4 passages and 40 questions in 35 minutes (10 questions per passage). The passages appear in the following order: Prose Fiction, Social Science, Humanities, and Natural Science.
Force yourself very strictly to stay on the good side of a 9 minute per passage pace. For example, after two passages, make sure no more than 18 minutes have elapsed. Nine minutes per passage will actually leave you with 8 for the last one. Stay on this pace even if it means not spending as much time as you would ideally like on certain questions.
PLAN Format and Timing:3 passages and 25 questions in 20 minutes (8-9 questions per passage). The passages appear in the following order: Prose Fiction, Social Science, and Humanities.
Give yourself 6 minutes for each of the two 8 question passages and 7 minutes for the one 9 question passage. Force yourself very strictly to stay on this pace, even if doing so means not spending as much time as you would ideally like on certain questions.
Basic TechniqueRead the passage, then answer the questions, going back to the passage as necessary while making certain to stay on pace.
How to Read• Read the entire passage.
• Although reading faster is better than reading slower, understanding the passage is far more important than being fast, so adjust your reading pace according to the difficulty of the passage.
Factual Passages: Social Science, Humanities, and Natural Science• Your goal is get the author’s main point (by far the most important thing), a knowledge of what is talked about where, and the author’s tone (positive, negative, or neutral).
• Don’t feel like you need to completely understand every single detail; you can go back when you need.
• Pay extra attention to the places most likely to contain the most information.
º Entire first paragraph, but especially the last sentence. Consciously look for a thesis.
º Beginnings of paragraphs, until you have a good prediction of what the paragraph is about. Look for a topic sentence.
• Read actively.
• Constantly be making predictions and asking yourself questions. By the end of the first paragraph (whether or not you found a thesis), you should have a prediction about the main point and the tone (value words provide clues to the tone). Early into each paragraph, you should have a prediction about what will be discussed in the remainder of the paragraph.
• Occasionally, a Humanities passage will seem more fictional than factual in nature. When this is the case, use the reading strategy described below for Prose Fiction passages.
Prose Fiction Passages• Fictional passages do not typically have a main point. Therefore, you should pay attention to characters, plot, and setting. Pay particularly close attention to the characters.
Addressing the Questions • Always read the answer choices before going back to the text.
• Use process of elimination.
º You never know when the answer will be obvious, and you don’t want to waste time going back if you didn’t need to.
º If you can eliminate 1 or 2 answers, it makes going back that much more productive, because you are going back to specifically choose between known options.
• Base your decision whether to go back to the passage on the following three factors:
1) How are you doing on time?
2) How likely are you to get the question right without going back?
3) How long will it take you to go back?
• Do not get behind by spending too much time on questions early in the passage. Not getting behind early sometimes requires taking a guess on a problem that might take a very long time to go back on. You can then go back to the question if you have extra time at the end of the passage.
Correct and Incorrect AnswersIncorrect Answers• Wrong name with the wrong thing.
• Half right half wrong.
• Using words from the text but misrepresenting their meanings.
º Just because the answer uses words from the text DOES NOT mean it is probably wrong. They do a good job of keeping you guessing, so it gives you no evidence either way.
• Absolute language (all, invariably, entirely, etc.). Words that offer NO room for exceptions are very rarely found in correct answers.
• Answer choices that just seem too strong. Be suspicious of any answer choices that seem like they are making big claims.
• Insulting answers.
Correct answers• Should seem reasonable and makes sense.
• Use your own knowledge when applicable.
• Very weak, vague, non-committing.
• If you have it down to two choices that seem to be saying the same thing, choose the weaker one.
• Think about finding the answer that can’t possibly be wrong. You want the least wrong answer, not the most correct one.
Not Enough TimeBelow are two techniques that can be useful if you have trouble finishing the Reading Test.
Skim the PassagesFactual Passages: Social Science, Humanities, and Natural Science• Your goal is to get an idea of the main point, the tone, and what is located where.
• Read the entire first paragraph unless it is very long, in which case you can skip over some of the sentences in the middle. By the end of this paragraph, you should have actively made a prediction about the main point of the passage.
• In each of the remaining paragraphs, read until you have a very good idea of where it is going, then move on to the next paragraph. Sometimes, you will only have to read one or two sentences.
• In the final paragraph, read the last sentence in addition to the first sentence or two.
• Pay particular attention to what is located in each paragraph so you can go back effectively.
• Do not get bogged down in details.
Prose Fiction Passage• Because fictional writing does not contain structural elements like topic sentences and thesis statements, it is tough to predict the most important parts of the passage. Therefore, you should simply read this passage, while attempting to skip any sections that seem unimportant.
• Pay attention to characters, plot, and setting. Pay particularly close attention to the characters.
Concentrate on 3 Passages (ACT)• Devote all your time to 3 of the passages, leaving only enough time to randomly fill in bubbles on the 4th.
• You can spend 11 minutes each on two of the passages and 12 minutes on one of the passages. Doing so leaves you with 1 minute to randomly fill in bubbles on the fourth passage.
• Randomly fill in bubbles on the passage that tends to be the most difficult for you.
• It is still possible to get a score in the mid or even upper 20s using this technique.
- See more at: www.answerexplanations.com/act/study-materials/basic-strategy-outline/reading/#sthash.qGaEBM3s.dpuf 