Succeeding on the ACT: ENGLISHStrategies to help YOU put the pieces together

YOU WILL DO WELL IF YOU TAKE THE TIME TO CARE

The English Portion of the Test

• Always the first test taken• Time: 45 minutes• Questions: 75– Equates to about 30 seconds/question

• What you DON’T need to know– Spelling – Vocabulary (that’s the SAT test!)– Grammatical names• Nouns, verbs, participles, etc.

Breakdown of Questions

• 10 punctuation questions• 12 grammar and usage questions• 18 sentence structure questions• 12 strategy questions• 11 organization questions• 12 style questions

The Format

• You will be given something to read• Portions of the text will be underlined• Questions are based on the underlined portions• Each question has FOUR options:

A. No changeB. Option oneC. Option twoD. Option three

For Example:

. . . Pike’s Peak in Southwest Colorado is named before 37 Zebulon Pike, an early explorer. He traveled through the area, exploring. . .

37.A. NO CHANGEB. before Zebulon Pike

became an explorer, and he

C. after Zebulon Pike, when he

D. after Zebulon Pike. He

The Breakdown

• One-third: Conciseness in Writing• One-third: Logic and Sense• One-third: Rules of Grammar

To Omit or Not to Omit. . .

• Sometimes one of the options will be to omit (leave out) the underlined portion.

• It’s usually the last of the choices

For Example:

Later, Pike fell while valiantly defending America in the War of 1812. It goes without saying that this took place after he discovered Pike’s Peak. He actually died near York (now called Toronto). . .

F. NO CHANGEG.Clearly, this must

have occurred subsequent to his discovering Pike’s Peak.

H.This was after he found Pike’s Peak.

I. OMIT the underlined portion

Know the Directions Beforehand

• The directions on the English test are long and complicated.

• If you already know what they say, you can save time by skipping them and just getting to the answering part.

Directions:

• In the five passages that follow, certain words and phrases are underlined and numbered. In the right-hand column, you will find alternatives for the underlined parts. In most cases, you are to choose the one that best expresses the idea, makes the statement appropriate for standard written English, or is worded most consistently with the style and tone of the passage as a whole. If you think the original version is best, choose NO CHANGE. In some cases, you will find in the right-hand column a question about the underlined part. You are to choose the best answer to the question.

Directions Continued:

• You will also find questions about a section of the passage or about the passage as a whole. These questions do not refer to an underlined portion of the passage, but rather are identified by a number or numbers in a box.

• For each question, choose the alternative you consider best and fill in the corresponding oval on your answer document. Read each passage through once before you begin to answer the questions that accompany it. For many of the questions, you must read several sentences beyond the question to determine the answer. Be sure that you have read enough ahead each time you answer a question.

What They Don’t Tell You. . .

• Read the passage as far as you find necessary to answer each question, and then answer before moving on.

• Be sure you answer in context!– Read sentence(s) before and after the underlined

portion

Nonstandard-Format Questions

• Some ACT English questions—about 20 per test—don’t follow the more typical format of presenting you with an underlined portion and three possible revision.– What is the LEAST acceptable alternative?– Which answer best accomplishes a specific goal?– Choose the reason why a line should be added or

deleted.• READ QUESTIONS CAREFULLY!

Example:

Later, Pike fell while valiantly defending America in the War of 1812. He actually died near York (now called Toronto). . .

40

40.Supposed the author considered adding the following sentence at this point: “It goes without saying that this occurred after he discovered Pike’s Peak.” Given the overall purpose of the passage, would this sentence be appropriate?

F. No, because the sentence adds nothing to the meaning of the passage.

G. No, because the passage is not concerned with Pike’s achievements.

H. Yes, because otherwise the sequence of events would be unclear.

I. Yes. Though the sentence is not needed, the author recognizes this fact by using the phrase it goes without saying.

Nonstandard-Format Questions (cont.)

• Occur more frequently at the end of a passage.• Asks about– Meaning– Purpose– Tone

• They also– Evaluate the passage– Determine the proper order of

• Words• Sentences• Paragraphs

TTT: Test Taking Tip

• ACT questions are not arranged in order of ascending difficulty. Skip past the tough questions and spend your first minutes on the test piling up some easy points.

GUESS!!

• Keep track of the time – Don’t count on your proctors– English test: about 30 seconds/question

• Answer every question on the test• When 5 to 10 minutes are left, go through and

randomly guess– Lucky guess can raise your score– No penalty for a wrong answer—getting it wrong

counts exactly the same as NOT answering.

The BIG Three!1. Many questions test redundancy, verbosity, and

irrelevance. Start with the shortest answer.2. As yourself,

a. “Do these words belong here?”b. “Do these words make sense?”c. “Is there an error in grammar?”

a. How does this idea (or these words) sound in context?”

3. Read the passage as far as you find necessary to answer each question, and then answer before moving on.

When in Doubt, Take it Out!

• Redundancy: repeating the same thing in a different way

• Verbosity: using more words than needed to convey meaning

• Relevance: including information that doesn’t relate to the main idea (of the paragraph or the text)

For Example:

• On recent ACTs, the shortest answer has been correct, and absolutely right, for about half of all English questions. Because this is true, a student who knows no English at all could earn—and justly so—an English subject score of about 15. Such a student would compare the choices carefully, and choose the single shortest one every time. On recent published ACTs, guessing in this way would have yielded between 35 and 38 correct answers out of 75 questions. Of course, you’re going to be doing much better than that. You actually are capable of speaking the English language. You may not know every little rule of English usage, but you certainly know something. Obviously, getting the question right because you know the right answer is better than getting it right because you guessed well.

Make It Make Sense

1. Consider the meaning of a sentence. If it doesn’t make sense, there’s probably a grammatical mistake. The correct answer will make sense!

2. Nonstandard-Format Questions ask you to judge the passage and consider it as a whole. You may be asked about paragraph structure and function.

Example:

• Abraham Lincoln’s father was a model of hardworking self-sufficiency. He was born in a log cabin he built with his own hands.

Sense vs. Economy

• Make sure that what is written is the same as what the author meant.

• Sense Questions may seem harder than the Economy Questions—the shortest answers aren’t necessarily right.

TTT: Test Taking Tip

• Students tend to reject informal writing as incorrect.

• ACT passages are written at various levels of formality.

• Stay with the author’s tone—when formal or informal.

• Don’t pick an answer just because it sounds fancy.

Look and Listen

1. You can recognize some grammar mistakes because they sound strange.

2. Other grammar mistakes break rules in context. Read sentences carefully to determine the correct punctuation, word, phrase, or clause.

3. Learn the grammar rules that are frequently tested.

Grammar Rules

1. Number Agreement2. Pronoun usage3. Sentence Fragments

and run-ons4. Punctuation5. Adverbs & Adjectives6. Commonly confused

words

7. Correct verbs8. Comparatives and

Superlatives