SAT Facts » Critical Reading

The Critical Reading Section (70 minutes in total)

  • 25 minute section with 24 questions comprised of:
    • 8 Sentence Completion questions
    • 4 Short Critical Reading Passage questions
    • 12 Critical Reading questions from 1 passage
  • 25 minute section with 24 questions comprised of:
    • 5 Sentence Completion questions
    • 4 Short Critical Reading Passage questions
    • 15 Critical Reading questions from 2 separate passages
  • 20 minute section with 19 questions:
    • 6 Sentence Completion questions
    • 13 Critical Reading questions from 2 related passages
      • 4-5 questions relating to Passage 1
      • 4-5 questions relating to Passage 2
      • 2-4 questions asking you to compare/contrast the two passages

Scoring: 200 – 800 points

Skills Needed:

  • Sentence Completion questions aim to measure your: (i) knowledge of the meanings of words; and (ii) ability to understand how the different parts of a sentence fit logically together. (examples here)
  • Reading Comprehension & Paragraph-length Critical Reading questions on the SAT measure your ability to read and think carefully. The passages range in length from 100 to about 850 words and span a variety of different topics. On the test you will see the following types of questions:
    • Vocabulary in Context questions where you determine the meanings of words from their context in the passage.
    • Literal Comprehension questions aim to assess your understanding of important information directly stated in the reading passage.
    • Extended Reasoning questions aim not only to measure your ability to distill and analyze information but also to evaluate the assumptions made and the techniques used by the author. The majority of the reading questions fall into this category and you may be asked to: identify cause and effect, make inferences, recognize a main idea or the author’s tone, or follow the logic of an analogy or an argument.