Note: The remaining questions are like those at the beginning of the section. Directions: In each sentence, select the one underlined part that must be changed to make the sentence correct, and blacken the corresponding space on your answer sheet. 6 IF YOU FINISH BEFORE TIME IS CALLED, YOU MAY CHECK YOUR WORK ON THIS SECTION ONLY. HOW TO SCORE YOUR SAMPLE TEST SAT scores are reported on the College Board scale of 200 to 800. A score of 200 isn't necessarily equal to zero, nor does a score of 800 mean that you answered every question correctly. The TSWE score is reported on a scale of 20 to 60+. The TSWE is not intended to distinguish among students whose command of English is better than average. Therefore, students who receive a score of 60+ can conclude that the test is not difficult enough to measure the upper limits of their ability. There are two steps in scoring: 1. determining verbal, mathematical, and TSWE raw scores (counting the number of right responses and subtracting a fraction of the number wrong), and 2. finding the College Board scaled scores for the corresponding raw scores. You will understand the scoring process better if you try to apply it to the sample test you just took. Determining Your Raw Score For the SAT-mathematical sections Determining the mathematical score is a little more complicated because some of the questions contain only four possible answer choices instead of the usual five. Count the 20 four-choice questions (numbers 8 through 27 in section 5) as a separate score. Count the 40 five-choice mathematical questions (all of section 2 and numbers 1 through 7 and 28 through 35 in section 5) as a second mathematical score. Obtain the raw scores as follows: Raw score for 20 four-choice questions number right minus one-third of the number wrong Raw score for 40 five-choice questions = number right minus one-fourth of the number wrong Add the results of the two scores to obtain one total mathematical raw score. For example, suppose you have 10 right and 10 wrong for the 20 four-choice questions; then, the raw score is 10 minus one-third of 10, which equals 6 Or 10 - (10) you have 24 right and 11 wrong for the 40 five-choice questions; then the raw score is 24 minus one-fourth of = 623. And suppose `11, which equals 211. Or 24 - (11) = 21 To obtain the total raw score, add 62 to 21 for a mathematical score of 28. (Round any scores with frac tions to whole numbers only after the two parts are summed.) For the SAT-verbal sections and the TSWE The 85 questions in sections 1 and 3 yield the verbal score. Check your answers against the table on page 45. Scan the verbal questions (sections 1 and 3) and count the number of right answers and the number of wrong answers. Count one point for each correct response. For each wrong response, subtract one-fourth of a point. There is no need to count the questions you omitted because they do not affect your scores. Raw score = number right minus one-fourth of For example, if you have 46 right responses to the verbal questions in sections 1 and 3 and 31 wrong responses, then your verbal raw score is 46 minus onefourth of 31, which equals 38. Or 46 - (31) = 38 which rounds down to 38 (the nearest integer). You can find your TSWE score in the same way. For example, if you have 39 right responses to the TSWE questions in section 6 and 10 wrong responses, then your TSWE raw score is 39 minus one-fourth of 10, which equals 37. Or 39 = 36 which rounds up to 37. (10) Finding Your College Board Score Range Use the table on page 46 to find the range of College Board scores for the SAT-verbal, SAT-mathematical, and TSWE raw scores you obtained on the sample test. For example, in the column headed "Raw Score," find your verbal raw score or the score nearest to it. In the column headed "SAT-verbal," find the range of College Board scores for it. Let's say your verbal raw score is 38. The number closest to it is 40. The column headed "SAT-verbal" shows that the range of College Board scores for a raw score of 40 is 460-480. The range for your score of 38 would be somewhat lower. The table shows a range of scores because there are slight variations in the difficulty of different versions of the test. On an easier version of the test, the raw score obtained would result in the College Board score that is at the lower end of the range. For a more difficult version, the raw score would result in the College Board score that is at the higher end of the range. Let's take another example. Suppose your mathematical raw score is 27. The number closest to it in the column headed "Raw Score" is 25. The column headed "SAT-mathematical" shows that the range of College Board scores for a raw score of 25 is 470-490. The range for your score of 27 would be somewhat higher. 91 170 0-82--23 ANSWERS TO SAMPLE TEST QUESTIONS AND PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS Notes. The percentages are based on the analysis of the answer sheets for a random sample of students who took this test in April 1981 and whose mean scores were 430 on the SAT-verbal sections, 470 on the SAT-mathematica *Question 3 in Section 5 and question 44 in Section 6 in the edition of the SAT administered on April 4, 1981, were not counted in computing scores. In the sample test in this booklet, these two questions are printed as they appear in a later edition of the SAT rectly. The question, therefore, is not very hard for them. Question 10 would be much harder for such a group. Only 32 percent got question 10 right. After you have scored your test, analyze your perfor mance. • For instance, did you omit questions because you ran out of time before you reached the end of a section? Reread pages 3 through 18. The suggestions in them may help you pace yourself better. • Did you take so long reading directions that you didn't have enough time to answer questions? If you become thoroughly familiar with the test directions reprinted in this booklet, you won't have to spend much time reading them during the test. • Look at the specific questions you missed. Did you get caught by a choice that was only partly correct? Figure out what step you overlooked in your reason. ing. RECEIVING YOUR SCORE REPORT *Raw score = number right minus a fraction of the number wrong Note: The ranges for the College Board scores are based on all editions of the SAT given from November 1977 through June 1980. Scores for the sample test in this booklet fall within these ranges. In addition to correct answers to the sample test, the table on page 45 gives percentages, which are based on the analysis of the answer sheets for a random sample of students who took this test in April 1981 and whose mean scores were 430 on the SAT-verbal sections, 470 on the SAT-mathematical sections, and 43 on the TSWE. The percentages will give you an idea of how hard each question was for students with about average verbal or mathematical ability. For example, the percentage for question 6 in verbal section 1 Indicates that 75 percent of a group of students scoring 430 would probably answer this item cor About six weeks after you take the SAT and TSWE, you will receive a report that includes your scores and percentile ranks. The percentile ranks show how your scores compare with the scores of certain other groups of students who have taken the SAT and TSWE. With the report, you'll receive a booklet, Your Student Re port, which will help you interpret and understand the scores, percentile ranks, and other information that appear on your report. The booklet will also explain how colleges use your scores. Your counselor will have additional interpretive material. We hope that Taking the SAT has provided information that will increase your confidence when you take the test. Your suggestions and comments concerning the contents of the booklet will be welcome. Send them to College Board ATP, Box 592, Princeton, NJ 08541. |