Critical SAT and ACT Advice: Don't take your school brain to the test!

Critical SAT and ACT Advice:
Don't take your school brain to the test!

What in earth does that mean?

Basically, if you are in a typical western schooling environment (e.g. TAS, TES, KC, etc), you are taught to draw conclusions in a big way. Teachers like to push you to use your imagination and infer all kinds of things that are not in reading passages. In fact, for many school teachers, especially literature teachers, the more you infer the happier they are.

So, what's the problem?

SAT, ACT, TOEFL, IELTS, GRE, and GMAT are standardized tests, which means that there can be only one correct answer. The kind of inferring that is common in school leads to multiple possible answers, so it's unsuitable for standardized tests.

The basic rule is this: only make one tiny inference - the smaller the better. Let me illustrate what I mean.

If your friend looks like he's in pain, and he's massaging his leg, what can you reasonably infer?

Only one thing: his leg hurts.

What can't you reasonably infer?
He got injured playing basketball.
He had an accident.
He woke up with a sore leg.
His sister kicked him.
A dog bit him.
He's malnourished.
He's got a rash.
Etc.

Even though this is boring as an inference, it's the only thing you can REASONABLY infer. Anything else is evidence of an overactive imagination and will give you a LOWER SCORE!

Remember: in a standardized test like the SAT and ACT, make the smallest inference possible. In fact, if you see direct evidence of an answer choice, that's even better than a choice you have to draw an inference about.

Always use what I term "the point test" - if you can't point directly to the evidence for an answer choice, it's probably wrong.

Thinking about it mathematically:
No inference > small inference > large inference

Remember: there is no place for imagination in a standardized test - always find evidence in the passage.