ACT

Reading Tip Sheet

What will the ACT Reading Test look like?

There will
be four passages on the ACT Reading Test with 10 questions on
each passage
(40 questions total!)

1. Prose Fiction (taken from a novel or short story)
2. Humanities (various topics about the arts)

3. Social Sciences (topics can include psychology, history,

geography, political science, etc.)

4. Natural Sciences (topics can include biology, chemistry,
astronomy, technology, etc.)

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PACE is the key to the reading ACT!

You only have 8 minutes to read each
passage and answer ten questions.
This test evaluates your efficient use of time in
picking out whats important according to the
test questions.

What types of questions will I be asked?

MAIN IDEA- main point/theme of the article or story

EXPLICIT DETAIL- directly in the text
VOCABULARY- how words are used in the text
DEVELOPMENT- construction and arrangement of ideas
IMPLIED IDEAS- what you can infer from the text
APPLICATION- apply information to new situations
VOICE- what the writer reveals through attitude, tone, & voice

Tips for Reading!

Rank the passages easiest to hardest for
YOU.
Start with the easier topics first
Skim the questions FIRST
Underline or circle critical words or
phrases
Read the first and last paragraphs
Find the main idea of the passage
Read each passage
Underline the topic sentence (main
idea)
Circle any key words: names, dates,
key concepts that you remember
from the questions
Bubble in the correct answers on the test
first and then your answer sheet

Something to make you feel better:

To get a composite of 20 you only need to
answer half the questions correctlytwo
sections
To get a composite of 25 you need to answer
28 questions correctlythats only three
sections (you could skip one section and focus
your time on only three).
To get a 30 or higher you must correctly
answer 34 questions.
Remember that a difficult question is worth
the same as an easy oneanswer the easy
ones for more points GUESS on the tough
ones!