December 6: ACT Reading
ACT READING ESSENTIALS
Overview of the Reading Test:
40 questions in 35 minutes
4 passages (aim for under 9 minutes per passage)
Social Studies, Natural Sciences, Humanities, Prose Fiction
One passage will be a “paired passage” with two shorter pieces of writing
Tips for doing well on the Reading test:
Practice reading constantly – it doesn’t matter what you read, just that you read often
Practice skimming (reading quickly) and scanning (finding a specific word/sentence on a page)
Do practice tests and work on your timing, get used to the types of questions
Learn “root words” (usually Latin/Greek) to help with vocabulary
Do the easiest questions (vocabulary, detail) first, and save the hardest (inference, main idea) for last
Use the process of elimination
If you run out of time – guess! Never leave an answer blank!
Types of Questions:
Detail
Find specific facts/details
Paraphrasing
Vocabulary in context
Main Idea
Main idea of whole passage
Main idea of paragraph or section
Relationships between facts/ideas
Comparison (ex: in a natural science passage, how does one scientist’s idea compare to a different scientist’s idea?)
Cause & effect (ex: how/why did one event cause another event?)
Making inferences
Determining meaning or author’s intent that is implied or not directly stated in the text
Author’s writing choices
Voice, tone, method, and style (ex: why did the author choose to word this in this way?)
