Reminds me of all the trick advice on how to do well on the SATs. My advice is simple:

1. take all the math classes your school offers

2. read lots of sci fi books

That's what I did, and I got the SAT results I needed.

The other day I picked up a book on building vocabulary for the SAT. Flipping through it, I knew essentially all the words. I've never studied vocabulary in my life. I just read a lot.