Pacing and the Two-Pass Method · Lesson 2

English at 42 seconds a question

English has 50 questions in 35 minutes, or 2,100 seconds. That's 42 seconds a question, the fastest pace on the test. Ten questions at 42 seconds take 420 seconds, which is exactly 7 minutes, so the easiest way to track your pace is a checkpoint every 10 questions.

English checkpoints at 42 seconds a question
Questions finishedMinutes usedMinutes left
10728
201421
302114
40287
50350

Bank time on short questions. Many questions turn on one comma, one verb, or one pronoun. When you can see the issue in the sentence, answer in well under 42 seconds; those savings pay for the questions that ask about a whole paragraph or the writer's goal.

Don't reread the essay for every question. Read the sentence that holds the underline, plus the sentence before it when a transition or pronoun points back. Questions about a paragraph's order or the essay's purpose are the ones that need the wider view, and the reading you did on the way there usually covers them.

If you fall behind a checkpoint, don't race: tighten up on the next short questions, and use the two-pass method for anything slow.

Worked example Easy

On the 42-second pace, how long should 10 English questions take?

  1. 3.5 minutes
  2. 4.2 minutes
  3. 7 minutesAnswer
  4. 11 minutes

How to solve it

  1. 10 × 42 = 420 seconds.
  2. 420 ÷ 60 = 7 minutes.

Why each choice is right or wrong

  • A. Incorrect. 3.5 minutes divides the section's 35 minutes by 10; the 10 questions are only a fifth of the 50, so they get a fifth of 35 minutes.
  • B. Incorrect. 4.2 minutes treats 420 seconds as if it were 4.2 minutes; 420 seconds is 420 ÷ 60 = 7 minutes.
  • C. Correct. 10 × 42 = 420 seconds, and 420 ÷ 60 = 7 minutes.
  • D. Incorrect. 11 minutes is about 10 questions at 67 seconds each (670 seconds), the Math and Reading pace, not the English pace.

Worked example Medium

At the 20-minute mark of English, about how many questions should a student on the 42-second pace have finished? Round to the nearest whole question.

  1. 20
  2. 24
  3. 29Answer
  4. 34

How to solve it

  1. 20 minutes = 20 × 60 = 1,200 seconds.
  2. 1,200 ÷ 42 = 28.57 (to two decimal places).
  3. Rounded to the nearest whole question, that is 29.

Why each choice is right or wrong

  • A. Incorrect. 20 questions in 20 minutes is one question a minute, the Science pace; English moves faster than that.
  • B. Incorrect. 24 comes from dividing 1,200 seconds by the 50 questions in the section instead of by 42 seconds per question.
  • C. Correct. 1,200 seconds ÷ 42 seconds = 28.57, which rounds to 29 questions.
  • D. Incorrect. 34 comes from dividing 1,200 by 35, the section's minutes, instead of by 42, the seconds per question.