SAT Flashcards: Reading and Writing
SAT — Reading and Writing Flashcards
20 interactive flashcards for SAT Reading and Writing. Press Space to flip, rate 1-4.
Additional Flashcard Topics
- Main Idea: the central point the author is making. Found in the introduction or conclusion. Every supporting detail connects back to this idea.
- Evidence-Based Answers: always verify answers against specific textual evidence. The correct answer is directly supported by the passage; incorrect answers may be true but unsupported.
- Inference: drawing logical conclusions from textual evidence. Inferences must be directly supported, not reasonable guesses or assumptions.
- Vocabulary in Context: the meaning of a word in a specific passage. Don’t rely on your first definition, consider how the word is used in context.
- Text Structure: how the passage is organised, chronological, cause-effect, comparison-contrast, problem-solution. Understanding structure aids comprehension.
- Rhetorical Devices: metaphor, analogy, anecdote, statistic, expert opinion. Authors use these to support claims and engage readers.
Intuition
The SAT Reading and Writing section tests your ability to understand, analyse, and edit texts. Reading questions require you to identify the main idea, find evidence, and make inferences, always return to the passage to verify your answer. Writing questions test grammar conventions, sentence structure, and rhetorical effectiveness, the best answer is the one that is clear, concise, and grammatically correct. The digital SAT adapts difficulty based on your performance, so mastering fundamentals is essential before tackling harder questions.
How to Use These Flashcards
First pass: Go through all 20 cards without rating, just flip and read. This familiarises you with the content and identifies weak areas.
Rating system: 1 = could not recall, 2 = recalled with difficulty, 3 = recalled correctly, 4 = instant recall. The spaced repetition algorithm shows cards rated 1-2 more frequently.
Time pressure: SAT is timed. After mastering the content, practice flipping through cards quickly to build speed and accuracy under pressure.
Common Pitfalls
- Overthinking inferences: Choosing an answer that goes beyond what the passage supports, SAT inferences must be directly supported by textual evidence, not reasonable guesses.
- Subject-verb agreement across clauses: Forgetting that a verb must agree with its subject even when a prepositional phrase separates them, “The list of items IS long,” not “are.”
- Redundancy and wordiness: The SAT favours concise writing, if two choices say the same thing, the shorter one is in most cases correct. Eliminate unnecessary qualifiers and vague language.
Cross-References
- Site Home: Main landing page for sat notes.
- Practice: Practice problems for revision.
- Reading Comprehension: Deep dive into reading strategies and question types.
- Grammar: Grammar rules tested in the writing section.
Detailed Content
Core Concepts
Worked Examples
Common Mistakes
- Rushing through foundational material
- Not practising problems after reading
- Failing to connect concepts across topics