ACT Reading Notes

ACT Reading Notes

1. Know instructions ahead of time

   • Each passage is about 750 words
     • Each passage is followed by 10 questions
       • Passages always show up in the same order
         • Prose
           • Normally from novels or short stories
           • Usually focus on plot and characters
         • Social Science
           • Informative Writing
           • Focus on analysis
         • Humanities
           • From memoirs or personal essays
           • Expository or descriptive
         • Natural Science
           • Scientific arguments or experiments
             • Asks about cause and effect
             • A lot about reasoning
           • Explore reasoning and significance
     • Always four passages
   • 40 questions
     • 35 minutes

2. Tips

   • Need preparation
     • Practice reading long and boring passages
     • How to prepare
       • Read a lot
         • Read boring things
       • Watch all other episodes on reading
       • Take practice tests
         • This helps you get use to timing
         • Helps you realize what types of passages you are comfortable with
   • Never read in order
     • Guess a whole section if you are aiming for a 23
     • read before you look at questions

3. Strategies

   • Do not read in order
   • Find favorite passages first
   • Go in order of preference
   • Mark in passage
   • Do not worry about details
     • Note the source
   • Macro Reader
     • Look at the big picture
   • Skim key parts
     • First paragraph, last paragraph, and first and last sentence in body paragraphs
     • Adjust considering the passage type
   • Prose: Look for characters
     • Social Science: what is the topic being discussed?
       • Humanities: what is being discussed
         • Natural Science: what kind of science is it?
   • Read completely through for the second sweep
     • Summarize each paragraph
       • Concentrate on central message
         • Draw inferences

4. 6 question types

   • detail
     • easy to answer
       • 1/3 of passage
         • Easily spotted
   • structure
     • focus on author's argument
       • think like an author
   • inference
     • make you read between the lines
       • Only 1 right answer
   • author's view
     • ask about author's attitude or tone
       • must infer writer's view
   • Main idea
     • broader concepts
       • ask about a paragraph or passage
   • word-in-context
     • usually just one
       • easy to spot
         • most common definition is always in the answers
   • why you should know types
     • Become comfortable
       • You will know what to look for when you read
         • it really helps with pacing
   • answer traps
     • misused detail
       • too "out there"
         • extreme
           • half right, half wrong
             • want to pick it but there is a slight twist at the end
           • usually never furious, just unhappy
         • some are just ridiculous answers
       • make sure it actually answers the question