Aaron of Prepped and Polished teaches you how to identify trap answers on the SAT and ACT reading sections.

Both the reading section on the SAT and the ACT proved to be very challenging for many students for several reasons. First of all, if a student does not like reading, these sections will be incredibly challenging. The other factor to consider is how the questions are presented and, more importantly, the answer choices.

When you’re reading a question on the reading section of either the SAT or ACT, you need to be careful about what you are reading. When you’re looking at the question, one thing you want to resonate with yourself is saying what is the question? What are the keywords, the line references, or where is it telling me to look? If we can figure that out, you’re on the right path to answering the question. Another option you could consider is if you know the answer right away or if you know where to find it. If that’s the case, you can immediately go to that part of the passage and answer the question accordingly.

Extreme answers

One trap answer that I find more often than not on both sections of the SAT reading and ACT reading is extreme answers. These answers sometimes include words such as always, never, hate, love, completely disagree, completely agree. When you have something that is as extreme and absolute as these answers, more often than not, it cannot be considered correct.

What was your biggest takeaway from this podcast about how to identify trap answers on the SAT and ACT reading sections? Do you have any questions for Aaron and Alexis Avila?

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