YOU CAN ANSWER SOME COMBINATION OF ANSWERS CORRECTLY ANDLEAVE SOME...

10. You can answer some combination of answers correctly andleave some questions blank and still get a good score.It is important to remember these last three facts. They mean (1) thatyou should try to answer as many of the questions at the beginningof the test as possible, (2) that you can use chronological order tohelp you answer questions, and (3) that you do not have to answerall the questions.

EDUCATED GUESSING

One technique that is especially helpful is “educated guessing.” Usethis strategy when you do not know the correct answer immediately,but you do know something about the content of the question andcan eliminate at least one answer choice.• First, ignore answers that are absolutely wrong.• Eliminate choices in which part of the answer is incorrect.• Discard choices that are illogical or unrelated to thesubject.• Check the time period of the question and of the answerchoices. Discard any answers that don’t fit.• Check the key words in the question again.• Reread remaining answers to discover which seems mostcorrect.• Choose the answer that feels right. Trust yourself. Yoursubconscious usually will guide you to the correct choice.Do not argue with yourself.You are probably thinking about the quarter-point deduction for anincorrect answer, and you are wondering if taking a chance is worththe possible point loss. Recognize that if you use this strategy, yourchances of scoring higher are excellent. You are not guessing, butmaking an “educated guess.” You will have to answer four questionswrong to lose a single point. If you have an idea about which choiceis correct, act on it. Even the College Board suggests that you guessas long as you can eliminate some answer choices as wrong.

PACING

Test-Taking StrategyAnswering ninety to ninety-five questions in 60 minutes may seemlike running a marathon. It is important to remember that you may

In skipping questions, be

not be able to answer all the questions, even with educated guessing.

sure to skip their answer

But you should pace yourself so you can read all the questions,

ovals on the answer sheet.

answer the easier ones, and leave the harder ones to return to.Because the questions at the beginning of the test tend to beeasier, you might plan to spend more time on those questions andless time on the final questions. For example, rather than allottingyourself 45 seconds to read and answer each question, think aboutdividing your 60 minutes into 15-minute or 20-minute segments. Thendivide up the questions so that you tackle more in the first 15 or 20minutes when you are fresh than in the last 15 or 20 minutes whenyou are tired and the questions are more difficult. Or if you startslowly, surge in the middle, and lag at the end, you might try to paceyourself to answer more questions in the middle of the test. One ofthe benefits of taking theDiagnostic andPractice Testsin this bookis that you can devise a pacing schedule that fits how you work.In developing your plan, however, understand that when we sayyou may be working on fifteen questions in the final 15 minutes, wedo not necessarily mean that you are doing the last fifteen questionson the test in those final 15 minutes. We mean that you are workingon the last fifteen questions that are the most difficult for you. Youshould skip truly difficult questions on your first pass through of thetest rather than spend time trying to figure them out. Even theCollege Board suggests this.Here are some other suggestions to help you pace yourself:• Don’t spend too much time on a difficult question.• If you read a question and the content and none of the

Don’t make marks on the

answer choices seem familiar, skip the question. Put an

answer sheet except to fill in

answer ovals. Stray marks

“X” next to it in the test booklet, and be sure you skip the

confuse the machine that

answer oval.

scores the tests.

• If you read a question and don’t know the answerimmediately, but at least one of the answer choices seemswrong, try the steps listed above on page 51 for makingan educated guess. If you can’t immediately eliminate anyother answer choices, don’t spend any more time on it.Put a check (U) next to it and move on, skipping theanswer oval for the question.• When you have read through the entire test and answeredwhat you can immediately or with a few seconds’thought, go back first to the questions marked with acheck and try those again. If you still have time, try thequestions you marked with an X.One word of advice: Don’t worry if a question at the beginningof the test seems difficult to you. Although we say those questionstend to be easier, all things are relative. What may be a snap questionfor some students because the subject was a favorite of their teach-er’s may be a blank to other students because their class never gotpast World War II.

ANALYZING QUESTIONS

The SAT II: U.S. History Test assesses your understanding of contentand your ability to manipulate content. That means how well youinterpret data, draw conclusions, evaluate accuracy, assess theconsistency among positions, and so on—the kinds of skills that youhave learned and use in social studies classes.As you’ve just read, the test assesses four types of knowledgeand abilities and uses four question types to do this. The followingexamples illustrate how the test writers mix and match questiontypes and content to assess what you know and can do.

R

^ECALL

Q

^UESTIONSSome questions simply ask for straight recall of information. Theywant to know what facts, terms, concepts, and generalizations youare able to recall. These questions may be in the form of a straightfor-ward question or sentence completion, such as the following:Which of the following was true of the EmancipationProclamation of 1863?(A) It immediately freed slaves in Southern states or partsof Southern states under Union occupation.(B) It freed slaves in Southern states still at war with theUnion on January 1, 1864.(C) It freed slaves only in the border states.(D) It guaranteed freedom for slaves who escaped behindthe Union lines.(E) It freed all enslaved blacks when the war ended.The correct answer is (B). This question asks you to look forwhat is true in the following list. The Emancipation Proclamation didnot affect slaves in Southern states or parts of Southern statesoccupied by the Union, choice (A). Choice (C) is wrong because itwas very important that the border states stay in the Union; freeingtheir slaves might have driven them out. The Confiscation Act freedslaves who escaped behind the Union lines, so choice (D) is wrong.The Thirteenth Amendment ended slavery, so choice (E) is incorrect.The Emancipation Proclamation did decree that slaves in states still atwar with the Union on January 1, 1864 would be free. It was aproclamation without any force, but it did help to sway the Britishaway from supporting the South.A recall question may also use a qualifier such as NOT, LEAST,or EXCEPT, such as the following:All of the following spurred European interest in explora-tion EXCEPT(A) the rise of nation-states(B) the Renaissance(C) development of a market for luxury goods from Asia(D) technological advances, such as the printing press andthe astrolabe(E) development of African slavery as a businessBoth of these questions ask you to recall certain information that youhave learned. The second question has a twist. It wants the wrong

If you did not immediately

answer, that is, it wants you to select the choice that was not

know the answer to either

question, it is possible that

responsible for driving European interest in world exploration. To

you could make an educated

answer questions like this that ask you to find the answer choice that

guess by eliminating answer

does not belong, ask yourself if the answer choice is correct in

choices.

relation to the content. If it is, cross it off, and try the next response.Keep going until you find a response that is not true in relation tothe content of the question. Similar questions may use key wordssuch as NOT and LEAST.The correct answer is choice (E). If you were not sure whetherthe other choices were correct, you could at least determine thatchoice (E) is incorrect because the trans-Atlantic slave trade was aresult of explorations, not a motivating factor.Recall questions can also be based on visuals.