowhere in sight ... Or I could write an SAT workbook?! A six-months-to-a-year effort- Had a good start anyway with a manual I was using for my course- Chicken scratch really, but if I were to flesh it out? Why if just 5% percent of the approximately two million students who take the SAT each year were to purchase my workbook? And if I, as an underpaid and underappreciated first-time author, were to receive 10% off the cover price of every workbook sold, say $1.80 on $18.00? Why, this means I could earn $180,000/year?! Which to me, is no chump change. Rather, I could continuously travel the world for the rest of my life and never have to work another day in my life- Except maybe to make some occasional changes to my workbook, of course ...
So, with all this in mind, I started to establish courses in every high school in the world- No, I sat down at my desk at the home office, stared out the window, and begged the workbook to write itself ... Going to places where no man has ever gone before. When time stops ... And then one day, miracle of miracles?! The workbook was complete! The happiest man alive- For about two seconds. Because, right when everything I knew about the SAT was finally etched in stone, the College Board, the distributors of the SAT, announced that there would be content and structural changes to the test for the first time in ten years! Grammar questions?! An essay?! ! What? There's now more to the test than just filling in bubbles?! I thought about quitting. But, as a future internationally renowned, Nobel Peace prize winning author, how could I quit? So, undaunted and unfazed (read: catatonic and vegetative), I sucked in my gut, took in a deep breath, and- You know the story: Miracle of miracles and all, a workbook complete, etc. Except for one thing: An introduction. Because every book has an introduction, right? And as to what to write for an introduction? Who cares?! No one is going to read the it anyway ...
Yet, if someone were to read the introduction? Why then it must possess a certain dignitas gravitas, representative of the author and his work, such that the veracity, integrity, and wisdom of his words can not be doubted. Hmm, but what to say ...? How about finally answering those repetitive and nagging questions: "Why do you have to take this stupid test?" (In other words, "Where in the heck did the SAT come from?"); "Is the SAT supposed to measure intelligence or what?"; and "Can I improve my score or not?" So, again, I sucked in my gut again- And let me tell you, sitting in a chair all day writing a book is definitely not good for your physique- I went straight to the Internet looking for some fast, easy answers. But, wouldn't you know it? A funny thing happened along the path of least resistance. That is, the more I delved into the subject of the SAT, the "curiouser" it became. Touching upon subjects I never knew about and others that I thought would be totally irrelevant to the SAT ... Following e-leads that had me believing 1 + 1 = 3!! Until finally, never touching the bottom of a bottomless well of information, I just decided to come to one momentous conclusion!!! Which, lucky you, I will share now. (Clear my throat.) The more you know, the less you know ... Now, as to those nagging and repetitive questions - and if you have managed to read this far, you might as well plod on as...
