Act Reading Humanities

How much time is allotted for the ACT Reading test?

• 20 minutes

• 25 minutes

• 30 minutes

• 35 minutes

One of the main arguments the author is trying to make in the passage is that: 

• until recently, foreign-born residents have not wanted to be involved in defining the American reality

• non-Western immigrants are changing the definition of what it means to be an American

• the United States immigration policy is inherently unfair

• America have changed the political affiliations of most non-Western immigrants.

The author sees her "literacy agenda" (line 44) and her "mission" (line 58) to be:

• raising the political consciousness of recent immigrants to the United States

• creating characters whose cultural heritage is not easily identifiable

• reinterpreting, through her stories, what it means to be an American

• finding an audience for her stories and novels

Which of the following statements from the passage is an acknowledgment by the author that she was changed by American?

• "The astrologer meant to offer me a melancholy future" (line 19)

• "All my girlhood, I straddled the seesaw of contradictions" (line 24-25)

• "I'm someone who watches tractor pulls on obscure cable channels" (lines 68-69)

• "My characters can, I hope, transcend the straitjacket of simple psychologizing" (lines 73-74)

The author refers to the village of Faridpur as a "phantom" (line 27) because:

• it is a part of the Indian mythology her mother told her about

• she considers Manhattan, not Bangladesh, to be her home

• even though is was once part of India, it is not part of Bangladesh

• even though she considers it to be her ancestral home, she has never been there

When the author says that she is "trying to extend it" (line 30), she most likely means that she:

• wants to see people from non-European ethnicities included in what is considered mainstream America.

• prefers to be part of both the Indian and the American cultures.

• is trying to find a way to make her home in the United States permanent.

• is working to change regulations so that many more Indian immigrants can live in the United States.

According to the passage, by reading her stories, many of the author's readers leaned that: 

• good fiction writing obscures cultural difference among characters.

• they have much more in common with the author's characters than they ever realized.

• stories about immigrants to the United States generally have many more characters than do other types of stories.

• because of their immigrant status, people from non-Western counties have developed a stronger inner life than have most native-born Americans.

When the author says that the people she writes about "are culturally and politically several hundred year old" (lines 75-76), she most likely means that her characters: 

• have cultural and political viewpoints that are repressive and outdated

• have rejected Bengali, British, Irish, and American values

• have experienced an incredible amount of change in just one lifetime

• are really her mother's and grandmother's ancestors

What is the primary focus of the ACT Reading Humanities section?

• Analyzing scientific data

• Understanding historical events

• Interpreting literary and cultural texts

• Solving mathematical problems

Which of the following is a common theme in humanities passages on the ACT Reading test?

• Technological advancements

• Cultural identity and diversity

• Mathematical theories

• Biological processes