SAT Structure & Format
The Digital SAT has two main sections. Name them.
Reading & Writing, and Math
In the sentence 'The scientist's findings were groundbreaking,' what does 'groundbreaking' most nearly mean?
Innovative / pioneering / revolutionary
What are the four types of passages you will encounter in the SAT Reading & Writing section?
Literature, historical documents, social science, and natural science
Solve: 3x + 7 = 22
x = 5
What is the formula for the area of a triangle?
Area = ½ × base × height
How many modules does each section of the Digital SAT have?
2 modules per section (4 modules total)
If the passage says a leader was 'pragmatic,' the word most nearly means __?
Practical / realistic / sensible
A paired question (Part A and Part B) on the SAT works how?
Part A asks a question about the passage; Part B asks you to identify the quote or evidence that best supports your Part A answer
A store sells shirts for $15 each. If a customer buys 4 shirts and uses a $10 coupon, how much do they pay?
$50
A circle has a radius of 5. What is its circumference? (Leave in terms of pi)
C = 2πr = 10π
What is the total time allowed to complete the Digital SAT?
Approximately 2 hours and 14 minutes
A passage describes an artist as 'prolific.' Which meaning fits best: productive or lazy?
Productive (prolific = producing a large body of work)
What is the difference between the author's 'tone' and the author's 'purpose'?
Tone = the author's attitude toward the subject (e.g., critical, hopeful); Purpose = the reason the author wrote the passage (e.g., to persuade, inform, entertain)
Which of the following is equivalent to (x + 3)²?
x² + 6x + 9
In a right triangle, the two legs are 6 and 8. What is the length of the hypotenuse?
10 (using Pythagorean theorem: 6² + 8² = 36 + 64 = 100; √100 = 10)
True or false: the Digital SAT is adaptive, meaning the difficulty of Module 2 depends on your performance in Module 1.
True — it is multistage adaptive testing
The word 'ambiguous' in a passage most nearly means: A) clear B) unclear C) important D) dull
B) Unclear — having more than one possible meaning
To find the main idea of a passage, where should you focus your attention first?
The topic sentence of each paragraph and the opening/closing sentences of the full passage
If f(x) = 2x² – 4x + 1, what is f(3)?
f(3) = 2(9) – 4(3) + 1 = 18 – 12 + 1 = 7
If sin(θ) = 0.6 and θ is in the first quadrant, what is cos(θ)?
cos(θ) = 0.8 (using sin²θ + cos²θ = 1; cos²θ = 1 – 0.36 = 0.64; cos θ = 0.8)
What is the score range for the Digital SAT, and what is the score range for each section?
total: 400–1600; each section (R&W and Math): 200–800
Explain how to approach a vocabulary-in-context SAT question using context clues from the surrounding sentences.
Read the full sentence and adjacent sentences; substitute each answer choice for the word; pick the one that best fits the overall meaning and tone of the passage
A passage argues that social media negatively affects teen mental health. Which type of SAT passage is this MOST likely to be, and what is the likely author purpose?
Social science passage; author purpose is to persuade or inform readers about a societal issue
A line passes through (0, 2) and (4, 10). Write the equation in slope-intercept form.
Slope = (10–2)/(4–0) = 2; equation: y = 2x + 2
The volume of a rectangular prism is length × width × height. If l = 4, w = 3, h = 5, what is the volume? Also state the formula for the volume of a cylinder.
Prism volume = 60 cubic units; Cylinder volume = πr²h