Key Sentences in SAT Reading

Key Sentences:**

- Special Characters: Except for commas and periods, all other symbols are considered special symbols, including quotation marks, colons, dashes, parentheses, question marks, capitalization, italics, and numbers.

- Special Sentence Structures:

- Contrast and Emphasis Sentences (usually following "but" or "however," the "not...but" structure is almost always tested)

- Negative Sentences (containing "not," "no," or other negative words, especially those with prefixes and suffixes such as "un," "im," "in," "less")

- Comparative and Superlative structures, using "than" and the superlative form

- Parallel/Contrast Sentences

- Inverted sentences, questions, conditional sentences using "if/when"

- Appositive Phrases

- Complex Sentence Structures:

- Main Clause + Relative Clause, with the key point within the relative clause, requiring identification of the key words and the modified object

- Other main and subordinate clauses or independent structures + main clause, with the focus generally within the main clause

- Logical Transition Sentences:

- Cause and Effect: Words such as "so," "because," "cause," "caused by," "result in," "lead to," "increase," "create"

- Contrast, Emphasis, and Conclusion: Words like "however," "in fact," "in conclusion"