Solutions

Want to Talk About Math Anxiety?

Today was interesting. I'll start with the end:

It was a good day.

I hardly slept last night because of a terrible headache. Cold medication at 6 am made me feel like I was on serious drugs by 11 am when PWNtheSAT was ready to get to work.

He suggested that he observe me doing a timed math section so that he could get to the bottom of "why I'm so slooooooow." (Quotes, itals, and bold font, all took place in my head.)

Chapstick, chocolate, "SAD" lamp ... check check check

I said go, he set the stopwatch.

I don't know if it was the lack of sleep or the cold medication or the SAD lamp, or the fact that someone was watching me do math -- but to say that 10,000 SATs would be more relaxing than those 25 minutes would not do justice to the experience.

That's the bad news.

Here's the good news:

1) I believe the experience resulted in useful information.

Do you know that it took me 6 excruciating minutes of wrestling with this problem to NOT get to the bottom of it?

I'm not even going to tell you all the wrong roads I took.

After the bell, I learned how to "MacGyver It." (I waited until he left before Googling "MacGyver" -- which I just realized I didn't even spell right on my recipe card.)

2) I learned (again, after the bell), that the shortest way to a Counting & Probability answer is probably to list them all (as illogical as that seems with the clock ticking).

3) I learned that your algebro doesn't have to be so scary.....

4) And, I learned that you don't always have to check all of the answers. If you find the right one on the first try, Move On. You can save precious seconds.

P.S. If you find that my renditions PWNtheSAT's explanations are useful, please let me know. There are many more where these came from. I will post them on the Solutions Page.

Illustrations by Jennifer Orkin Lewis

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Solutions

Flipping Functions, Be Gone With You

Almost eight months in -- and I think I may possibly be getting closer to conquering these suckers.

Let's just say this: no tears were shed today.

PWNtheSAT says I have until Monday, and then we're moving on to triangles. Yikes -- my other pain point.

I actually went so far as to pull every single function related problem out of the Blue Book (i.e. nested, graph, table, symbol, word, and parabola), and I'd say I'm about 3/4 of the way through with them -- to the point of being able to explain them to someone else.

Tomorrow I'm hitting the graphs, which feels like a walk in the park as compared to the nested functions of today.

The nesters still give me the biggest pain in the neck. i.e., these little guys:

In case this is helpful for anyone, here is my rendition of a "Nested Function" recipe:

I keep this (and other recipes) hanging on the walls all over my house.

NOTE: If you actually don't understand functions, PLEASE be sure to see a more legit recipe: PWNtheSAT

Illustrations by Jennifer Orkin Lewis

(Ev, this one's for you.)

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Solutions

A Questionable Question

I haven't been doing much in the way of SAT Critical Reading lately. I've got bigger fish to fry.

That said, I don't want to lose momentum.....and, if the truth be told, I've come to love the Critical Reading sections (and yes, I am telling the truth).

Thanks in large part to my marathon lunch dates with Erica Meltzer, I rarely get a reading question wrong these days. You can click on this page to see my renditions of her Critical Reading "recipes" (i.e. don't blame Erica if you don't understand. I take full responsibility for the translation.)

But every once in a while, I come across a question that stumps me.

Take, for example, the following:

Flummoxed, I answered incorrectly. I knew my answer was wrong, but I couldn't see a right answer.

Ok, STOP reading before you see the explanation below, and tell me:

A) Which one would you choose?
B) Which one do you think I picked?

I'm obsessed, determined, and like a dog with a bone: I asked nearly everyone I know, "is this question legit?"

PWNtheSAT 's response made the most sense (to me):

Tough question, but it's legit. You can't infer A through D, because they're all too specific. You can't really ever infer a phrase was "first used" unless the author comes right out and says it directly. There's no mention of "college educated" women, and WWII is really only mentioned to establish a setting. So you COULD get it by elimination if you're careful.

The real reason the answer is legit, though, can best be illustrated with analogy.

What would you think if you read that "some people ALREADY had internet access in 1985," or "Springsteen was ALREADY a local hero in New Jersey before he broke nationally"?

The implication, when you use "already" in this sense, is that something is ahead of the curve. "Male chauvinist" is a common phrase today, but it clearly wasn't then or the author wouldn't have felt the need to say "already." So the implication is that in 1945, use of the phrase was rare, but it's commonplace today.

Illustrations by Jennifer Orkin Lewis

Critical Reading Tips from Erica

I've been meaning to transcribe my notes from my meetings with Erica Meltzer, but it took a commenter to inspire me into action.

This short part of a long passage below is on page 900 in the College Board Blue Book (i.e. Test 9, Section 4).

Make a "Mental Map" of how the argument functions
Circle transitions, dashes, conjunctions
Note if it’s “I” (means it’s "personal," and often "personal anecdote”)
Note when they say “Thus” (signals conclusion)
Read every word of the last paragraph
Write down the main point when you are done
Quotes & Dashes signal something important

This passage also happens to be written by Oliver Sacks (though they don't mention that). Read Erica's post about where the passages come from if you're interested in knowing more. She told me that they often come from the introduction of a book.

I'm pretty sure I recognized a passage from Michael Pollan's Botany of Desire on the June 2011 SAT. They don't give that test back so I can't confirm. And on the May 2011 SAT, I had a passage from The Namesake by Jumpa Lahiri, which was breathtaking.

(I'm sorry, but who thinks the SATs aren't fun?!)

My friend Catherine Johnson's book, Animals in Translation, has also appeared in a Critical Reading section on a PSAT -- and to say I'd be beyond excited to stumble across a friend's book on an actual SAT test, would be an understatement.

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Solutions

Critical Reading

Met with Erica Meltzer on June 11, 2011. Game changing meeting.

Here is her method for the short passages in the SAT Critical Reading section:

Grammar Tips

Here are a few grammar tips from Erica Meltzer for the Writing Section.

Erica Meltzer’s Compare 2 Passages Recipe

First, read the questions to see if there are any that relate to just one of the two passasges. If so, read that passage first and answer those questions.
Read passage 1. Circle transitions, dashes, colons, etc. They signal something important.
Underline last sentence (i.e. main idea)
Quickly jot down main idea in your own words in shorthand.
Note the tone: + -
Read second passage and repeat steps 2-5.
Note the "relationship" in shorthand between the two passages.
Cover up answers and come up with your own answer. Uncover answers and see if one of the multiple choice answers matches yours.
Write down everything so you are not taxing your working memory.