*Yes, I know blurb isn’t the exact word, but it was the best I could come up with right now.

At the beginning of the Reading passages are 2 to 8 lines of italicized information, and I am shocked by how many students skip reading it.

Are you kidding me?

Please remember that every square inch of the test is carefully planned out and formatted and that information is not just extraneous blather placed there to distract you from the task at hand. No, it can be vital to understanding the passage or even answering a specific question.

In particular, I write down the authors/speakers and dates above each of the double passages. This helps me to keep track of which speaker says what when I have to do the double passage comparison questions. Also the Literature Passages are excerpts from a larger story and the italicized information will help orient you before you read the passage.

So read it, note it, and pay attention to it.