Sat math Essentials

H o w t o U s e T h i s B o o k
You will need the following materials while working
with this book:
■
a notebook or legal pad dedicated to your
SAT work
■
pencils (and a pencil sharpener) or pens
■
a four-function, scientific, or graphing calculator
(Note: Calculators are not required for the SAT,
but they are recommended, so you should prac-
tice using one when answering the questions in
this book.)
■
different-colored highlighters for highlighting
important ideas
■
paper clips or sticky note pads for marking pages
you want to return to
■
a calendar
you may, of course, use this book however you
like. Perhaps you need only to study one area of math
or want only to take the practice tests. However, for the
best results from this book, follow this guide:
1.
Take the pretest in Chapter 3. This is a short test
with questions similar to those you will see on
the SAT. This pretest will give you a flavor of the
types of math questions the SAT includes. Don’t
worry if any of the questions confuse you. They
are designed only to get your feet wet before you
work through the rest of the book.
2.
Work through Chapters 4–8. These chapters are
the meat of the book and will give you tech-
niques and strategies for answering SAT math
questions successfully. They will also review the
math skills and concepts you need to know for
the SAT.
3.
Take the practice tests in Chapters 9, 10, and 11.
Make sure to read through the answers and
explanations when you finish. Review your errors
to determine if you need to study any parts of the
book again.
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P R E PA R I N G F O R T H E S AT M AT H
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D
o not time yourself on the pretest. Solve each question as best you can. When you are finished with
the test, review the answers and explanations that immediately follow the test. Make note of the
kinds of errors you made and focus on these problems while studying the rest of this book.
C H A P T E R
Math Pretest
The pretest contains questions similar to those found on the SAT. Take
the pretest to familiarize yourself with the types of questions you will be
preparing yourself for as you study this book.
.