AP Language Multiple Choice Strategies and Tips | Coach Hall Writes

Summary

This video offers essential tips for tackling the reading sections of standardized tests like the AP English exams, ACT, and SAT. It emphasizes strategies such as not lingering on tough questions, trusting your first instincts, managing time effectively, and using educated guesses when necessary. The creator highlights techniques like active test-taking, speed reading, and eliminating incorrect answers efficiently. The video also suggests tailoring test-taking strategies to personal preferences by practicing with sample tests. These tips aim to help students improve their performance and confidently approach test day.

Takeaways

• 📅 The video discusses preparing for standardized tests like AP English, ACT, and SAT, especially focusing on the reading sections.
• ⌛ Tip 1: Don't linger on difficult questions—make a guess and move on to save time.
• 🧠 Tip 2: Avoid second-guessing yourself—go with your gut when unsure between two answer choices.
• ⏳ Tip 3: Divide your time evenly across sections and passages based on the number of questions and total time available.
• ⏱️ Tip 4: Get a non-smart watch for testing to manage time properly since some testing room clocks may not work.
• ❓ Tip 5: Answer all questions since there is no penalty for guessing on the AP, ACT, and SAT exams.
• 🔍 Tip 6: Use active test-taking strategies by crossing out wrong answer choices to stay focused and avoid wasting time.
• 📖 Tip 7: Practice skimming and speed reading to get the gist of passages rather than reading every word.
• 🧑‍🎓 Tip 8: Experiment with different strategies—either reading the passage first or reading questions first to find what works best.
• 🔡 Tip 9: Don't try to find patterns in answers, such as choosing the same letter repeatedly or guessing based on myths like 'C is common.'

Q & A

What is the main focus of the video?

The main focus of the video is providing tips for students preparing for the reading sections of standardized tests like the AP English exams, ACT, and SAT, with more specific advice for AP Lang and AP Lit later in the video.

Why does the speaker recommend taking multiple practice tests?

The speaker recommends taking multiple practice tests to experiment with different strategies in a low-pressure environment. This helps students discover what methods work best for them before the actual test.

What should students do if they are stuck between two answer choices on a difficult question?

If students are stuck between two answer choices, they should make their best guess and move on, avoiding spending too much time on a single question to ensure they finish the test.

Why is second-guessing discouraged during the exam?

Second-guessing is discouraged because many students change their answers and often switch to incorrect ones. It's better to trust their initial instincts, especially if they have narrowed down the options.

How should students manage their time during the reading sections of the test?

Students should divide their time evenly by calculating how much time they have per passage. For example, on the AP Lang exam, it's recommended to spend about 15 minutes per passage. Keeping a non-smart watch can help manage time effectively.

What should a student do if they don't finish all questions in a section?

If students don't finish all the questions, they should guess and move on, as there is no penalty for incorrect answers on tests like the AP exams, ACT, and SAT.

What does being an 'active test taker' involve?

Being an 'active test taker' involves marking up the exam by crossing out wrong answers and focusing only on the remaining options, which helps save time and avoids re-reading eliminated choices.

What is a recommended strategy if a student is pressed for time on a reading passage?

If pressed for time, a student can skim the passage, focusing on the first and last paragraphs to get the gist. However, this strategy may not work for everyone, and it is advised to practice it first to see if it's effective.

What are some strategies to simplify complex answer choices?

Students should omit extra words like adverbs or focus on key terms in the question. For example, they can eliminate words with positive or negative connotations that don't match the tone of the passage.

What is the speaker's advice for answering multiple questions in a row if running out of time?

If running out of time and facing multiple questions, the speaker advises selecting one letter (e.g., 'D') and using that for all remaining questions. This avoids trying to create patterns, which decreases the chances of answering correctly.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Preparing for AP, ACT, and SAT Reading Sections

In this introduction, the host welcomes viewers and highlights that April marks the start of testing season for many students, especially for the AP English, ACT, and SAT exams. The reading sections of these exams are often lengthy and difficult to manage within the time limit. This video will provide general tips for preparing for these exams, especially for the reading portions. The speaker notes that these are general strategies that may not work for everyone and recommends taking multiple practice tests to find what works best in a safe environment before the actual exam day.

05:02

⏳ Managing Time During the Reading Section

The first piece of advice given is to avoid lingering on tough questions. If a student is stuck, they should make their best guess and move on, rather than wasting valuable time. The speaker emphasizes the importance of trusting one's first instincts and avoiding second-guessing, which often leads to incorrect answers. Additionally, students should divide their time evenly, ensuring they stay on track by checking their watch regularly. If time runs out during a passage, it’s better to guess and move on than to fall behind. There's no penalty for guessing on AP, ACT, or SAT exams, so it’s important to answer every question.

⏱️ Strategies for Reading Passages Efficiently

Students should learn to skim passages, focusing on getting the general idea rather than reading every word. If time is short, reading the first and last paragraphs can be a helpful shortcut. However, this strategy doesn't work for everyone. Some students do better reading the entire passage before answering questions, while others perform better by reading the questions first and using them to guide their reading. The speaker recommends experimenting with both methods during practice tests to determine which works best for the individual.

🔢 Avoiding Answer Patterns and Extra Words

The speaker debunks myths about answer patterns, urging students not to look for intentional sequences like repeating letters. If a student is running out of time, they should guess by choosing the same letter for all remaining questions instead of trying to form a pattern. The tip for AP English exams involves simplifying questions by eliminating extra words, especially adverbs, and focusing on tone and meaning. This strategy helps students choose between answer choices by understanding the overall attitude or tone of the passage. Additionally, balanced questions with two-part answers should be evaluated carefully to ensure both parts are correct.

🎯 Final Tips and Encouragement

In the conclusion, the speaker encourages students to practice regularly to build confidence with the strategies discussed. They stress that while the reading portions of standardized tests can be intimidating, consistent practice will help students feel more prepared and capable on test day. The video ends with a reminder to like, subscribe, and turn on notifications for more helpful content.

Keywords

💡Testing Season

Testing season refers to the time of year when standardized exams, such as the AP, ACT, and SAT, are administered to students. In the video, the creator mentions April as a significant period for this, indicating that students are actively preparing for these high-stakes assessments.

💡Reading Sections

Reading sections are a part of standardized tests like the AP, ACT, and SAT, where students are required to analyze and answer questions based on written passages. The video focuses on strategies to tackle these sections efficiently, as they can be lengthy and time-constrained, making them challenging for test-takers.

💡Skimming

Skimming is a reading technique where one reads through text quickly to get a general sense of the content, rather than focusing on every word. The video suggests that skimming can help students manage their time better on standardized tests, especially when passages are long and complex.

💡Time Management

Time management refers to the strategy of allocating a specific amount of time to each passage or question during the exam to ensure all sections are completed. The video emphasizes the importance of not lingering on difficult questions and setting a time limit per passage, recommending students monitor their time closely using a non-smart watch.

💡Guessing

Guessing is a test-taking strategy where students choose an answer even if they are unsure. The video mentions that since there is no penalty for wrong answers in the AP, ACT, and SAT, students should always guess rather than leaving questions unanswered, especially when running out of time.

💡Active Test-Taker

Being an active test-taker involves engaging with the exam materials actively by eliminating wrong answers, marking the exam booklet, and using strategic thinking to narrow down choices. The video encourages students to cross out incorrect answers and make intentional decisions to improve accuracy.

💡Eliminating Extra Words

Eliminating extra words is a strategy to simplify complex questions by focusing on the essential parts of the question and ignoring unnecessary or confusing details. The video provides an example where students are encouraged to remove adverbs from the answer choices to focus on the tone of the passage in AP English exams.

💡Practice Tests

Practice tests are simulated exams that allow students to practice strategies and become familiar with the test format. The video recommends using practice tests as a 'safe environment' for students to experiment with different strategies and improve their performance before the actual exam day.

💡Patterns in Answers

Patterns in answers refer to the misconception that correct answers follow a specific sequence, like trying to form words or diagonals. The video debunks this myth, advising students to answer each question in isolation and not to try creating answer patterns, as this reduces the likelihood of correct responses.

💡Omitting Penalty

Omitting penalty refers to the point deduction that used to occur in some tests when students left questions unanswered. The video clarifies that in current versions of the AP, ACT, and SAT, there is no penalty for wrong answers, meaning students should always make an attempt to answer every question, even if they have to guess.

Highlights

Introduction of tips for preparing for AP English, ACT, and SAT reading sections.

Advice to practice strategies in a safe environment using practice tests and resources like Khan Academy.

Do not linger on tough questions; make your best guess and move on to save time.

Avoid second-guessing yourself, as changing answers often leads to incorrect responses.

Divide time evenly for each passage based on the number of questions and available time.

Use a non-smartwatch to track time, as some testing room clocks may not work.

Don't compromise time for one passage; if needed, guess and move on to ensure you finish the test.

There is no penalty for guessing on AP, ACT, or SAT, so it's better to answer all questions.

Be an active test-taker by marking wrong answers to avoid re-reading them and wasting time.

Practice skimming and speed-reading to quickly grasp the main points of long, dense passages.

When pressed for time, read the first and last paragraphs to get the gist of a passage.

Experiment with reading the passage first or reading the questions first, and find which method works best for you.

Avoid looking for patterns in the answers; each question should be treated in isolation.

For tone-related questions, omit extra adverbs to focus on understanding the author's attitude.

When dealing with balanced questions, ensure both words in the pair are correct to avoid traps.

Transcripts

hey guys welcome back to the channel it

is now April which means it's about to

be testing season so a lot of students

are preparing for AP English test or

even the AC T and the SAT and so it can

be really challenging to prepare for

these tests because the reading sections

especially are very long and involved

sometimes and you feel like you have

zero time to actually answer the

questions so in today's video we're

going to talk about some basic tips that

can help you prepare for the reading

portions of these exams and as the video

progresses the testing tips get a little

bit more specific to AP lang and AP lit

so if you're in those classes I

recommend that you watch the video in

its entirety to get the most use out of

it

but I will say a quick disclaimer though

just because I'm sure someone's gonna

say oh these tips don't work for me

basically these are general tips that

have worked for some students and so

it's important that you decide what

works best for you and to do this I

highly recommend taking multiple

practice tests in order to practice

these strategies in a shall we say like

safe environment where it's okay to make

mistakes and it's okay to experiment

rather than the actual day of the test

so to do this you can buy a test prep

book you can also go on Khan Academy

there's other online resources but I

would practice these skills first to see

what works for you that way you can know

more about yourself as a test taker and

hopefully be as successful as possible

on the actual day of the exam the first

piece of advice is not to linger on

tough questions so if you're stuck

between to answer choices or you read

the question and you have zero clue what

it's talking about you need to make your

best guess and move on don't spend three

four or five minutes trying to get the

perfect answer because it's one question

so proportionately you need to not waste

time on a single question just choose an

answer and move on the next tip is not

to second-guess yourself now this goes

with not wasting time on difficult

questions a lot of times students can

narrow it down to two choices and then

they get stuck so go with your gut and

don't change it because a lot of times

students are wrong when they actually go

back and change their answers

another tip is for students to evenly

divide their time so figure out how many

questions there are and how much time

you have and then you can figure out how

much time you have per passage so for

the AP Langan examine averages out to 15

minutes per passage whereas the SAT it's

more like 13 minutes per passage on the

AP liang test there is not the same

number of questions per passage like on

the ACC and the SAT they those tend to

be much more even so the AP liang test

can be a bit tricky because students

will see that a passage might have eight

questions and they'll think oh this is

going to take me no time at all but in

actuality it's quite a dense passage and

the questions are a lot harder so it

actually eats up the clock a lot more

than you realize whereas a passage with

15 questions might seem longer but the

questions are easier to answer so what I

recommend students do is to actually get

a watch because the clocks in testing

room sometimes don't work and it can't

be a smart watch but I would time

yourself for 15 minutes check your watch

regularly because you don't want to be

trying to negotiate time so what happens

if you say I'm only gonna spend 15

minutes per passage and you only get to

question 13 out of 15 it's really

tempting to be like oh I'll just spend a

little bit extra time on this passage

don't do that because students who do

that tend to not finish the test and you

actually miss out on say five to ten

questions instead of just two so guess

and move on and if there is time at the

end you can go back to solve those

questions with the due diligence that

you need but don't try to compromise

your time currently for the AP English

exams as well as the a CT and the SAT

there's no penalty for guessing you are

rewarded for the questions that you

answer correctly as opposed to receiving

a point deduction for something that you

answer incorrectly

therefore it is actually in your best

interest as a test taker to answer every

question even if it's just a guess

another thing that you should think

about is what we call being an active

test taker and this means marking on

your exam so crossed out wrong answers

not just the letter but crossed through

the entire answer choice that way you

stop looking at it and wasting time

because you're reading something that

you have already eliminated

it probably goes without saying that the

passages on standardized tests are super

boring so you're not reading for

entertainment you're not trying to

absorb every word and enjoy it you need

to learn to speed read and so part of

this is a skill called skimming you

don't read every single word you need to

read in order to just get the gist of

the passage next tip is if you're

pressed for time read the first and last

paragraph of the passage just to get the

gist of it now I don't recommend doing

this every single time because it really

is a strategy that only works for some

students however it is something really

cool to practice if you find you're

struggling it could help you but again

this is not something that I recommend

for everyone this next tip is one that

is rather controversial in my classroom

because I have some students who need to

read the whole passage first and then

answer the questions and they score

higher whereas other students of mine

need to read the questions first and

bracket off questions like when it says

in paragraph one they'll bracket it off

and they'll play it like the number of

the question and that actually helps

them with their scores so you need to

figure out which one applies to you and

then there's like this third group of

students who like do it both ways and

they get the same score regardless so

there's that but basically you need to

think about how you want to approach the

test because remember you're doing this

for a score you're not doing this for

entertainment so figure out which way

works best for you okay so it's

important to realize that there are not

patterns on the test at least not

intentional ones so don't try to spell

words like bad or Dada and don't try to

make diagonals it's okay if you choose

the answer D for separate times all in a

row

because the answers are done

individually each question needs to be

viewed in isolation so don't try to make

patterns and also remember that it's

urban myth that the answer is C or that

it's the most common so don't

necessarily choose C if anything if

you're running out of time don't try to

make like patterns as you're guessing

let's say for some reason you have ten

questions left don't try to make a

pattern just choose one letter answer

choice all the way down so go with a or

D whatever your letter of the day is and

answer D all the way down if you're

actually not able to spend the time you

need on those questions because the

second that you try to make patterns you

actually reduce your

hood of getting it right so say you have

ten questions left and you have two

minutes just bubble in one letter the

same letter all the way down next tip

applies more readily to AP English exams

but it's important to omit extra words

actually an AP Lang release question so

it says the author's overall attitude

can best be described as so with

attitude we're looking for tone so get

rid of the adverbs in this case like

grudgingly or clearly and just look at

appreciative and non-judgmental because

those are words that you can understand

and so the minute that you omit the

extra words it actually becomes easier

now what I did here is I put little

negative signs so one of them has to

that word is more negative so it has a

harsher connotation so if you know that

the author's attitude is negative then

cross out answer choices that have

positive connotations as you're crossing

out the extra words and this will help

you simplify the answer choices and it

makes it a whole lot less confusing so

if you know it's a negative attitude and

you're stuck with to answer choices then

figure out is this very severe or is it

mildly negative and look at the

connotations of those words same

strategy can be applied to pronoun

antecedent questions so in this case

we're just isolating the nouns because

it makes it a little bit easier to

understand so again you're just crossing

out extra words so that you can narrow

your focus and better understand the

question in hopes of getting the answer

correct a balanced question is when you

have liked this word yet this word and

so both words have to be correct in

order for the answer to be correct so

don't try to rationalize wrong words if

you know that one side of it is wrong

cross it out it's not the right answer

so this is actually not a release

question it's just something that I made

up inspired by release questions just so

you can see the idea here so we have a

shift from abrasive to accepting so if

there's no acceptance in the passage

then cross out that answer basically you

need to figure out one side of them so

look at one side of the words look at

words that you're familiar with and if

that does not apply to the passage the

answer is wrong so whether it's like

this and this if the first word is

totally wrong doesn't fit cross out the

entire answer keep it as simple as

possible and don't fall for these types

of answer traps thank you guys so much

for watching I hope this video was

helpful to you because I know that it

can be really intimidating to take the

reading portion or the multiple-choice

section of any of these exams so my best

advice is to practice often and that way

you can apply these strategies

confidently on the day of the exam so if

you guys like this kind of content or

found it helpful please don't forget to

Like and subscribe

turn on your notifications and until

next time happy writing