ACT English: Mastering Concision

She had ideas of her own, including an idea of hers for a torpedo with a radio-controlled guidance system.

• NO CHANGE

• one idea that she had

• her own idea

• one

Tags

CCSS.L.3.1A

CCSS.L.6.1A

CCSS.L.6.1C

CCSS.L.6.1D

But one day, after landing in Honolulu, Hawaii for an extended trip, I couldn’t locate my guitar on the luggage carousel. Panicked, I assailed airport personnel, who assured me that they would try to recover my beloved instrument. At that moment of my extended trip, continuing the trip without it seemed impossible.

• NO CHANGE

• moment, due to the fact that I was on an extended trip,

• very moment during my time in Honolulu,

• moment,

Tags

CCSS.L.4.2C

CCSS.L.6.2A

We tried to steady ourselves with our walking sticks but slipped and stumbled because of the jumbled rocks we were slipping on.

• NO CHANGE

• even though we used our walking sticks.

• despite any efforts to remain steady.

• with each step.

Tags

CCSS.L.2.1E

CCSS.L.3.1A

CCSS.L.3.1G

Quezada helped his village with the money he earned selling pottery, but he wanted to do more. So he taught people from Mata Ortiz to make pots. Today there are more than four hundred potters around, all of whom make their pots by hand, following the traditions of the Paquime Indians. (This one is tricky! Be sure it's clear where today's potters are located.)

• NO CHANGE

• people creating art now,

• potters in Mata Ortiz,

• DELETE the underlined portion and place a comma after the word hundred.

Tags

CCSS.L.4.2B

CCSS.L.4.2C

CCSS.L.5.2B

Demonstrating the Beaux Arts infusion of Renaissance and Baroque details, tall, arched French windows, symmetrically placed between the columns, lighten the imposing gray limestone structure. Above the windows and frieze, an exterior balcony spans the width of the gray building.

• NO CHANGE

• gray limestone

• limestone

• DELETE the underlined portion.

Tags

CCSS.L.3.1A

Patrons credit the handsome Beaux Arts aesthetic with adding enhancement to their theatergoing experience.

• NO CHANGE

• adding enhacement to the experience of

• adding to the experience of

• enhancing

Tags

CCSS.L.3.1A

CCSS.L.3.1D

During periods of drought, albino redwoods often wither and enter a dormant state. Later, during periods of heavy rainfall, they resurrect back to life and and latch onto their hosts.

• NO CHANGE

• resurrect in reanimation to latch

• revive to life again, latching

• revive and latch back

Tags

CCSS.L.3.1A

CCSS.L.3.1D

Sprawling beneath the four-square-mile town of Bonne Terre, the mine contains over eighty square miles of stadium-sized rooms and at least seventeen miles of tunnels. The cool water that fills the mine that is below the city of Bonne Terre is remarkably clean and clear.

• NO CHANGE

• this sprawling, cone-shaped mine

• this mine with five levels

• the mine

Tags

CCSS.L.11-12.3A

CCSS.L.7.1C

In concluding this quiz, let's review an important concept:

When it comes to concison, always check the shortest answer choice FIRST. If it makes sense, it is usually the correct answer!

• When it comes to concision, I should check the shortest answer FIRST.

• When it comes to concison, I should check the longest answer FIRST.

In concluding this quiz, let's review one more important concept:

When it comes to concision, sometimes you must be careful to RE-READ the language in the preceding sentences so you can eliminate repetitive ideas.

• I should be careful to RE-READ the language in the preceding sentences so I can eliminate repetitive ideas.

• I should never stop to RE-READ the preceding sentences.