ACT TIPS

Take Notes!*Examples are taken

from The Princeton ReviewCracking the ACT

*KAPLAN ACT Premier

About the Scores

• A score of 20 on the ACT is average. • If you score a 23 , you will be in the 76th

percentile. • If you score a 26, that puts you in the top 10%

of students who take the test.• If you score a 31, that puts you in the top 1%!

Don’t Waste Time

*Do not read the directions for each section of the test. These do not change from test to test! Memorize the directions!

*On the reading section, the passages will always be in this order: Prose, Social Science/Humanities, History, Natural Science.

ABC’s for the Reading Test

• Abbreviate Margin Notes• Bracket Key Sentences• Circle Key Words and Phrases

Reading Tips

• Label each paragraph with the main topic.• Have a system worked out in which you use

different symbols to mean different things. For example, circle names, box numbers and dates, underline key sentences, and draw arrows to lists of details. Once you know your system, you can find the facts faster!

Select the Choice That Matches Your Prediction!

• Make a habit of answering the question in your own words (based on your checking of the passage) before looking at the answer choices.

• Predict before you pick!

Examine the Question Stem!

• A detail (what happened)• The passage as whole (the Big Idea)• A conclusion (reading between the lines)• A specific word or phrase used in the passage

Circle Key Words*Note tricks such as except or least

likely. Circle them when you read them in questions, so you don’t mistakenly answer the opposite question.

*Even when the test asks you to infer an answer, the answer will be based on the passage and what the author says.

Develop a “Bubbling” Plan

• Circle the answers in your booklet and transfer your answers 5 at a time unless you are at the end of the test.

• Start bubbling answers one by one when you have 5 minutes left.

• Bubble after each Reading passage and after two pages of Math.

• Bubbling can interrupt your concentration!

Shorter is Often Better

• The ACT is very strict about redundancy.• Never let the text in a sentence repeat itself. • If the underlined portion is not absolutely necessary,

it is probably irrelevant. • On recent ACT’s, the shortest answer has been

correct on about one-half of all English questions!

Be Concise!I was already an hour and a half late for work and not on

time.

F. NO CHANGEG. work, and behind scheduleH. work and delayed in getting the morning started.J. work.

My boss was mad that I had forgot to bring the report I had been preparing at home.

A. NO CHANGEB. had forgotten to bring the report that I had

prepared at home.C. had forgotten to bring the report that had been

prepared at home by me.D. had forgotten to bring the report I had been

preparing at home.

Next, my boss was furious that I was late.

A. NO CHANGEB. My bossC. Then, my bossD. Next my boss

Understanding Passive Voice

Active - Beatrice prepared the fine meal.Passive - The fine meal was prepared by Beatrice.

Beatrice makes the meal in both sentences. Active voice preserves the performer of the action, Beatrice, as the subject. Passive voice promotes the receiver of the action, in this case the meal, to subject and changes the verb by adding the helping word was.

Passive Voice Tips• Look for forms of the verb to be and the

preposition by.• Choose passive voice ONLY when you are

confident that the other three choices contain a grammatical error.

• Use active voice in your writing!

Who Versus Whom

*Who is the subject pronoun. *Whom is the object pronoun.

Tip: Whenever you see who and whom, try he and him in their place. If you would say he called me, you would say who called me. If you would say I called him, you would say whom I called.

Parallelism

• KEY CONCEPT: Parallelism is the placement of equal ideas in words, phrases, clauses, or sentences of similar types.

Parallel words: Philadelphia is home to many universities, museums, and libraries.

• Parallel phrases: Philadelphia is famous for hosting the First Continental Congress, housing the Liberty Bell, and publishing the country’s first newspaper.

• Parallel clauses: Because we were hot and because we were tired, we stopped to rest in Fairmount Park.

• Parallel Sentences: I came. I saw. I conquered.• Parallelism is used to create rhythm and emphasize

key ideas in writing or speech.

“We shall not flag nor fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.”– Winston Churchill