Test Taking Tips for the ACT

If a choice sounds downright absurd, contains a clear grammatical error, or is completely unrelated to the passage, cross it out. You will be 25% closer to guessing the correct answer with each choice you eliminate! Tip 1 Eliminate Choices

Tip 1 Practice F. NO CHANGE G. they were barking and rolling H. were barking, and rolling J. did bark and did roll The cute lab puppies were barking and rolling around in excitement as Anna and I walked to the door.

Tip 1 Practice F. NO CHANGE G. they were barking and rolling H. were barking, and rolling J. did bark and did roll The cute lab puppies were barking and rolling around in excitement as Anna and I walked to the door.

Tip 2 Don’t forget about “no change” and “delete” Most questions offer a “no change” and “delete” as an answer choice. Many first-time test takers feel that a “real” answer is required. This is not necessarily true. Tip 2 Don’t forget about “no change” and “delete”

Tip 2 Practice A. NO CHANGE B. , and she was pretty C. --pretty as she was. D. DELETE the underlined portion. After the battle, the winning army took control of the city and the general wedded the city’s young and beautiful princess-- she was truly pretty.

Tip 2 Practice A. NO CHANGE B. , and she was pretty C. --pretty as she was. D. DELETE the underlined portion. After the battle, the winning army took control of the city and the general wedded the city’s young and beautiful princess-- she was truly pretty.

The Act Test favors short, concise answers The Act Test favors short, concise answers. Think about which answer choice says the most in the fewest words; chances are, that’s the correct answer! About ⅓ of the questions on the English portion require you to scout for redundancy and relevance. Tip 3 Shorter is Sweeter

tip 3 practice F. NO CHANGE G. losing a few games. After the loss, my coach patted us all on the back, reminding us that there are no true wins without losing games too. F. NO CHANGE G. losing a few games. H. losing games, as well. J. losses.

tip 3 practice F. NO CHANGE G. losing a few games. After the loss, my coach patted us all on the back, reminding us that there are no true wins without losing games too. F. NO CHANGE G. losing a few games. H. losing games, as well. J. losses.

Tip 4 Read and Answer as You Go For the English portion of the ACT, read only one paragraph at a time and then answer the corresponding questions to that paragraph. Don’t read the whole\passage at once; you will have to go back and re-read specific lines. also, don’t skip reading; you will have to read to understand the main idea of the passage to answer some questions. Tip 4 Read and Answer as You Go

Tip 5 write your answer down first. Write down your own personal answer BEFORE you look at the answer choices. This will help you eliminate the most common mistakes test-makers include on the test. Tip 5 write your answer down first.

For the reading test: Write the main idea of each paragraph down right after you read it the first time. At the end of the passage, jot down the passage’s main idea. Tip 6 skim it to win it.

Read actively by incorporating the following techniques: Question as you read to help anticipate Comment on the passages as you go Anticipate what will happen next Tip 7 Read Actively.

Tip 8 Don’t Defend the Choices-Attack Instead of thinking about how to “defend” each answer choice, “attack” what is wrong with each one and begin to eliminate choices. This will prevent you from being tricked into thinking: “it sounds good now that i think about it”. Tip 8 Don’t Defend the Choices-Attack

Beware of extremes. It’s harder to support extreme answers than moderate ones. For example: all, every, only, always, never, absolute, impossible, inevitable, etc. Tip 9 Avoid Extremes.

Tip 10 Choose general over specific General answer choices are much more likely to be correct than specific choices. The more specific and detailed the choice, the less likely it is to be supported by the passage. Tip 10 Choose general over specific

A blank ACT booklet is a sad ACT booklet-the more you jot down, underline, and circle, the better! -Underline the main idea while reading. -Put an “X” next to specific details that you may need to remember. Tip 11 mark it up

Tip 12 Practice HOW to take the ACT. Study test-taking strategies. Apply these strategies when you practice and on test day. Tip 12 Practice HOW to take the ACT.

Write all over your test booklet- it’s OK Write all over your test booklet- it’s OK! Annotate: underline, circle, take notes, ask questions, answer them, sketch, underline, etc. Tip 13 Write it all down.

On a timed test like this, saving a minute is huge On a timed test like this, saving a minute is huge. Skip difficult questions and go to the easier ones. Come back to the hard questions when you have time. Tip 14 Skip and Return.

Tip 15 Bubble One Page at a Time Save time! First circle your answer selections for all problems and then bubble your selections on the answer sheet all at once. This way you don’t have to flip back and forth as much! Tip 15 Bubble One Page at a Time

Tip 16 Always Guess-Always The ACT does not penalize you for guessing incorrectly. Always guess. If you can’t figure out a problem at once, use the skip-and-return strategy. If you return to the problem and are still stumped, guess. Tip 16 Always Guess-Always