ACT Test Prep Reading Passages 26 Questions with Verified Answers
Prose Fiction: The passage and many of the questions are usually about a relationship
... [Show More] between two people. - CORRECT ANSWER Use this knowledge to your advantage. As you read, ask yourself about the two main characters. What are they like? What do they think or feel? At the same time, ask yourself about their relationship. How are they related? Is their relationship positive, negative or conflicted? If you answer these questions while you're reading, you'll be in great shape when it comes to the actual questions.
#1 tip - CORRECT ANSWER STAY INTERESTED IN THE PASSAGE
HOLD PENCIL UNDER EACH WORD
FOCUS!
Prose Fiction: Map the passage. - CORRECT ANSWER This is to help you answer those questions that ask for very specific details. Without a good map of the passage, these details can be nearly impossible to find. Note when the passage shifts topics in a major way and consider drawing line breaks to mark these shifts. You can also make short annotations to note what each section is about or any significant points in that passage. If you can divide the passage up into a few major sections, it will be easier to know where to look when a question asks about a specific detail.
Prose Fiction: Note any mention of time when reading the passage. - CORRECT ANSWER Prose fiction passages often include a question about when something happened. Whenever time is mentioned, make a special note of it. It's likely there'll be a question about it.
Prose Fiction: Inference questions - CORRECT ANSWER These questions appear often. Elements of all the answer choices are mentioned in the paragraph. Your job is to figure out which answer choice best answers the question.
How to Skim Effectively - CORRECT ANSWER -The ACT requires that you gain a general understanding of the passage as quickly/efficiently as possible
-Create a "general map"
-carefully read the introduction (not always the first paragraph)
-the intro sets up the primary ideas or questions it will discuss
-always read the conclusion (esp last sentence)
-the conclusion serves to reiterate the main ideas and explain their importance
-also pay attention to beginning and end of each paragraph
-sometimes it will be enough to read the first sentence, and sometimes you have to read more
-NOTICE ANY MAJOR CHANGES IN TOPIC, FOCUS, OR POINT OF VIEW
How to read - CORRECT ANSWER Put your finger/pencil on the page and move it along the line as you read
Key words and punctuation - CORRECT ANSWER
Skimming Paragraphs - CORRECT ANSWER When an author provides a transition "for instance" or "for example" this clearly states that the following information is their to provide supporting evidence. BRACKET the information, and skip it entirely. Sometimes, authors do not use key words to indicate the evidence, instead they will jump right in..so use your knowledge to know when to skip.
things to mark - CORRECT ANSWER punctuation such as colons, or a dash. Often times they will contain important information.
"Mapping" the Passage - CORRECT ANSWER Identify what type of passage it is: a first person narrative, third person?
-is the author arguing a point, or is it a descriptive/detail based passage
IF the passage has a clear point, you need to look out for examples. Once you know where sections are located and what role to play, you may be able to skim through them.
If a passage is more DESCRIPTIVE, you. may have to slow down and read more carefully. You may skim through paragraphs where the author provides details to illustrate an idea, but the structure of these passages are not always clear.
Skimming strategy - CORRECT ANSWER look for the major sections whiting the passage. Passages are structured similar to paragraphs. They move from general-detail-general.
Locating information - CORRECT ANSWER 1) identify the key word or phrase in the question and circle/ underline it
2) Think LOGICALLY about where in the passage that topic is discussed
-if you have no idea, either scan top sentences until you find one related to the word you are looking for, then read the paragraph slowly OR drag your finger down he side of the page as you scan the passage for the key word.
***use your finger
3) when you have found the key word, slowly read each section where it appears.
ALSO, IF A QUESTION HAS TWO KEY IDEAS, FOCUS ON THE ONE THAT IS MORE SPECIFIC
ex question. The passage indicate that celluloid film restoration requires:
I. expert handling
II. Old fashioned research
III. digital correction - CORRECT ANSWER the first thing you should do is find the necessary section of the passage--in a passage this information heavy, you should not try to rely on your memory.
"EXCEPT" and "NOT" questions - CORRECT ANSWER the incorrect piece of information may be mentioned in the passage, so be careful.
Main idea questions - CORRECT ANSWER Quickly jotting down for a few seconds what the main idea of the passage is can be an effective technique. The main idea might be directly state in the passage at the end of the conclusion, somewhere in the introduction (not always the first paragraph)
Main idea in Humanities/social science/fiction, natural science - CORRECT ANSWER Humanities/social science: the main point will generally be relatively straightforward explanation of an event, project, or an individual's importance.
For personal narratives like prose/humanities, it will usually relate to the insight or goal a person drew from a given experience
For natural science: the main point will often relate to a new finding or discovery
Recognizing Correct and Incorrect Answers - CORRECT ANSWER -Main idea questions ask about the Bic picture, so the answer is more likely to be phrased in a neutral/vague manner
-Correct answers also trend to be worded moderately, whereas incorrect answers are ore likely to include "extreme" language such as always, never, fundamentally, and most
Primary Purpose - CORRECT ANSWER unlike the main point, the primary purpose is the rhetorical goal or function. It answers the question "WHY DID THE AUTHOR WRITE THIS?"
Correct answers will contain neutral purpose words such as explain or illustrate rather than praise or promote. If an answer has a high level of emotional content, you can generally assume that it will be wrong
as you are reading - CORRECT ANSWER always mark changes in text
Vocabulary in Context - CORRECT ANSWER 1) Read the section and plug in choices
2) play positive/negative. If the surrounding information in the passage is clearly positive, you can delete any negative word and vice versa
Tone and Attitude - CORRECT ANSWER The easiest way to answer tone questions is to start determining whether the persons tone or attitude is positive or negative, If it is positive, you can automatically eliminate any negative answers and vice versa
Tone of words - CORRECT ANSWER
Point of View: first person - CORRECT ANSWER They are more likely in Prose Fiction or humanities passages. Passages are generally written from two points of view:
FIRST PERSON passages are written from the narrator's point of view and are characterized by using "I" (it is the protagonist not the author) Whereas Humanities passages are written in the point of view of the author.
Prose fiction are often written as the perspective of an adult looking back on a memorable experiences-often from their youth. So in general answers stating that it is written from a child's perspective can be DELETED.
Point of View: Third Person - CORRECT ANSWER Third person passages are written from an objective point of view (he or she).
Paired Passages - CORRECT ANSWER Read passage A: Write main point and tone (positive/negative/neutral)
Answer Passage A questions
Read Passage B: write main point, tone, and relationship to passage A (agree/disagree/example)
Answer Passage B
Answer Both
The easiest way to determine the relationship is often to focus on there end of the first passage and the beginning of the second passage [Show Less]