SAT Summer Fun Prep Course

A complete set of vocabulary and conceptual definitions from the SAT Summer Fun lecture series covering reading strategies, grammar, and data analysis.

Information and Ideas

An SAT question category that focuses on what a text is saying, comprising $26\%$ of the examination.

Craft and Structure

An SAT question category that focuses on how texts communicate meaning, comprising $28\%$ of the examination.

Expression of Ideas

An SAT question category focused on making text make sense through structure and synthesis, comprising $20\%$ of the examination.

Standard English rules

An SAT category consisting of grammar and punctuation rules, comprising $26\%$ of the examination.

Sentence completion

A type of question where students must read a sentence with one or more words missing and choose the best fit to complete the text.

Reading sandwich

A strategy for sentence completion where students read the sentences directly before and after a phrase to identify context clues.

Inferences

Passage-based questions that require students to make conclusions based on what a writer has stated, rather than just locating details.

Qualifier

A word that limits or enhances another word’s meaning by describing how much, how many, how often, or how likely something is.

Extreme qualifiers

Potentially problematic words in questions or choices such as \"nobody,\" \"noone,\" \"nowhere,\" \"only,\" \"never,\" or \"always.\"

Claims + Evidence

Questions that introduce a claim about an unfamiliar subject and require identifying the evidence that most strongly supports it.

Textual evidence types

The three categories of evidence on the SAT: scientific (findings of a study), numbers (charts/graphs), and literary (text quotes).

Test phrase

A search strategy where students rephrase an argument in the simplest terms possible to evaluate answer choices.

Cross-text connections

Questions that require reading and comparing two separate passages to determine points of agreement or disagreement.

Rhetorical synthesis

A question type identified by a bullet-point format of research notes that must be combined to meet a specific stated goal.

Transition words

Words such as \"moreover,\" \"therefore,\" and \"nevertheless\" used to connect ideas or sentences.

Transition relationship types

The four categories used to identify the relationship between sentences: addition, contrast, causation, or sequence/ordering.

Bar charts

A type of quantitative evidence requiring analysis of the key at the top and categories on the side and bottom to determine what is being measured.

Line graphs

Visual data where the side shows how something is measured, the bottom shows time stamps, and individual lines label what is being measured.

Standard English Conventions

A section testing mastery of clear communication, specifically regarding punctuation boundaries and subject/verb or tense agreement.

Subject-Verb Agreement

A grammar rule stating that a singular subject must have a singular verb and a plural subject must have a plural verb.

Echoes (Acoustics)

Reflected sound vibrations that are delayed for more than $\frac{1}{20}$ of a second from production until reaching the listener.