SSAT and ISEE For Dummies

Vince Kotchian is an elite test-prep tutor and admissions consultant who has helped hundreds of students get into the schools of their choice. Curt Simmons is a professional educator and freelance writer who has authored several test-prep titles on a variety of topics, including many For Dummies titles.

• Introduction 1About This Book 1Conventions Used in This Book 2Foolish Assumptions 2How This Book Is Organized 3Part I: Paving the Way to Private School: Introducing the SSAT and ISEE 3Part II: Ramping Up for the Verbal, Reading, and Essay Sections 3Part III: Tackling the Math Sections 3Part IV: SSAT Practice Exams 3Part V: ISEE Practice Exams 4Part VI: The Part of Tens 4Icons Used in This Book 4Where to Go from Here 4Part I: Paving the Way to Private School: Introducing the SSAT and ISEE 5Chapter 1: Getting to Know the SSAT and ISEE 7Approaching the SSAT and ISEE 7Testing your ability 7Knowing what to expect from test questions 8Preparing yourself: Practice makes perfect 8Getting to Know the SSAT 9Exploring the structure of the SSAT 9Separating the upper and lower level SSAT 10Scoring the SSAT 10How questions are graded 10What is sent to your school 11How your school uses the score 11Registering for the SSAT 12Knowing what to bring to the SSAT testing center 12Scoping Out the ISEE 13Understanding what’s on the ISEE 14Comparing the upper, middle, and lower level ISEE 14Upper level ISEE 15Middle level ISEE 15Lower level ISEE 15Scoring the ISEE 16How questions are graded 16What is sent to your school 16How your school uses the score 17Registering for the ISEE 17Figuring out what to bring to the ISEE testing center 17Chapter 2: Picking Up Study Skills and Techniques for Testing Success 19Clocking Your Time 19Practice, practice, practice 20Resist the urge to finish 20Skip questions 20Using the Process of Elimination 21Figuring Out a Guessing Strategy 23Guessing on the ISEE 23Guessing on the SSAT 24Part II: Ramping Up for the Verbal, Reading, and Essay Sections 25Chapter 3: Defining Your Vocabulary Skills 27Studying Vocabulary 27Flipping through flashcards 27Memorizing mnemonic devices 28Interpreting words in context 28Using repetition 29Breaking Down Vocabulary Words 29Digging up roots 29Starting with prefixes 31Ending with suffixes 32Vocabulary Practice: Lower Level SSAT and Lower and Middle Level ISEE 33Vocabulary Practice: Upper Level SSAT and ISEE 36Chapter 4: Talking Up Verbal Reasoning 41What Verbal Reasoning Looks Like 41Making Sense of Analogies 42Mapping out your strategy for analogies 42Put the words in a sentence that shows the relationship 43Plug the answer choices in to your sentence 43When in doubt, refine the sentence 44When you don’t know a word (or several), look for clues 45When you have trouble establishing the relationship, dig deeper 46Trying your hand at analogy practice questions 46Getting the Scoop on Synonyms 48Planning your synonym attack strategy 48Checking out a few sample synonym questions 49Filling in Sentence Completion Questions 50Building a strategy for sentence completion 50Working through a few sentence completion questions 51Chapter 5: Practicing Verbal Reasoning 53Tackling Guided Lower Level SSAT Analogy Questions 53Practicing Lower Level SSAT Analogy Questions on Your Own 55Answers to Lower Level SSAT Analogy Questions 57Tackling Guided Upper Level SSAT Analogy Questions 58Practicing Upper Level SSAT Analogy Questions on Your Own 60Answers to Upper Level SSAT Analogy Questions 62Tackling Guided Lower and Middle Level Synonym Questions 63Practicing Lower and Middle Level Synonym Questions on Your Own 64Answers to Lower and Middle Level Synonym Questions 65Tackling Guided Upper Level Synonym Questions 66Practicing Upper Level Synonym Questions on Your Own 67Answers to Upper Level Synonym Questions 68Tackling Guided Lower and Middle Level ISEE Sentence Completion Questions 68Practicing Lower and Middle Level ISEE Sentence Completion Questions on Your Own 70Answers to Lower and Middle Level ISEE Sentence Completion Questions 71Tackling Guided Upper Level ISEE Sentence Completion Questions 72Practicing Upper Level ISEE Sentence Completion Questions on Your Own 73Answers to Upper Level ISEE Sentence Completion Questions 74Chapter 6: Comprehending Reading Comprehension 75Ramping Up on Reading Passages 75Recognizing the types of reading passages 76Reading passages on the test 76Scanning passages instead of reading them 77Circling key words, phrases, and ideas 77Creating a mental outline 78Checking out a sample passage 78Adopting Strategies for Answering Questions about Passages 79Getting Familiar with Types of Reading Comprehension Questions 79Global content questions 80Specific content questions 81Word-in-context questions 82What-is-true questions 83Elimination questions 84Inference questions 85Chapter 7: Practicing Reading Comprehension 87Tackling Guided Lower and Middle Level Reading Comprehension Questions 87Practicing Lower and Middle Level Reading Comprehension Questions on Your Own 89Answers to Lower and Middle Level Reading Comprehension Questions 92Tackling Guided Upper Level Reading Comprehension Questions 93Practicing Upper Level Reading Comprehension Questions on Your Own 96Answers to Upper Level Reading Comprehension Questions 99Chapter 8: Writing a Winning Essay 101Exploring Essay Writing and Your Exam 101What do essay readers want to see? 101How are essays graded? 102What Will You Write About? 103Exploring common topics 103Figuring out how to approach a topic 104Organizing Your Essay from Beginning to End 106Starting with an effective introduction 106Big idea 106More specific ideas 106Thesis statement 107Developing effective body paragraphs 107Wrapping up with a well-crafted conclusion 108Proofing Your Essay 108Checking for common grammar problems 109Watching out for sentence trouble 110Chapter 9: Practicing Writing Essays 111Upper Level Essay 111Following the example of sample essays 111Responding to upper level essay practice prompts 113Lower Level and Middle Level Essay 113Following the example of sample essays 114Responding to lower and middle level essay practice prompts 115Part III: Tackling the Math Sections 117Chapter 10: Adding Up Arithmetic 119Solving Basic Arithmetic Questions 119Reviewing Arithmetic 120Rules of zero 120Order of operations 120Number lines 121Negative numbers 122Fractions 123Reducing and rewriting fractions 123Adding and subtracting fractions 124Multiplying and dividing fractions 124Comparing fractions 125Dealing with remainders 125Decimals 125Decimal places 125Adding, subtracting, dividing, and multiplying decimals 126Converting fractions to decimals and decimals to fractions 126Rounding and estimating decimals 127Percents 127Factors and multiples 129Exponents 130Probability 130Roots 131Estimating roots 131Adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing roots 131Simplifying roots 131Scientific notation 132Chapter 11: Practicing Arithmetic 133Attacking Guided Lower and Middle Level Arithmetic Questions 133Practicing Lower and Middle Level Arithmetic Questions on Your Own 136Answers to Lower and Middle Level Arithmetic Questions 138Tackling Guided Upper Level Arithmetic Questions 139Practicing Upper Level Arithmetic Questions on Your Own 141Answers to Upper Level Arithmetic Questions 144Chapter 12: Acing Algebra 147Attacking Algebra Questions 147Battling Basic Algebra 147Solving equations 148Knowing the rules of expressions 149Solving inequalities 150Determining absolute value 150Working with Statistics, Percents, and Ratios 151Exploring mean, median, mode, and range 151Calculating percentage changes 153Using ratios and proportions 154Working with Rules, Patterns, Ordering, and Counting 155Discovering the purpose of functions 155Seeing the pattern in sequences 155Arranging permutations and combinations 156Permutations 156Combinations 157Matching up numbers in matrices 157Chapter 13: Practicing Algebra 159Practicing Guided Lower and Middle Level Algebra Questions 160Attacking Lower and Middle Level Algebra Questions on Your Own 162Answers to Lower and Middle Level Algebra Questions 164Practicing Guided Upper Level Algebra Questions 166Tackling Upper Level Algebra Questions on Your Own 168Answers to Upper Level Algebra Questions 170Chapter 14: Jamming with Geometry 173Gearing Up for Geometry Questions 173Reviewing Geometry Concepts 174Lines, angles, and perimeter 174Triangles 176Finding the area of a triangle 177Equilateral triangles 178Isosceles triangles 178Right triangles 179Similar triangles 180Rectangles, squares, and other polygons 180Circles 181Solid geometry 182Volume 182Surface area 183Coordinate geometry 183Equation of a line 184Slope of the line 184Miscellaneous geometry 185Chapter 15: Practicing Geometry 187Practicing Guided Lower and Middle Level Geometry Questions 187Attacking Lower and Middle Level Geometry Questions on Your Own 191Answers to Lower and Middle Level Geometry Questions 195Practicing Guided Upper Level Geometry Questions 196Tackling Upper Level Geometry Questions on Your Own 199Answers to Upper Level Geometry Questions 203Chapter 16: Cracking Word Problems and Quantitative Comparisons 205Checking Out Some Basic Word Problem Strategies 205Calculating Arithmetic Word Problems 207Working through Algebra Word Problems 207Finding the average 207Discovering the distance, rate, or time 208Interpreting Graph and Chart Problems 209x- and y-axis graphs 209Tables 210Answering Quantitative Comparison Word Problems 211Part IV: SSAT Practice Exams 213Chapter 17: SSAT Upper Level Practice Exam 215Answer Sheet 217Section 1: Writing Sample 219Section 2: Quantitative, Part 1 220Section 3: Reading Comprehension 226Section 4: Verbal 234Section 5: Quantitative, Part 2 240Chapter 18: Answers to SSAT Upper Level Practice Exam 243Section 1: Writing Sample 243Section 2: Quantitative, Part 1 244Section 3: Reading Comprehension 246Section 4: Verbal 248Section 5: Quantitative, Part 2 251Answers at a Glance 253Chapter 19: SSAT Lower Level Practice Exam 1 255Answer Sheet 257Section 1: Writing Sample 259Section 2: Quantitative, Part 1 260Section 3: Reading Comprehension 264Section 4: Verbal 272Section 5: Quantitative, Part 2 278Chapter 20: Answers to SSAT Lower Level Practice Exam 1 283Section 1: Writing Sample 283Section 2: Quantitative, Part 1 284Section 3: Reading Comprehension 285Section 4: Verbal 288Section 5: Quantitative, Part 2 291Answers at a Glance 293Chapter 21: SSAT Lower Level Practice Exam 2 295Answer Sheet 297Section 1: Writing Sample 299Section 2: Quantitative, Part 1 300Section 3: Reading Comprehension 306Section 4: Verbal 314Section 5: Quantitative, Part 2 320Chapter 22: Answers to SSAT Lower Level Practice Exam 2 323Section 1: Writing Sample 323Section 2: Quantitative, Part 1 324Section 3: Reading Comprehension 326Section 4: Verbal 328Section 5: Quantitative, Part 2 332Answers at a Glance 334Part V: ISEE Practice Exams 337Chapter 23: ISEE Upper Level Practice Exam 339Answer Sheet 341Section 1: Verbal Reasoning 343Section 2: Quantitative Reasoning 347Section 3: Reading Comprehension 354Section 4: Mathematics Achievement 361Section 5: Essay 369Chapter 24: Answers to ISEE Upper Level Practice Exam 371Section 1: Verbal Reasoning 371Section 2: Quantitative Reasoning 373Section 3: Reading Comprehension 377Section 4: Mathematics Achievement 380Section 5: Essay 384Answers at a Glance 385Chapter 25: ISEE Middle Level Practice Exam 387Answer Sheet 389Section 1: Verbal Reasoning 391Section 2: Quantitative Reasoning 395Section 3: Reading Comprehension 403Section 4: Mathematics Achievement 410Section 5: Essay 418Chapter 26: Answers to ISEE Middle Level Practice Exam 419Section 1: Verbal Reasoning 419Section 2: Quantitative Reasoning 421Section 3: Reading Comprehension 424Section 4: Mathematics Achievement 426Section 5: Essay 429Answers at a Glance 429Chapter 27: ISEE Lower Level Practice Exam 431Answer Sheet 433Section 1: Verbal Reasoning 435Section 2: Quantitative Reasoning 438Section 3: Reading Comprehension 445Section 4: Mathematics Achievement 450Section 5: Essay 455Chapter 28: Answers to ISEE Lower Level Practice Exam 457Section 1: Verbal Reasoning 457Section 2: Quantitative Reasoning 459Section 3: Reading Comprehension 462Section 4: Mathematics Achievement 463Section 5: Writing Sample 465Answers at a Glance 466Part VI: The Part of Tens 469Chapter 29: Ten Tips for Test Day 471Get Organized 471Pack a Snack 471Catch Plenty of Zzz’s 472Rise and Shine 472Eat a Good Breakfast 472Resist the Urge to Study 473Review the Test Order 473Get out the Door on Time 473Arrive a Bit Early 473Take a Deep Breath and Dive In 474Chapter 30: Ten Ways to Calm Your Nerves 475Check Your Breathing 475Do Some Pacing 475Use the Muscle Tension/Relaxation Technique 476Sing a Song (To Yourself Anyway!) 476Use Your Pencil as a Pointer 476Slow Down 476Skip a Question 477Stretch Your Neck 477Move Your Feet 477Keep Everything in Perspective 477Index 479