Tutoring For All Ages

Here’s today’s medium-level SAT Question of the Day (note that if you saw it on the SSAT/ISEE, it would be a Hard question):

In the figure above, the large rectangle is divided into six identical small squares. If the perimeter of the large rectangle is 30, what is the perimeter of one of the small squares?

A) 5
B) 8
C) 9
D) 10
E) 12

How do you solve this problem in the quickest way possible?

Here’s how the College Board thinks you should solve it. That’s the “right” way to do it: use the ratio of length to width to set up an equation using the overall perimeter. And assuming you don’t make a careless algebra error, that will get you to the right answer. For some students, it may even be the fastest way to get to the right answer.

But not every student is going to see this way immediately. If you’re one of them, consider another way: working backwards, sometimes called guess-and-check. Start with the middle answer choice and assume it’s the perimeter of a square. Figure out what each side of the rectangle then has to be, and see if that matches the given perimeter of the whole rectangle. If it does, you have your answer. If not, you should be able to tell whether you need the perimeter to be bigger or smaller, so you can figure out which answer choice to try next.

(more…)

Today’s SAT Question of the Day is a double-blank sentence completion:

Choose the word or set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

The play, which features —— mix of comedy, pathos, and music, was correctly described by one honest critic as a ——.

A) a seamless . . debacle
B) an ungainly . . hodgepodge
C) an unfortunate . . masterpiece
D) an inappropriate . . success
E) a harmonious . . failure

It’s a question that, in some ways, hinges on one word: honest. A theater critic would have no reason not to be honest if they were reviewing a good play. So it’s likely that it was a bad play, so we should look for answer choices that reflect that.

However, even if you missed that clue word, you could still figure out the right answer from the other clue words (play, mix, correctly, and critic). (more…)

The Pareto Principle, applied to standardized tests, states that 80% of the results you get come from 20% of the work you do. If we use the SAT as an example, this can be applied to much of the test. On the essay, for example, the actual writing may take the most time, but the ideas behind the essay form the foundation of your score, and they typically come together in the first few minutes of the section. Within the Critical Reading sections, students tend to spend most of their time on a few really hard questions.

And the 80/20 rule can be applied to most of the math questions on the test, too. Here’s a sample math SAT question: (more…)

Set a timer and see how long it takes you to answer this hard SAT problem:

The price of 10 pounds of apples is d dollars. If the apples weigh an average of 1 pound for every 6 apples, which of the following is the average price, in cents, of a dozen such apples?

A) 20d
B) 50d/3
C) 5d
D) d/5
E) d/20

There are several ways to approach the right answer here. Some take more time, others, less. (more…)

The first SAT of the season is coming up soon (not to mention the PSAT)! Luckily all of our students have been keeping up with their practice problems. Like, for example, today’s official SAT question of the day:

The following sentence contains either a single error or no error at all. If the sentence contains an error, select the one underlined part that must be changed to make the sentence correct. If the sentence contains no error, select choice E.

How’d you do?