we won\u2019t beat around the bush. there\u2019s a lot to read on the new sat reading test. and if you aren\u2019t careful with balancing your time between reading and question answering, you very well might find yourself in a panic when the proctor announces 5 minutes left. so let\u2019s talk about how you can learn to pace yourself appropriately.<\/p>\n
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on average, you have one minute and fifteen seconds to answer each question on the sat reading test, but this includes reading time. the time you actually have per question will depend on exactly how long the passage is, how complex the passage is, and how fast of a reader you are.<\/p>\n
since everyone reads at a different pace and some passages are denser than others, it\u2019s better to think about the approximate time you can spend per passage rather than per question. with 65 minutes for the whole redesigned sat reading test, this means you have 13 minutes per passage for each of the 5 passages if you pace evenly. so check your watch after each passage and make sure you are roughly on track. don\u2019t panic if you are a little bit over; some passages might take you longer than others, but try to make up the ground as you go.<\/p>\n
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the trick to conquering the sat reading section is finding the perfect balance between reading time and question-answering time.\u00a0 this is going to vary based on the individual, but in an ideal world you want to have enough time to carefully read and understand the passage and enough time to answer each question thoughtfully.<\/p>\n
for most people, this is easier said than done. but you should definitely figure out whether you are wasting too much time trying to understand every morsel of what you read or whether you are reading too quickly and thus wasting too much time re-reading or simply getting answer questions wrong because you blew through the passage in a mad sprint.<\/p>\n
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to help you figure out your pattern, we suggest that once you become familiar with the test, you spend at least one practice section carefully noting your time both for reading the passage and for answering questions. <\/u><\/p>\n
don\u2019t change your natural pace or worry about the overall time limit for the passage! just jot down how long it took you to read the passage and then how long it took you to answer the questions for each one. if you are taking the sat under regular time, you should ideally be finishing the total test within 60 to 65 minutes. if you finish much under that, then you aren\u2019t using your full time to read passages or answer questions carefully. if you finish in much more than that, then you might need to make some decisions about increasing your reading time, skipping some questions, or even skipping an entire passage so you can be more careful on the ones you do do. (of course, always make sure to bubble in guesses for everything: no penalty for incorrect answers on the new sat. happy dance!) <\/p>\n