Reading Love it or hate it, well, it is not going
anywhere..
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The Breakdown ACT you need to read to find answers. And read
fast. University you need to read a lot in order to discuss; in
fact, you will need to read a lot of stuff that you really could
care less about. But you also will read about stuff that is
interesting and/or life- changing. Life people who read have
better, longer lives. You read more. You learn more. You talk about
it. People think you are smart. Before you know it, you are elected
mayor. You also can read things like, beware of dog, or the back of
the Clorox bottle that says dont drink this or you will have a
clean dead body. See live longer.
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The Reading Section is 4 passages 10 questions each 40
questions total (if this caught you by surprise, please study the
math section some more) 35 minutes Roughly 9 minutes per passage
and the ten questions that follow it
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The Reading Section is Not what college is going to be like
Your teacher is not going to say read your Micro Economics book for
35 minutes and answer 40 questions. In real-life situations, you
will have time to mull things over. ACT only gives you a little
time to snipe some answers.
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9 Groovy ACT Tips from Fox Valley Lutheran High School 1.
Before reading the passage, skim the questions and underline a key
word or phrase in the question. The key word should identify the
topic of the question. If you dont immediately spot something to
underline, go on to the next question. Do not look at the answers
at this point. 2. In general, do NOT read slowly and carefully; you
dont have enough time to do so. On the other hand, dont read so
fast that you dont understand what you are reading. In general,
push yourself to read a little faster than you usually do (AKA
skimming).
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3. Your goal is to understand the main idea or topic of each
paragraph and the organization of the passage. Try to get a good
overall picture of what the passage is about and where information
is located in the passage. Underline main ideas and keywords in
each paragraph. If you dont spot any, write a word or two in the
margin that indicates the paragraphs topic. This will help you
quickly find information when you answer the questions. 4. On
average, spend 3-4 minutes rapidly reading or skimming a
passage.
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5. Skimming techniques: a) Read the first sentence of each
paragraph at your normal pace. The first sentence is usually the
main or topic sentence. It gives you an idea of what the paragraph
is about. b) Speed up your reading pace for the middle part of the
paragraph. c) Dont worry about the details such as names, dates,
and explanations. Read through these rapidly. Read over examples
rapidly. However, underline any words that match those you
previously underlined in the questions. d) Read the last sentence
of each paragraph at your normal pace. The last sentence is often a
concluding or summary sentence that helps you further understand
the main point of each paragraph.
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6. Dont get hung up on words you dont know; skip them and keep
on reading. If you must figure out an unknown word in order to
answer a question, use context clues to figure out the meaning of
the word. For context clues, read the sentence and preceding and
following sentences. 7. For the Reading Prose Fiction passage, do
not focus on the first sentence in each paragraph. Read it all at
the same pace. You should take more time to read this type of
passage than the others. Focus on the characters and feelings
(underline these).
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8. When you take practice ACT tests, time yourself when you
read the passages. If you are taking more than 4 minutes, you need
to pick up the pace. 9. Many of the questions in the Reading and
Science tests are inferential comprehension questions; that is, the
answers are not directly stated in the passage. In such instances,
stop and think about the full meaning of what the paragraph or
passage says. In other words, you need to put together the
information in the passage to come up with the answer. Words or
phrases that indicate the question is inferential include It is
reasonable to conclude... ; The authors purpose in writing... ; It
is reasonable to infer... ; The main purpose of the paragraph... ;
The passage indicates... When you see these cue phrases, dont
reread everything trying to find a direct answer; it isnt there.
Instead try to make sense of the passage and draw a logical
conclusion.
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ACT Tips from Princeton Review This aint high school. You are
not reading to understand it, discuss it, and write a five
paragraph essay about what you think your teacher wants you to
write about. Just get enough of it to answer the questions and move
on.
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Feel free to forget everything you read after thirty-five
minutes. Dont read to remember read to find answers.
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Recommended Techniques 1. Attack the passages in the order that
best suits you. 2. See through the camouflage that hides correct
answer choices. 3. Identify incorrect answer choices and eliminate
them quickly. 4. Answer questions without really reading the
passage. 5. Put all of these techniques together to approach every
passage and question with a step-by-step strategy that leads to the
correct answers.
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Choose Your Enemies Wisely There are four passages: Prose
Fiction (excerpts from short stories and novels) Social Sciences
(history, economics, psychology, political sciences, and
anthropology) Humanities (art, music, architecture, and dance)
Natural Sciences (biology, chemistry, physics, and physical
sciences)
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Take Note When you work practice tests, take note of which
section you breeze through and which ones slow you down. It is
fairly easy to see which ones are which on the test, so attach them
in the order that is best for YOU.
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Dont Bring Baggage The ACT, your ACT score, and the college you
are applying to dont care how you feel, think, or respond to the
readings. They only want the answers. If the topic is something you
feel strongly about, dont think about it. If the reading section
doesnt say something, that you know, dont let it affect your
answer. Only answer with what they give you.
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Prose Fiction Prose fiction passage is almost the opposite of
the natural science passage. It tells a fictitious story and is
supposed to be packed with hints about characters and their
motivations. Fiction passages are primarily concerned with the
following five things: who, what, when, where, and why.
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Social science and Humanities These are a cross between natural
science and prose fiction. Often, the author has views about the
subject and you might be asked to draw inferences about them. You
also might be asked questions about details.
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Natural Science These readings are filled with lots of details
and technical descriptions. The questions usually follow the text
pretty closely and require you to make few inferences. Just because
you are good at science doesnt mean that you will be good with
these and the reverse is true.
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Why Triage Reading? If you do the easiest passages first, you
will have finished them before time runs out. If time is running
out and you triaged your reading passages, that means you are
guessing on the parts that were the most difficult.
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So, lets say I hate them all If you think all of these are
terrible, you need to still order your passages to save time Look
at the topic if it seems user- friendly do it first. If it is
historical, it usually means the passage is in chronological order.
If you have recently studied it, then you can eliminate answer
choices easily.
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Question: What about the questions? If you cant triage the
reading passages, take a look at the questions and the answer
choices. Do the questions point you to a specific line? Do the
questions refer to dates? Proper nouns? Italicized words? Is the
question straightforward? Or is the question longer than the last
book you read at school?
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Camouflage (if it wasnt for spell check) Are the following
statements the same: Rationally conceived idea Concept born of
reason
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Its called paraphrasing Yes, they are the same and this is
where the ACT trips up a lot of students. An answer will change the
wording of the passage that way the correct answer will have the
same meaning, but not the same words. And often to trick you, they
will present a wrong answer using many of the same words.
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Try this on for size Regardless of personal religious belief,
no true student of history can emerge from study without a
scholarly appreciation for the significant role of religion in the
development of human civilization.
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Answer choices 11. Which of the following represents the
authors belief regarding religion and the study of history? a. Many
historians develop a deep suspicion of totalitarian societies and
the way in which they abuse human rights. b. Most historians have a
profound distaste for ancient documents and torn papers.
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Answer choices 11. Which of the following represents the
authors belief regarding religion and the study of history? c. True
historians develop an appreciation for the role of religion in the
course of human development. d. Few historians develop insight into
the manner in which political leaders gain power.
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The right answer? C is the right answer. This answer features
the authors words and accurately reflects his meaning. A,B, and D
have nothing to do with the passage. The ACT is not going to be
this nice.
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The ACT nerds decided to play Lets hide the answer game ACT
questions will reword, or camouflage, the answer. You need to be on
the lookout for answer choices that dont seem right because the
authors sentences have been reworded.
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Answer choices 11. Which of the following represents the
authors belief regarding religion and the study of history? a. Few
historians have gained a complete appreciation for the development
of religion. b. Historians should not allow their personal
religious beliefs to affect the historical conclusions with which
they emerge.
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Answer choices 11. Which of the following represents the
authors belief regarding religion and the study of history? c.
Serious historians regard religious belief as an important force in
mans social evolution. d. A true student of religious history
should not ignore a general study of human development.
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*&%$ Well, the answer is still C. But that gets confusing.
no true student of history can emerge from study without a
scholarly appreciation for the significant role of religion in the
development of human civilization. Serious historians regard
religious belief as an important force in mans social
evolution.
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Just what did they do? serious historians = true student of
history important force = significant role mans social evolution =
development in human civilizations
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See Through It Learn to recognize camouflage and see through
it. You need to: Read each passage Think about what it means
(carefully) With the meaning in mind, read the answer choices Find
which answer is equal to the authors statements
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Distracters The evil geniuses that live in an abandoned
warehouse that make the test are great at making wrong answers look
right. In order to trick you, make you lose scholarship money, and
to try to fill the void where they have no soul, they use
techniques to get you.
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Warning Have you ever noticed that the prettiest animals in
nature are the ones that will mess you up? Nice animals are
camouflaged. They have to hide because they are nice and the bad
animals like to eat them. The mean ones are brightly colored and
say I dont care if you see me. Just try it. If you have ever
thought fire ants are cute because red is your favorite color,
well, you can relate. The same goes for ACT answers that are so
pretty and nice. Be careful. And dont say I didnt warn you.
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Warning Watch out for extremes. As an American, you like
extremes. I hated that movie. In fact I tried to kill myself just
so I didnt have to finish watching it. I love those headphones. I
never spend more than five hours on Facebook. I always study for
math. The evil ACT trolls know you are programmed like that and
take advantage of it be careful of words like always and never
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The Four Horsemen Distracters 1. Deceptive Answers 2. Switches
(not the kind your grandmom whips you with) 3. Extremes 4. Answers
that are too Nice
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Deceptive Answers Distracters use words from the original
passage to say something that the passage does not. Example: Tom
loves going to the movies with Mary. Does not mean: Tom fell in
love with Mary at the movies, Tom and Mary love movies, Tom and
Mary generally enjoy seeing movies about love.
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Switches Sometimes answer choices take the truth and switch it
around what comes first? History or science. Example: Professor
Thorne generally explains a technological discovery first in terms
of its history and then in terms of the science up on which it was
founded. Example: Professor Thorne generally explains a
technological discovery first in terms of the science on which it
was founded, and then in terms of its history.
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Switches Example: Professor Thorne generally explains a
technological discovery first in terms of its history and then in
terms of the science up on which it was founded. Example: After
Professor Thorne describes the scientific aspects of technological
breakthrough, he explains the historical context in which the
breakthrough was made.
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Kill Switch When you see deceptive answers, eliminate them. If
you see answers that are opposites, one of them is probably the
correct answer
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Example Answers Question.. F. Important in that it shows
certain propositions to be true. G. Important in that it shows
certain propositions to be false. H. Less precise than most
scientists believe. I. Extremely misleading to those who fail to
question its premises.
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Extremes Watch out for answers that use always, invariably,
never, etc. These are extremes. Other words: completely, perfectly,
and absolutely. Extremes are normally wrong because they are
debatable. If I say, My mom makes the worlds best peach cobbler,
your grandmom might walk up and punch me in the face.
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What is the difference? Look at the following two answers one
with an extreme and the other without. Patients who are chronically
depressed never enjoy their lives. Patients who are chronically
depressed have difficulty enjoying their lives.
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Answers that are just too nice You ever hear of Billy Tipton?
Dont judge a book by its cover. Usually this type of distracter
doesnt have much to do with the topic but you probably will agree
with it. Example: A) the scientists concur that the reaction is
affected by external temperature changes. B) External temperatures
are affected by the scientists reactions. C) Puppies are just darn
cute and if you pet them you just feel happy. D) Everyone should
recycle to make the world a better place.
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Too Nice Examples The voting public knows its own best
interest. Structure is important, but it should not be imposed in
such a way as to stifle creativity. The ideal society is one that
allows for individual difference, but at the same time creates a
people united in interest. All people have a right to live and die
with dignity.
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Why is life so hard? Reading on the ACT is difficult because it
is usually an excerpt from a larger work. You are just thrown in
the middle of it and have to figure out what it is about. So how do
you find out what it is about?
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1: Look for lead words (30s) Look at the questions (not the
answers) Underline any lead words Example: Jeremy Bentham probably
would have said that lawyers: Lead words -> Jeremy Bentham,
lawyers.
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and if there are no lead words Skip it.
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Now you practice 1. Which of the following conclusions is drawn
by the passage? 2. As discussed in the passage, Quentin Bell
believes that historians and critics:
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3. The author expresses the idea that: 4. According to the
passage, academicism and mannerism: 5. It can be most reasonably
inferred that the author believes that:
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6. According to the passage, Renoir differs from Daleur in
that: 7. According to the passage, Cezannes work is characterized
by: 8. According to the sixth paragraph, the author implies:
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9. In the authors view, the phrase modern sculpture means
sculpture that: 10. According to the author, subjectivism affected
Rodin in which of the following ways?
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2: Scan the Passage for Lead Words (30s) Look for the lead
words that you found in the questions. Dont read. You dont have
time!!! If you find a lead word, underline it.
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How does this help? It keeps you from reading all of the
excerpt. You identify the areas of the passage that more than
likely have the answers in it. The answer isnt always in the same
sentence read around your underlined words
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3: Skim and Scribble (60s) In the margin of each paragraph,
scribble a few words that describe the main idea. Skim = fast. So
fast that you feel like you arent going to comprehend the passage
in detail.
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Look for trigger words Trigger words show that the author is
going to declare something. Despite, however, in spite of,
nonetheless, on the other hand, on the contrary, yet, but,
ironically, notwithstanding, rather, unfortunately, therefore,
hence, consequently These show something is going to change. You
know, I really like you and you are nice, unfortunately I think we
should just be friends.
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Anyone like Trance Music? Loops. Do steps one through three
over and over with each question. That should put you at 40s per
question. Just in case you forgot, here is the loop:
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1. Go to the first question that points to an answer. Read it
carefully. If its relatively clear, make sure you remember the
question before you go back to the passage. If the question is
confusing, reword it so that you know what youre looking for. 2.
Return to the appropriate portion of the passage 3. Read it
carefully. Formulate your own answer and jot it down. 4. Go back to
the question and pick the answer choice that most resembles your
answer.
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Some questions dont fit the mold What is the authors attitude?
How does she feel about These questions usually have answers that
are a list of words that are all the same type (noun, adj, adv) My
advice look at the adj in the story and get a feeling for it. Make
a good guess. Move on. Forget about it.
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Vocab in Context The word honest in the third paragraph most
likely means: Truthful A fair amount Abe Lincolns first name The
most hone Be CAREFUL if it was an honest wage then honest would not
match truthful.
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EXCEPT I like all of my friends, except Skip exception
questions and save them until the end. If you do these last, you
will have read most of the passage before you get to it and may
know the answer. Look for lead words in these questions.
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Roman Numerals 1 and 3 only. 1 only. 2 only. 4 only.