Monday, November 17, 2008

Examples of Extreme Language In Critical Reading

I took the following wrong answers from the Official SAT Study Guide:

p. 458 choice (D) They were universally admired by British women from every class of society

p. 467 choice (A) was exasperated that she allowed Waverly to embarrass her in public

p. 470 choice (B) criticize the human obsession with time

I noticed a common thread contained in the above answer choices--all had extreme language, ie. super positives or super negatives

Extreme language answers are often wrong because the subject matter of the passages is rarely radically one sided. When practicing passage based reading beware of extreme language in answer choices. Look for more moderate and reasonable language.

Try and locate all wrong answers which contain extreme language. This will help eliminate tempting choices and increase the odds of finding the correct answer.

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