The R&W Playbook

7 rules that apply to every R&W question

SAT R&W Every question type
Read before you drill

Every R&W question — no matter the type — rewards the same seven habits. You already know most of these. The points you lose come from forgetting them under time pressure, not from not knowing them. Run this checklist until it's automatic.

How this differs from a chapter cheat sheet. Chapter sheets (Command of Evidence, Transitions, …) teach the moves for one question type. This Playbook is the layer underneath — the habits that apply to all of them. There's no drill set and no mastery score here; it's a pre-flight checklist, not a topic to grind.

The 7 Rules · run every question through these

U1 Read the question first

Digital SAT R&W is one short passage + one question. Read the question stem before the passage so you read with a job in mind. The task word — main idea · purpose · infer · supports · completes — decides what counts as correct.

Forget it →You dive into the passage, then re-read once the question reframes what actually mattered.

U2 Predict in your own words

Answer the question yourself before you look at the choices. Walk in with an expectation so the four options can't install doubt. A prediction turns the choices into a matching task, not a debate.

Forget it →You read all four "to see which sounds best" and talk yourself into a wrong one.

U3 Use only the passage

Every correct answer is provable from the text. No outside knowledge, no "that's generally true." If you can't point to the line that proves it, it isn't support.

Test: "Where in the passage does it say this?" No line → cut it.

U4 Eliminate to one

Don't hunt for the best — cross out every choice with a flaw. One disqualifying word kills the whole choice. The last one standing wins, even if it feels plain.

Forget it →You fall for the first good-looking choice and stop reading C and D.

U5 Kill the extremes

Absolute words — always, never, all, none, only, must, cannot — are usually wrong unless the passage is just as absolute. Measured words — may, some, often, tends to, suggests — survive more often.

Passage says "often" → choice says "always" = too strong.

U6 True ≠ relevant

A choice can be 100% true and still not answer this question. Test: "Could this be true while the question's point is false?" If yes, it's a trap — on-topic but off-task.

Forget it →You reward a true, on-topic fact that doesn't do the job the stem asked for.

U7 Pace it

About 71 seconds per question. Past ~90s and stuck: mark it, take your best guess, move on. Never leave a blank, never camp on one. Banked seconds buy the hard questions at the end.

Stuck at 1:30? Flag + guess + go. Come back if time allows.

The whole Playbook in one line

Question first · predict · passage-only · eliminate to one · kill extremes · true≠relevant · keep moving

sat.ivypath.io Universal · applies to every R&W question · Page 1 of 1