ACT Strategies: Overview Articles

ostentatious Definition: (adjective) overly showy, pretentious. Petersons.com

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Problem Jane has five coins totaling 35 cents. Each coin is either a penny, a nickel, a dime, or a quarter. After using two of the coins ... Petersons.com

So What? You'll probably see at least one question involving prime numbers. Petersons.com

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• There are two basic question types on the English Test: Usage/Mechanics and Effective Writing.

• You will see the same general passage topics, such as a narrative or an account of an achievement of a member of an under-represented group.

• About 40 of your 75 questions will test punctuation, grammar, and sentence structure.

• About 35 of your 75 questions will cover the writers' aims, organization, and style.

Most test takers don't get through all 75 questions in the time allowed. The good news is that you don't have to answer every question to get a good score. For example, in order to score an 18 on the ACT English test, you'll only need to answer about 40 questions correctly. An 18 would be about the 37th percentile, and just 5 more correct answers would bring you up to the 50th percentile!

Here are some important tips for choosing the easiest questions to handle:

• First, answer the questions that only require you to read a sentence or two.

• If you have time left, answer the questions that require you to read a paragraph.

• Always fill in an answer for every question, even if it's a random guess.

Here are some typical errors that you'll be expected to spot:

• Missing subject or verb: for example, consider "Most medicines ineffective." This needs a verb.

• Modifier errors such as "The sun appeared slow in the sky." As it is written, "slow" is an adjective that describes the noun "sun." The sentence says that the sun looked like it was slow in the sky. It should say: "The sun appeared slowly in the sky."

• Punctuation problems. Knowing when to use a period as opposed to a comma will be worth points. For example, consider "The author's book was quite controversial, many people refused even to read it." The comma after "controversial" should be a period or a semicolon.

• Subject/verb agreement. For example, consider "Each of the historians spent many hours researching letters and documents. Eventually, they all reach the same conclusion." Since the research happened in the past, "reach" should have been "reached."

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