ACT Prep and Info

ACT Prep & Info

The ACT consists of 4 sections

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English, Math, Reading, Science

History is not part of the test.

The sections are ALWAYS administered in the same order. English is first. Math is second. Reading is third. Science is last.

Some text here about the topic of discussion

Test Tips

• Read each question carefully to make sure you understand the type of answer required.

• If you choose to use a calculator, be sure it is permitted, is working on test day, and is charged/has reliable batteries.

• Use your calculator wisely.

• Solve the problem.

• Locate your solution among the answer choices.

• Make sure your answer is reasonable. Check your work.

• (from ACT.org)

Reading Test

This portion of the ACT is made up of three passages: 1 long prose piece and two shorter prose pieces on the same subject.

Each passage or passage set is followed by 10 multiple-choice questions.

You will have 35 minutes to complete the reading and the 40 multipl-choice questions.

The passages come from published materials and are at a reading level a first-year college student can expect to read for a class.

Reading Categories

• Literary narrative: literary passages from short stories, novels, and memoirs

• Humanities: informational passages on topics in architecture, art, dance, ethics, film, language, literary criticism, music, philosophy, radio, TV, and theater

• Social Science: informational passages on anthropology, archaeology, biography, business, economics, education, geography, history, political science, psychology, and sociology

• Natural Science: informational passages on anatomy, astronomy, biology, botany, chemistry, ecology, geology, medicine, meteorology, microbiology, natural history, physiology, physics, technology, and zoology

Content

Each passage is preceded by a heading that identifies what type of passage it is, names the author, and may include a brief note that helps in understanding the passage.

Scoring

You will recieve four scores for the ACT reading test: a total test score based on all 40 questions and three reporting category scores based on:

- Key Ideas and Details

- Creaft and Structure

- Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

Key Ideas and Details

• Determine central ideas and themes

• Summarize information and ideas accurately

• Understand relationships and draw logical inferences and conclusions including understanding sequential, comparative, and cause-effect relationships

Craft and Structure

• Determine word and phrase meanings

• Analyze an author's word choice rhetorically

• Analyze text structure

• Understand authorial purpose and perspective

• Analyze characters' points of view

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

• Understand authors' claims

• Differentiate between facts and opinions

• Use evidence to make connections between different texts that are related by topic

• Analyze how authors construct arguments

• Evaluate reasoning and evidence from various sources

1. Pace Yourself

• You may want to flip through the entire reading test before you begin reading.

• You can look at any of the reading test passages and questions during the time allotted for that test.

2. Use the Time Allotted

• If you take 2 to 3 minutes to read each passage, you'll have about 35 seconds to answer each question tied to the passage.

• Or you can think of the test as four 8-minute, 30-second units and try to complete all the questions for a passage within its allotted time.

• Answer all questions; you are not penalized for guessing.

3. Think of an overall strategy that works for you

• Are you the kind of person who likes to get the big picture first, then carefully go over your work?

• Do you like to answer the questions you're sure of right away and then go back and puzzle out the tougher ones?

• Or are you something of a perfectionist?

4. Keep the Passage as a Whole in Mind

• Pay attention to the advance organizers.

• Try not to let any prior information you know influence the way you answer the questions because the author's perspective may differ from yours.

• During the reading test, you can refer back to the passages as often as you like.

5. Find a Strategy for Approaching Each Question

• First, read each question carefully so you know what it asks.

• Look for the best answer, but read and consider all the options, even though you may feel you've identified the best one.

• Ask yourself whether you can justify your choice as the best answer.

Representative ACT Questions

• Details: picking out detail from a passage

• Main Ideas: determine the focus of a passage or of a paragraph or paragraphs in a passage

• Comparative Relationships: compare and contrast in passages that contain a lot of information or that feature multiple characters or points of view

• Cause-Effect Relationships: asked about literary narrative passages - sometimes one character's actions cause another character to react a certain way

• Meanings of Words: determine from context what a particular word, phrase, or statement most nearly means

Representative ACT Questions

• Sequence of Events: the order, or sequence, in which events happen is important

• Author's Voice and Method: voice relates to such things as the author's style, attitude, and point of view; method focuses on the craft of writing - the main purpose of a passage, what role parts of a passage play in the whole work, and so on

REMEMBER

-Work faster at the beginning Questions go from easier to harder

-Spend more time on the first 30 questions

-Plug answers into the problems, start with C