The Short RP and the paired Rp
There are two other types of passage sets: Short RPs and
Paired RPs. They share all the characteristics of a Long RP with
the following exceptions:
- Short RPs are one or two paragraphs long,
and around 100 to 200 words. They only have a couple of items each.
Short RP sets are really just scaled-down long RP sets. There’s
nothing particularly unique about them; if anything, the prose in
the passage seems to be a little easier to understand than that
of a long RP. Short RPs are a new feature of the SAT.
- Paired RPs consist of two passages and a set of items.
Both passages discuss the same topic or theme, but each one takes
a different position on the subject matter. The
first few items in the set are based on Passage 1; the next few
items are based on Passage 2; the last few items are based on both
passages. Each passage is around 250 to 600 words long. You will
see at least one paired passage set. You may see paired short RPs
as well, which contain fewer paragraphs, words, and items.
In this book, we use a long RP set to teach the step methods
you’ll need to maximize your score. Where appropriate, we point
out the minor differences in method that these “special-case” passage
sets require. You’ll have ample opportunity to practice short and
paired RPs in the practice sets at the end of this book.
