The Princeton Review - Princeton Review PSAT 8_9 Prep-Random House Children's Books (2021)

5. POE. Eliminate anything that isn’t consistent with your
prediction. Don’t necessarily try to find the right answer
immediately, because there is a good chance you won’t see
anything that you like. If you can eliminate answers that you
know are wrong, though, you’ll be closer to the right answer. If
you can’t eliminate three answers with your prediction, use the
POE criteria (which we’ll talk about in a few pages).
Where the Money Is
A reporter once asked notorious thief Willie Sutton
why he robbed banks. Legend has it that his answer
was, “Because that’s where the money is.” While
reading comprehension is safer and slightly more
productive than larceny, the same principle applies.
Concentrate on the questions and answer choices
because that’s where the points are. The passage is just
a place for the College Board to stash facts and details.
You’ll find them when you need to. What’s the point of
memorizing all 67 pesky details about plankton if the
College Board asks you about only 9?
Let’s see these steps in action!
A sample passage and questions appear on the next few pages. Don’t
start working the passage right away. In fact…you can’t! The answer
choices are missing. Just go ahead to this page, where we will begin
going through the steps of the Basic Approach, using the upcoming
passage and questions.
SAMPLE PASSAGE AND QUESTIONS
Here is an example of what a reading comprehension passage and
questions look like. We will use this passage to illustrate the reading
Basic Approach throughout this chapter. You don’t need to do the