#act reading

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As you read both passages, keep in mind what the main idea of each is (what is the author’s point in each passage?). You will almost certainly have some questions that relate the passages to each other, and these will be more straightforward if you remember the big-picture point for each passage. These are the questions you should do last (after you have read both passages).

One of the most important factors to our long-term growth as readers is reading a lot. In this article, Daniel Willingham addresses the importance of knowledge to reading comprehension. We find it easier to understand passages about topics that are familiar, and more challenging to understand passages about unfamiliar subjects. Many students find certain types of passages on the ACT or SAT—literary, science-based, historical documents—to be particularly challenging. In the short term, students can improve their scores by tackling these topics last. In the long term, however, one of the best ways to improve comprehension is by reading magazine articles (or source documents, in the case of historical passages) that are about similar topics. Even though the exact topic of an article may well never come up, readers pick up enough content and general stylistic principles to gain comprehension for new topics. Aim for articles written at a moderately high reading level, such as those in the New Yorker magazine or the Atlantic.

When students miss reading questions, much of the time I hear something like, "I was down to two answers that could both work, and I chose the one that seemed better." On the SAT and ACT, however, there is not a "better" answer. One answer is correct and the rest are incorrect. That means that there is something about each incorrect answer choice that causes it to be wrong--not second-best, but definitively wrong. If you are stuck between two choices (or when you are reviewing your practice test), think about what makes each incorrect answer wrong, and work on how to identify that next time around. Pay special attention to the wording--every single word must be supported by the passage.

One of the trickiest aspects of the ACT reading section is pacing. Students who are reasonably comfortable as readers will typically answer most questions correctly, given sufficient time. However, the necessity of completing 40 questions about four passages within 35 minutes means that good time management is a must. The top priority is answering the questions as quickly and efficiently as possible. This means that a student should read the passage for structure, with the intent of knowing how it is put together and being able to find information quickly. It also means that it's essential to move through questions without getting bogged down. Here are two of the ways I often see students lose time on reading questions, and what to do about them: 1. Sometimes you might have no idea where in the passage to go back to. The fix to this is reading with intent and paying attention to how the passage is put together. Ask yourself if the information you need is likely to be in a particular paragraph, based on what the paragraph is about, and use this to narrow your search. 2. Other times you might know where to go but find yourself getting stuck between answer choices or overwhelmed/confused by the amount of information. After you've done an initial round of process of elimination, go back to the passage with the remaining answer choices in mind. Remember that every aspect of the choice must be true from the passage and that it must also actually answer the question.

ACT reading prep - ACT Reading guidance to Boost Your Score http://bit.ly/29qDuvg

My ACT Exam is already tomorrow!! I hope all these strategies and practice are worth it. Wish me luck~