How To Take The ACT Reading Test

Transcription

1 How To Take The ACT Reading Test A. Previewing: Read introductory material to help provide context of the passage (ex. a social studies passage might have an historical context blurb at the top of the page). Skim through the questions that do not contain line numbers. As you do so, look for key or unique words which will help when you are ready to answer questions. B. Skimming and Annotating: Read the entire first paragraph. Then skim the article by reading the first and last sentence of each paragraph and running your finger/pen left to right for the rest. Underline key words/phrases or jot a one word topic or short phrase in the margin next to each paragraph to capture its content. Read the entire last paragraph. C. Pacing: You have 35 minutes to read four passages and answer 40 questions. This averages out to approximately 9 minutes per passage. It is a good idea to mark the start and end time to give yourself an idea of how much time you have. D. Answering Strategies: Cover the answer choices and predict what you think the answer will be. Narrow bad answers as quickly as possible. Your time needs to be saved in skimming and used in answering. Go back into the passage whenever possible, especially when a line number(s) is given in the question. Use the process of elimination and make educated guesses. How To Prepare For The ACT Reading Test A. Know the four types of passages: Prose, Social Sciences, Humanities, Natural Science. Don t worry about prior knowledge, worry about how you answer the questions. Prose: Short Story or part of a novel-questions examine character behavior S.S.: History, sociology, psychology etc..authors opinions on specific subject matter. Humanities: Art, music etc...-authors opinions on specific subject matter. Natural Sci: Biology, Chemistry etc...-usually avoids conclusions...focus is on the subject matter. B. Know the types of distractors: What the ACT does to fool you. a. Answer choice may misrepresent the passage: Changes the author s wording/meaning, takes words out of context. b. Answer choice could be correct for another question. Tricking you into reacting to quickly; it sounds right, but it s not, for this question anyway. c. Answer choice may sound good, have nice wording, but is not right. d. Answer choice might be true, but uses extreme words like perfectly, always, completely, etc.

2 How To Take The ACT English Test A. Pacing: Time pressure is there but less intense than the reading test. Read the entire passage looking for patterns of style (past tense, present tense); the objective is to maintain the patterns. DON T SKIM. B. Answering Strategies Predict an answer as you are reading the passage. Note that the nonunderlined portion is grammatically correct. If you don t know what is wrong, the answer choices will focus on what areas to examine. Wordiness is a common distractor; the best answer is grammatically correct in the fewest words possible. Avoid answers that repeat ideas, similar words, or concepts. Substitute each alternative response for the underlined portion of the text. Cross out wrong answers; use the process of elimination and make educated guesses. Do not be afraid to select the answer NO CHANGE or OMIT the underline portion. Often your first instinct will be correct; however, verify that choice with your definite knowledge of grammatical rules. Parts of the ACT English Test A. Usage/Mechanics Sentence Structure Fragments/subordinate or dependent clauses Run-ons/Comma Splices Misplaced Modifiers Shifts in construction B. Grammar/Usage Subject-verb Agreement/Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement Verb tense and forms Pronoun forms and cases Comparative and superlative modifiers C. Punctuation Commas Semicolons Colons Dashes and parentheses Apostophes

3 D. Rhetorical Strategies Style and structure questions usually appear at the end of the English section. When doing the English section, you must pay attention to the non-underlined portions. It is helpful to mind map the overall organization of piece when answering these question since they will require you to manipulate or improve it. Style Clarity Wordiness Tone Diction Organization Order Clear focus Unity Writing Strategy Audience or purpose Revising (adding, deleting, rearranging) Effectiveness of opening, closing, or transitional sentences For additional information, go to Practice Grammar Exam 1. When an independent clause and a dependent clause are put together without a conjunction, you need a comma. When you finish your homework, I will grade it. 2. When two independent clauses are connected by a conjunction, you need a comma. Every individual in society will seek the scholar side of themselves, and they should examine the procrastinator side of themselves. 3. When a sentence begins with an introductory phrase, place a comma after the phrase. Because he liked to read, Chris knew that he would do well in English class. 4. When you have one subject with two actions, you don t need a comma. Every individual in society will seek the scholar side of themselves and take control of the procrastinator side of themselves. 5. When you have an independent clause split apart by a renamer phrase, you need a comma. I studied the voice of my family s immigrant group, Italian Americans, in the library last week.

4 6. When you have a phrase with essential information, not a renamer, you don t need a comma. Students who study the American culture are bound to be more sophisticated members of American society. 7. When you have an independent clause that ends in a list, you need commas. At the end of the semester students will turn in an essay, their speech, some marbles, and their books. 8. When you have two independent clauses, not connected by a conjunction, you need a semicolon. American Studies would like to provide a scholarly environment for all students; however, the teachers need the students to truly dig into themselves and find the Joey in them. 9. When an independent clause is followed abruptly by a list, you need a colon. American Studies students will learn about a variety of themes: The American Dream, Conformity, Nonconformity, Voices, and Revolution. NOW TRY IT ALL AGAIN WITHOUT RULES: 1. I need to see your annotations after you are done. 2. I need to see your annotations and to see your response journals. 3. Yelling loudly the teacher asked to see our annotations in the text. 4. I need to see your annotations and grade your journals. 5. I need to see your annotations when you're done to put them in my grade book. 6. I need to see your annotations on the Civil War to put them in my grade book. 7. I need to see your annotations your Civil War homework the movie notes and your car keys. 8. I need to see your annotations also I need to see your response journals. 9. I need to see your annotations: Page 115, the fight scene, page 245, and marks on the end of the chapter. DIALOGUE RULES 1. Place double quotes around dialogue/direct quotes. 2. Place single quotes arouned quotes within quotes. 3. Place periods and commas following a quotation inside the marks. 4. Place semicolons and colons outside quotation marks. 5. Place question marks and exclamation points inside only if they belong as a part of the quote, otherwise place them outside.

5 Verb Tense Shift Present Tense: Drop the keys. The wind is blowing. She speaks very loudly. Past Tense: You Dropped the keys. The wind blew. She spoke loudly. Future Tense: You will drop the keys. The wind will blow. She will speak loudly. Avoid mixing inappropriate tense shifts: Incorrect: She ran home and eat dinner. Incorrect: Dave saves money for the game and he saved money for souvenirs. Incorrect: Just as Pam was putting away her book bag, her dog runs past her. Be careful, on a test this can be subtle, so be sure to pay close attention and read aloud under your breath. Subject-Verb Agreement The subject and verb of a sentence must agree in number. Singular subjects take singular verbs. Plural subjects take plural verbs. Incorrect: Chad want to get to the soccer game on time. Incorrect: The players wants to do their best in the game. Incorrect: Bob and Liz referees the game. Incorrect: Everyone are at the door. (Indefinite pronouns such as someone and everyone are singular.) He, She, me, we, us, you etc... Pronouns Each pronoun must agree in number (singular or plural) and gender (male/female or third person) with the noun, noun phrase, or pornoun it refers to. Incorrect: Joan and her sister ran to catch the plane, but she was too late. Incorrect: Everyone went home to get their raincoats. ( Remember that Indefinite pronouns such as someone and everyone are singular.) Incorrect: The firls took their car to get her brakes fixed. Incorrect: The The man on the platform waited for the woman to get off the train, whcih he had been on for three hours. ACT Reading Reading=Thinking When encountering difficult reading passages, there are several strategies that can help with understanding the work.

6 1. Use existing knowledge to make sense of the new information. For example, what do you already know about the topic? What comes to mind in terms of the understanding the topic? 2. Ask questions about the material before, during and after reading. By doing so, you become a more active reader which will help in understanding the material. The harder the material is to understand, the more questions you should ask. 3. Draw conclusions from the text. Based on the information that you understand, what can you logically conclude about the topic? 4. Check for understanding by stopping every once in a while to see if it makes sense. Just like driving, there are times when you drive at a fast speed (the material is easy to understand) and other times when you have to drive slowly or with caution (the material is hard to understand). You have to figure out the correct pace as a reader. Sometimes, you need to stop completely and evaluate the situation to see if you can proceed. 5. Determine what is important. Consider how the piece is organized. Are there headings? If not, could you figure out what they should be? 6. Establish a purpose for reading. In this case, it may to answer the questions correctly. In doing so, you may want to look at the questions before you read the passages. 7. Make a predicition or visualize what is being described in the passage. The more ways you can relate to the material, the better understanding you will have of the material. 8. Use various strategies to make the reading meaningful. You should be able to figure out what works best for you. What makes someone a good reader? Good readers are thinking about what they are reading and not just passing their eyes over the text or pronouncing the words in their heads. Good readers don t remember everything they read; they mark passages so they can go back to find it later. Good readers know when they are confused or not paying attention. They stop and go back. Good reader see reading as something they will do the rest of their lives-not just something to pass a test.