SAT Reading Comprehension: Biography Passages:

In life, apart from being forced to listen to someone talk about his/her dreams, there probably is nothing more annoying than being forced to listen to details about a person whom you could care less about. Welcome, to the world of biography passages on the SAT.

Biography passages can be distinguished from history passages (Lesson 18) because, rather than focus on an entire group of people, biography passages focus on one specific person. Biography passages generally consist of two components:

1) facts about a person
2) a discussion of that person’s ideas or actions.

A representative passage might focus on Susan B. Anthony and her actions to help women secure the right to vote in the United States.

TIPS FOR BIOGRAPHY PASSAGES:

Tip 1
Make notes about the person’s ideas and actions as you read. Mark any part of the passage that notes a person's idea or an idea about that person.

Tip 2
Mark any dates or time periods that appear in the passage.

Tip 3
When answering line questions, utilize the facts about the person and about his / her ideas and actions. These two components are integrated into every question about the passage, with the exception of definition-in-context questions.

For example, if the passage notes that Susan B. Anthony advocated the inclusion of Black women in women’s suffrage, then this idea will be referenced in line questions and main idea questions.

Tip 4
If you have any knowledge of the person discussed in a passage, do not use it to select answer choices. Save your knowledge for other situations, and stick to the passage and its facts.

Tip 5
Except when they occur as double passages, the attitude of biography passages is generally neutral and their primary purpose is generally to explain.

SAT Reading: Biography Passages

Lesson Includes:

—Overview of Biography Passages

—Tips for Biography Passages

SAT Math

SAT Writing

SAT Reading

SAT Vocabulary