Chapter 1
The SAT Reading Test will focus on your comprehension and reasoning skills when presented with challenging extended prose passages taken from a variety of content areas.
| SAT Reading Test Overview | |
|---|---|
| Timing | 65 minutes |
| Questions | 52 passage-based multiple-choice questions |
| Passages | 4 single passages; 1 set of paired passages |
| Passage Length | 500–750 words per passage or passage set |
Passages will draw from U.S. and World Literature, History/Social Studies, and Science. One set of History/Social Studies or Science passages will be paired. History/Social Studies and Science passages can also be accompanied by graphical representations of data such as charts, graphs, tables, and so on.
| Reading Test Passage Types | |
|---|---|
| U.S. and World Literature | 1 passage with 10 questions |
| History/Social Studies | 2 passages or 1 passage and 1 paired-passage set with 10–11 questions each |
| Science | 2 passages or 1 passage and 1 paired-passage set with 10–11 questions each |
The multiple-choice questions for each passage will be arranged in order from the more general to the more specific so that you can actively engage with the entire passage before answering questions about details.
| Skills Tested by Reading Test Questions | |
|---|---|
| Information and Ideas | Close reading, citing textual evidence, determining central ideas and themes |
| Summarizing | Understanding relationships, interpreting words and phrases in context |
| Rhetoric | Analyzing word choice, assessing overall text structure, assessing part-whole relationships, analyzing point of view, determining purpose, analyzing arguments |
| Synthesis | Analyzing multiple texts, analyzing quantitative information |