Picture a high school student methodically going over the answers in her head to this Sphynx like question: Because our supply of fossil fuel has been sadly ___, we must find ____ sources of energy. The possible answers are: a. stored...hoarded, b. compensated...significant, c. exhausted...inefficient, d. increased...available, and e. depleted...alternative. If this question raises the stress in your system, just imagine what it does to the high school student whose vocabulary isn't up to snuff, and whose world is increasingly more complicated by the high stakes world of college admissions. Based on GPA (grade point average), a student's writing skills, and the scores she can earn on questions like this found on the SAT college entrance test, getting into the right competitive college can seem more elusive as the educational buzzer rings its ominous bells.
The SAT, one of the more prominent college entrance exams a student must take in order to get into a choice university, is a test that is challenging and multi-faceted in its testing approach. Not only must one have an extensive knowledge in vocabulary, a high comprehension in reading selections, a vast understanding of the "ins" and "outs" of grammar, and a deft skill of writing, but today's high school imminently graduating senior must also know the "how to's" of how the test "thinks," and have a mastery of identifying the "traps" the test sets out to its gullible test takers. The SAT is not for the weak of heart; however, be stout-hearted. If a student--and her parent--properly gird themselves with the proper tutelage, and an awareness of what it takes, getting the appropriate scores on the SAT will be a conquerable goal, with the ultimate conquest: the multitude of acceptance letters from the select colleges of choice.
First, students and parents must realize that the SAT is an "academic's" test. The English portion of the test is the largest portion, and it consists of an essay writing section, reading comprehension sections that vary in length, sections that require knowledge in grammar and sentence syntax, and lastly a working vocabulary that is well into the post-graduate level. Not only must students be able to confidently answer all questions regarding content, but they must also know, that, similar to Darwin's theory of the "Survival of the Fittest," the SAT put tricks and traps in its test to weed out the unsuspecting and unprepared student. The use of negative words that students are not looking for encourage the student to pick the wrong answer because she is not expecting the "switch" in idea. There are various sentences in which the ideas of the sentence are subtly changed, so that the student is not aware of the shift in thought. Students not cognizant of the different structures of ideas will unwittingly choose an answer that shows a causal relationship, rather than picking the right answer that shows a structure of comparison. Finally, another, but certainly not last, hurdle a student must overcome is realizing that vocabulary words put in the test will expect the student to answer knowing the word's secondary meaning, rather than the common one used in everyday vernacular.
Furthermore, students and parents must realize that tackling the SAT is a reasonable goal, as long as they also realize that they need a "plan of attack." Getting a tutor, taking a class, making a schedule in which a student can study and practice, and continually adding to the student's knowledge of the different aspects the student will be tested on are all things, that if used consistently, will help earn the student a desirable score on the SAT. Doing all these things will deplete the source of test anxiety, and leave the student with the only alternative possible: success (the italicized words indicate the right choice for the multiple choice question).
