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Reading Test Tips
The ACT Reading test consists of 40 questions which
examine your reading comprehension. You have 35-minutes to
complete this section, and it is generally recommended you
spend no more than 2-3 minutes reading each passage, and
about 25 seconds answering each question. Questions in this
section ask you to derive meaning from texts by both
examining what is implicitly stated and by reasoning to
determine implicit meanings. You will use these skills in
order to do the following things, for example:
- Use referring and
reasoning skills to determine main ideas
- Locate and interpret
significant ideas
- Understand sequences of
events
- Make comparisons
- Comprehend
cause-and-effect relationships
- Determine the meaning of
context-dependent words, phrases, and statements
- Draw generalizations
- Analyze the author’s
voice and method
The test includes 4 passages of college-freshman
difficulty level texts. Next to each passage is the title of
the passage, the author, and sometimes a brief note is
included so students can better understand the meaning of
the passage.
There are two separate scores which are reported for the
Reading section, which add up to the 40 total questions. The
first is a sub-score for the Social Studies/Sciences reading
skills, and the second sub-score is in the Arts/Literature
reading skills.
Reading Test Tips
- Pace yourself – There
are 40 questions, and 35 minutes to complete them. Try
to spend about 2-3 minutes reading each passage, and
that will leave at least 35 seconds to answer each
question. It’s always a good idea to plan to have extra
time at the end of the test in order to go back and
review your work and return to the more difficult
questions.
- Read carefully – Try not
to skim, you are given enough time to read the passage
in its entirety. While reading, try and make connections
between different ideas in the text. Feel free to make
notes on important ideas in the passage either on the
test booklet or on scratch paper.
- Refer back to the
passage when answering questions – Since some questions
are taken directly from the text, it is very important
to refer to the passage before you answer any question.
Other questions will require you to draw conclusions and
determine implicit meanings from the text.
There are 4 main areas covered in the reading portion of
the ACT test, these include:
- Social Studies (25%) –
These questions are based in the content areas of
anthropology, archaeology, biography, business,
economics, education, geography, history, political
science, psychology, and sociology.
- Natural Sciences (25%) –
These questions are based in the content area of
anatomy, meteorology, microbiology, natural history,
physiology, physics, technology, zoology, biology,
botany, chemistry, ecology, geology, and medicine.
- Prose Fiction (25%) –
These question are based on short stories or excerpts
from short stories or novels.
- Humanities (25%) – These
questions are based on passages from memoirs and
personal essays and in the content areas of
architecture, art, dance, ethics, film, language,
literary criticism, music, philosophy, radio,
television, and theater.
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