Using SAT® Skills Insight™

Using SAT® Skills Insight™

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SAT Skills Insight is only a general guide. Its goal is to help you determine and improve your current skill levels in the areas tested on the SAT.

Review Your Options: Begin by determining the level your skills are at right now. Look at each score band to see what types of skills it requires. Decide how comfortable you feel with the skills described. Don’t worry if you’re not an exact match for any one score band; it’s normal to have some of the skills in the next higher or lower band.

Make Your Selection: Start by looking at the scores you earned on the PSAT/NMSQT®, SAT, and any practice tests you have taken. Then choose a separate score band for each section of the SAT—for example, 300–390 for math, 400–490 for critical reading, and 500–590 for writing.

Once you’ve chosen your bands, you can look at the areas that need improvement to help you achieve more.

Writing Skill Groups: 1 2 3 4

1. Manage word choice and grammatical relationships between words

Academic Skills

A typical student in this score band can do the following:

  • SKILL 1: Recognize subject-verb agreement despite multiple distractors and complexities caused by passive construction
  • SKILL 2: Recognize the need for the effective use of concision

Suggestions for Improvement

To prepare for the next score band, try the following:

There are no specific suggestions for improvement for this skill group in this particular score band. However, we encourage you to review the suggestions and examples in other score bands.

Skill Examples

The example questions below demonstrate the Academic Skills found in this score band. Without looking at the answers, try out the questions to see how comfortable you feel with the skills they test.

Skill 1—Example

Recognize subject-verb agreement despite multiple distractors and complexities caused by passive construction

The following sentence tests your ability to recognize grammar and usage errors. The sentence contains either a single error or no error at all. The sentence will not contain more than one error. The error, if there is one, is underlined and lettered. If the sentence contains an error, select the one underlined part that must be changed to make the sentence correct. If the sentence is correct, select choice E. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of standard written English.

The theories of planetary motion  espoused  by Galileo  was  seen as heretical by
  A   B  
members of The Inquisition, who used their power  to force  Galileo to recant and
  C  
spend the last years of his life  under  house arrest.  No error
  D   E
Answer: B
Skill 2—Example

Recognize the need for the effective use of concision

The following sentence tests correctness and effectiveness of expression. Part of the sentence or the entire sentence is underlined; beneath the sentence are five ways of phrasing the underlined material. Choice A repeats the original phrasing; the other four choices are different. If you think the original phrasing produces a better sentence than any of the alternatives, select choice A; if not, select one of the other choices.

In making your selection, follow the requirements of standard written English; that is, pay attention to grammar, choice of words, sentence construction, and punctuation. Your selection should result in the most effective sentence-clear and precise, without awkwardness or ambiguity.

The adaptation of a novel for the screen often requires major adjustments in plot because the one art form differs from the other in having other character-revelation techniques.

  • because the one art form differs from the other in having other character-revelation techniques
  • because the two art forms reveal character in different ways
  • because of the differing ways the two may use for revealing a character
  • inasmuch as there are different ways in the two art forms for character revelation
  • insofar as the two differ in how to reveal character
Answer: B