Font size
WorksheetsTutor Ted Redundancy & Relevance on ACT
Total questions: 17
Worksheet time: 16mins
What is the Tutor Ted’s Rule #1 for ACT English?
Don't trust your instincts.
Never skim the passages.
Shorter is better.
How can words or phrases can be redundant on the ACT?
Select all that apply
within the answer choice
within the sentence as a whole
within the surrounding paragraph
(Select all the answers that are true)
An ACT answer choice would be automatically wrong if it:
has one precise word that leaves nothing to be explained
has two adjectives that mean the exact same thing
has an adjective and a phrase that mean the exact same thing
has a weird, vague phrase that adds zero meaning to sentence
On the ACT English section, look for redundancies AND
always be biased in favor of the shortest answer
always look for the longest, most complicated answer choice that appears before your eyes because, as everyone knows, the more words a person uses (not anyone in particular, just people in general), the smarter that person is.
Monique’s take on neo-retro art was unique and could not be replicated.
unique
unique without replication.
not replicated by her.
unique to the point of not being replicated.
Puerto Rico became an “unincorporated territory” of the United States at the end of the Spanish-American War as part of the Treaty of Paris, which was a document ending the War under agreed terms.
Treaty of Paris, which was a document ending the war.
Treaty of Paris
Treaty of Paris. It was a document ending the war under agreed terms.
Treaty of Paris; this document ended the war.
The committee deemed the idea to cover all of the county’s farmland with asphalt both fiscally prohibitive and extremely short-sighted.
NO CHANGE
fiscally prohibitive.
extremely short-sighted.
both that it would cost too much money on top of the fact that it was dumb in the long-run.
You could never at any time convince me to get on a roller coaster.
NO CHANGE
at no moment ever
never ever
never
The other entries were returned back to their owners.
NO CHANGE
sent back and given
put back and returned
returned
What word or phrase should be deleted?
Becky was late getting home because of a terrible tragedy at work.
tragedy
at work
terrible
getting
What’s the best technique for making decisions about adding, revising, or deleting sentences on the ACT?
Know what’s going on in the passage.
Make a pros and cons list.
Phone a friend.
In which TWO places should you look to figure out what the author is trying to communicate?
the topic sentences of the paragraphs
the title of the essay
the author’s private, padlocked diary
in the second paragraph
What are the TWO big clues to look for when deciding whether to get rid of a sentence?
quotations
redundancy
change in voice or tone
the sentence is too short
n “Harry Potter” lore, J.K. Rowling, then a struggling, single mom, first started writing the Harry Potter series on cocktail napkins in a bar. She may still be a single mom whose children’s names are David, Mackenzie, and Jessica, but she is no longer struggling. Between book sales, merchandise, and film revenue, Harry Potter is one of the most successful franchises in history, having generated revenues of over 20 billion dollars.
The writer is considering deleting the underlined portion. Should it be kept or deleted?
Kept, because it further supports why Rowling’s life story is so remarkable.
Kept, because it provides crucial details in an otherwise vague sentence.
Deleted, because it is unnecessary and ends up distracting from the paragraph’s primary focus.
Deleted, because including only the first names of Rowling’s children is too informal.
Originating in South America, the tomato has become one of the world’s staple fruits. The tomato began to spread to almost every part of the world following the colonization of the Americas by the Spanish. [6] The earliest known European reference to the tomato can be found in a description of plants written in 1554 which names the tomato the “pomo d’oro,” or “golden apple.” Today, whether it’s being used in Italian sauces or in the classic BLT, modern world cuisine, it seems, would be lost without the tomato.
At the “[6]” in the passage, the writer is considering adding the following accurate information:
The fruit contains large amounts of lycopene, which is now known to have health benefits.
Should the writer make this addition here?
Yes, because it builds upon a claim made about the tomato in the preceding sentence.
Yes, because it provides a logical link to the information that follows in the paragraph.
No, because it unnecessarily states information that’s implied later in the paragraph.
No, because it doesn’t fit logically in this paragraph about the history of the tomato.
The room seemed to have been frozen in time. Everything, from his well-worn little league cap to the signed photo of Kobe Bryant telling him to “Stay in School,” was exactly as it had been when he’d last inhabited the space between these four walls. Only the view from the window had changed. The large willow, which used to mesmerize him during the day with its hypnotic swaying then frighten him at night with branches that turned into long, reaching fingers, was no longer there. “The roots were starting to tear up the sidewalk, so the city cut it down,” his mother informed him casually as she unloaded the dishwasher.
The writer is considering deleting the underlined sentence. Should the sentence be kept or deleted?
Kept, because it provides a critical link to the following sentences about the missing willow.
Kept, because it gives a key insight into the relationship between the protagonist and his mother.
Deleted, because it contradicts the focus of the paragraph, which is that his room has not changed at all.
Deleted, because its formal tone is out of place compared with the rest of the paragraph.
If a sentence in a piece of writing is completely true, then it will always have an important connection to the rest of the passage.
true
false
