ACT Reading Prep

They loved each other (good), they loved me (very good), and they loved her (not so good). Bombay was my rival. It was on account of their romance with the city that they drew up that weekly rota (list) of shared parental responsibilities....It was from my father that I learned of Bombay's first great photographers, Raja Deen Dayal and A. R. Haseler, whose portraits of the city became my first artistic influences, if only by showing me what I did not want to do.

The passage as a whole can primarily be characterized as the narrator's:

• explanation of the relationship the narrator and his parents had with the city of Bombay.

• description of important buildings and locations in Bombay.

• argument for Bombay's prominence in the world of architecture.

• concerns about the emotional environment in which the narrator was raised.

Answer explanation

Explanation: The correct answer is "explanation of the relationship the narrator and his parents had with the city of Bombay." Throughout the passage, the narrator describes the importance of Bombay to him and his parents, and how the city inspired him to pursue a certain photography style.

Strategy: Read the first paragraph and a little after it and the last paragraph and a little before it.

The origin of the twelve animals is mythological, with the story being passed down from generation to generation....Despite its complexity, the Calendar is followed to a certain degree, and the Chinese New Year is celebrated by many.

The passage primarily emphasizes the idea that:

• The animals that are included in the Chinese Zodiac calendar all had to find ways to reach the Emperor's Palace.

• the Chinese Zodiac calendar is correct in the long run, but somewhat distorted on a year-to-year basis.

• the Chinese Zodiac calendar is surrounded by myths and legends that still permeate Chinese society today.

• according to the Chinese Zodiac, the animal one is born under will directly influence that person's personality.

Answer explanation

Explanation: All four answer choices are mentioned directly or indirectly throughout the passage. However, you must decide between which answer choices are supporting details and which answer choice is the main idea of the passage. Answer choice C best encompasses the whole of the passage by including both past myths and present times, both of which are discussed throughout the passage. Answer choices A, B, and D are all true, but are not the main focus of the passage.

Strategy: Read the first paragraph and a little after it and the last paragraph and a little before it.

Their images were awe-inspiring, unforgettable, but they also inspired in me a desperate need to get back down to ground level....I yearned for the city streets, the knife grinders, the water carriers, the pavement moneylenders, the peremptory soldiers, the railway hordes, the chess players in the Irani restaurants, the snake-buckled schoolchildren, the beggars, the fishermen, the moviemakers, the dockers, the book sewers, the loom operators, the priests. I yearned for life.

The narrator describes the photos by Bombay's first great photographers as primarily inspiring the narrator to:

• turn away from a career in photography

• create grand panoramas of the new Bombay

• produce images that his father would add to his collection

• photograph subjects that depict everyday life on Bombay's street

Answer explanation

Explanation: The correct answer is "photograph subjects that depict everyday life on Bombay's streets" because the narrator has made clear his desire to take pictures of "life" and of the "ground level" of Bombay.

Strategy: Skim the passage

In the ten years before my own coming into the world, the city had been a gigantic building site; as if it were in a hurry to become, as if it knew it had to provide itself in finished condition by the time I was able to start paying attention to it...No, no, i don't really think along such solipsistic lines. I'm not over-attached to history, or Bombay. Me, I'm the under-attached type.

In lines 25-31, the narrator muses over, then rejects, the notion that:

• Merchant & Merchant played an important role in the building of Bombay.

• he started paying attention to Bombay art at a young age.

• his anticipated birth was one of the causes of the rush to finish the building of Bombay.

• Bombay had been a gigantic building site in the years before he was born.

Answer explanation

Explanation: The correct answer is "his anticipated birth was one of the causes of the rush to finish the building of Bombay" because this is the notion that he thinks over and then rejects.

Strategy: Skim the passage

Funding for public schools need to be increased drastically. Because so many public schools are underfunded, dropout rates are significantly too high in some school districts. Additionally, college attendance rates are very low in these underfunded districts. Another benefit that increased funding would provide is that better funded schools would lead to more students pursuing higher education, and countries that have more educated populations tend to have more innovative and powerful economies.

On the basis of the information in the passage, public schools should receive more funding in order to:

• Raises taxes

• Foster an academic spirit among students

• Lead to a stronger and more skilled economy

• Create a better learning environment in public schools.

Answer explanation

Explanation: The answer is C because answers B and D may have looked enticing because increased funding for schools would likely foster an academic spirit and create a better learning environment, but neither of these things are mentioned specifically in the passage. What is mentioned is that a better educated population will lead to an improved economy.

Strategy: Read actively

Funding for public schools need to be increased drastically. Because so many public schools are underfunded, dropout rates are significantly too high in some school districts. Additionally, college attendance rates are very low in these underfunded districts. Another benefit that increased funding would provide is that better funded schools would lead to more students pursuing higher education, and countries that have more educated populations tend to have more innovative and powerful economies.

Based on the passage, what has been a cause of high dropout rates?

• A lack of educational motivation

• Inadequate funding in schools

• Poor teachers

• Boredom

Answer explanation

Explanation: Inadequate funding in schools is the correct answer. One could make an argument that A, C, and D could also play a role in high dropout rates. Remember to only draw information from the passage.

Strategy: Read actively

As a child, I remember the hot summer evenings spent outside with my parents, naming the birds we heard but could not see. In the dying light, our perception was limited to only one sense-our hearing. From tree to tree echoed a cacophony of calls: Was that a blue jay? A Baltimore oriole? Or that chameleon of birds, the mockingbird? As I tested my fledgling ear I turned to my father for reassurance. Behind his discerning eyes lay something that I wouldn't be able to identify until many decades later. Was it...."Dinner is ready!" Mother called. Our Audubon expedition would have to be continued another day.

The point of view from which this passage is told is best described as:

• a young child communicating his emotions and perceptions.

• a third-person narrator who is aware of every character's emotions.

• an adult reflecting appreciatively on his youth.

• a third-person narrator who tells the story through only one perspective.

Answer explanation

Explanation: Notice that answer choice A identifies the main character of the passage as the events are happening. Answer choice A is incorrect. If we think back to the advice that our answer choice should reflect the narrator's current relationship to the story, C is the only answer that works.

Strategy: Do not confuse "point of view from which the passage is told" with "the main character of the passage".

Most of the "alternative" theories of Shakespeare's authorship center on the Oxfordian theory, which suggests that Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, wrote all of the plays attributed to Shakespeare. While this theory has little evidence and has been widely rebuked, it still persists in today's day and age. The ironic aspect of the Oxfordian theory is that while most of its proponents focus on their doubtfulness that one person (Shakespeare) could produce such a large volume of work, they do not explain how Edward de Vere himself could have produced these works in his lifetime. This blindness to self-criticism disproves their original position.

The general perspective of the passage is that of:

• a scientist who is overly dismissive of alternative viewpoints

• a casual reader who has little to add to an academic discussion

• an academic who dismisses Edward de Vere's contributions to literature

• an observer who uses an example to demonstrate the faults of another group.

Answer explanation

Explanation: Answers A, B, and C are all either overly negative or too extreme: D is the only answer choice that is neutral and reflects the author's point of view.

Strategy: Try to find an answer choice that fits with a neutral or slightly positive author's point of view for nonfiction passages.

Iguacu Falls, which sit on the border between Argentina and Brazil, are said to make Niagara look like a leaky faucet. The great cataracts stretch for two and a half miles across lushly foliaged rocky outcroppings before plunging a staggering two hundred and thirty feet into the river below. The falls region is densely forested, and is home to a wide variety of plants and animals, including a number of endangered ones. It is a paradise where parrots dive and swoop through the spray, butterflies cavort among the tropical plants and coatis, and giant otters and anteaters amble through the trees. The foliage itself varies between tropical and deciduous with orchids blushing in the shade of pines and ferns nodding gracefully in the shadow of fruit trees.

The author's attitude toward Iguacu Falls can best be described as which of the following?

• Overweening pride

• Positive appreciation

• Mild acceptance

• Apathetic objectivity

• Cautious optimism

Answer explanation

Explanation: The author's attitude is purely positive. Thus, we can quickly eliminate C, D, and E. We can also eliminate A for a different reason. It would be wrong to say that the author is "proud" of Iguacu Falls; after all, he doesn't take credit for its beauty. B is the best answer.

Strategy: Don't try to project a positive or negative tone where one does not exist. If the tone is completely neutral, make sure you answer accordingly.

But for a few lonely oceanic islands, the unperturbed surface offers no hint of the grand and sweeping energies hidden below.

The author's attitude toward the main subject of the passage can best be described as:

• awe and fascination

• disbelief and cynicism

• amusement and nostalgia

• boredom and indifference

Answer explanation

Explanation: This language has a tone of "awe and fascination," rather than negative or neutral tones like disbelief, cynicism, boredom, indifference. Also there aren't any mentions of amusement or reminiscence.

Strategy: use context clues