Monday, September 10, 2012

SAT Critical Reading Bias, use it to score.

SAT Critical Reading is biased in many ways. Learn how and use the test's biases against it for an improved score. In this new series of blogs, I will show the most blatant bias, how the writers of college entrance exams have a tendency to be politically correct. Though this is not always true, it is mostly true and therefore a technique to know and follow.

They lean toward positive comments regarding females, as well as ethnic and racial minorities. Why? I don't really know, though I could speculate. But I don't really care. All I care about is that my students have an increased score. I do know this much, it does exist, it is recognizable, and mastering the technique of using the bias creates a higher score.

Today's CollegeBoard.org's question of the day is such a classic example that it was the catalyst to write about their leanings. The sentence completion question was about Shakespeare heroines. The answer choices were:

A). imperious
B). suffering
C). excitable
D). resourceful
E). precocious

The obvious answer is D, simply because it is the only 100% positive, pro-female, politically correct response. The first clue from the sentence that the answer MUST be positive is the use of "heroine" to identify the characteristic of the women. The second clue is that the answer is a modifier of a female.

Answer choices A, B, and C are not 100% positive and pro-female. E is not necessarily negative, but precocious means premature development and is used to modify a child. The term "women" in the sentence refers to mature females and not children.

Look for the positive responses in regard to SAT Critical Reading sentences and passages that deal with women and ethnic or racial minorities.


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