How do I improve my reading score?
This is the most common question I get. The answer is both simple and complicated.
Read More
That’s simple right?
But what should I read? How much? How do I know that I understood what I read? What happens when I hit a vocabulary word that I don’t understand? How long will it take? How can I fit it in with all the other things I have to do? That’s complicated.
Let’s try something different
Instead of just leaving it up to you, I am going to give you 5 articles and short stories a week to read. In each post there will be two Science Articles, one Social Science article, one speech or historical document and one short story or excerpt from a novel. And all of these will be at the levelof the SAT reading.
Additionally, each post will have a vocabulary list with contextual definitions. That means the definition is related to the meaning as used in the article. Also there will be a few (less than 6) guiding questions to ensure you actually understand what you read.
What is the goal?
The purpose of these posts is the following
- Identify vocabulary deficits
- Train your brain to efficiently identify main ideas and main points
- Check for misunderstanding
- Build knowledge
Why are you just giving us free SAT Reading Practice Articles?
I’m tired. I have been doing this for 20 years and most, if not all of my students, improve and reach their goals, but it is a lot of work. Let’s see if we can make this more efficient by having a steady supply of clear guidance and make a difference in everyone’s SAT reading score and ultimately reading ability.
Come back every Tuesday for a new list
Each week, I will post a link to a PDF that looks like this…

You can download it and use it to guide your reading. I suggest reading 1 article a day and competing the questions. It should take less than 20 minutes a day.
Week 1 set of SAT Reading Practice Articles
For week 1, I have assembled the following
- SCIENCE ARTICLE: Venus was once more Earth-like
- SCIENCE ARTICLE: Softer diets allowed early Humans to pronounce “f” and “v” sounds
- SOCIAL SCIENCE ARTICLE: When our Gaze is a physical force
- GLOBAL CONVERSATION: The Perils of Indifference by Elie Wiesel
- LITERATURE: The Cactus by O. Henry
Click the link below to download your FREE copy
SAT READING PRACTICE ARTICLES Week 1

