BHS ACT Reading test tips

The ACT Reading Exam Tips & Strategies

The Structure

• Prose

– Events that show characters’ beliefs & motivations

– Asks for setting, plot, theme, tone, feelings

• Social sciences– Anthropology, archaeology,

business, economics, education, geography, history, political science, psychology, sociology

– Often presents opposing viewpoints

• Humanities – Architecture, art, culture,

dance, film, literature, music, philosophy, radio, television, theater

– Details, vocab, inferences, author’s POV, important contributions of the subject

• Natural sciences– Anatomy, astronomy,

biology, chemistry, ecology, geology, medicine, meteorology, microbiology, natural history, physics, technology

– Most specific of questions

The Nitty Gritty

• 8 ½ minutes per section

• All questions worth the same # of points

• No wrong points for guessing

• A score of 20 = must answer 20/40 correctly (2 sections!)

• A score of 25 = must answer 28/40 correctly (3 sections!)

• A score of 30 = answer 34/40 correctly (3 ½ sections!)

• Concentrate on the passages where you’re strong

• Take your time on the questions you’re most likely to get right

• Right answer isn’t always the “perfect” answer

Your #1 best tool… Annotations

• Write 1-word summaries in margins of most important ideas– Look for the TOPIC sentence (it’s not necessarily

the first sentence!)

• Underline things that seem important – Put “eg” or “ex” next to examples

– Circle shifters (although, despite, even though, nonetheless…)

• Mark “+” or “-” to indicate tone

• Number parts of an argument

Process of Elimination (POE)

• Avoid absolutes (“always” or “never”)

• Avoid extremes (“hateful” or “ecstatic”)

• The “bait and switch” answers – they use the exact wording of the passages, but have one small change that makes it wrong

– Right answers will be a paraphrase, NOT a quotation

• Be careful of “NOT” or “EXCEPT” questions!

Know your question types

Detail questions

Inferences

Point of view

Cause & effect

Main ideas

Vocabulary

Main idea questions

• Main idea of entire piece, or JUST a certain section

• Should be able to answer without going back to the passage

• If in doubt, go back and look at your annotations!

• Types of questions include:

• “The main idea is…”

• “One of the main ideas is…”

Detail questions

• Read around in the excerpt for context – Very common to have one potential answer that looks true in the section, but is later revealed to be incorrect

• Tend to be straightforward answers

• Types of questions include:

• “According to the passage…”

• “The passage indicates…”

Inference questions

• Ask for implied information; often difficult!

• Reread lines before & after for context

• Look for shifter words (although, nevertheless, however, but…) to break down the argument

• Types of questions include anything that uses the words:

• “Suggest,” “infer,” “imply,” “indicate”…

Point of view questions

• What does the WRITER think of the subject? – Look at your “+” & “-” annotations

– What is their tone? Negative? Sympathetic?

• The correct answer probably isn’t the perfect answer

• Types of questions include:

• “With which of the following statements would the author most likely agree? ”

Cause & effect questions

• FACT-BASED questions! Do not involve inferences

• Are you looking for the CAUSE, or the EFFECT?

• Types of questions include:

• “…because…”

• “Resulted in,” “led to,” “caused by…”

Vocab questions

• Find definition of word based on context

• Go back and reread the sentence – can you substitute a similar word?

– A word that looks like a “+” in the sentence will also have a “+”-sounding word as the answer

• Types of questions include:

• “As it is used in line ___, the word _________ most nearly means…”

Your overall strategy

• Go to the passages where you are strongest first – don’t be afraid to skip around – Do one WHOLE passage at a time

• 3 minutes to read • ANNOTATE!! • Know your question types – are you looking for

facts (in the text), or inferences (your best guess?)

• If no time left over, fill in every bubble!• With time left over, you MUST go back to a

passage you mostly guessed on