ACT English Test - Economy College and Career Readiness Mrs. Kate Hendrix

When in Doubt, Take it Out!

Redundancy The ACT is very strict about redundancy Never let the text in a sentence repeat itself. So, ask yourself, is the underlined part redundant? Check the nonunderlined part of the passage to see if it contains words that repeat the meaning of the underlined part.

Verbosity The best way to write something is the shortest way… as long as it doesn’t violate any rules of writing mechanics like grammar or punctuation or contain language that’s either too formal or informal to match the style of the passage. Ask yourself: Is the underlined part verbose? See if there is an answer choice that is shorter and still expresses the meaning.

Irrelevance Omit the ideas that are not directly and logically tied in with the purpose of the paragraph or passage. Ask yourself: is the underlined part relevant? Ask yourself if it fits with the topic of the paragraph and the purpose of the passage as a whole.

KISS Keep It Short Stupid!

Keep It Short Questions on which the lengths of the answers vary greatly and questions that contain the answer choice OMIT are usually Economy Questions. For these types of questions, you should be more inclined to select the shortest choice. For the other questions, the shortest answer is not nearly as often correct.

When in Doubt, Take it Out Generally ACT tests your ability to spot nonsense, bad grammar, and bad punctuation. Some answer choices are wrong simply because they’re too long.

READ! Read the passage as you go. Don’t skip over sentences without questions in them. You’ll need to understand the whole passage when you answer the questions at the end.

The Big Three Questions to ask yourself…

Does this stuff belong here? Do these words belong here? Does the underlined section belong? Is it expressed as succinctly as possible? If the answer is no, choose the answer that gets rid of the stuff and doesn’t belong. Do these words make sense? The ACT people want simple, easy-to-understand prose. Everything should fit together logically. Does the underlined part of the passage make logical sense? If not, select the choice that turns nonsense into sense. Do I hear or see an error? Many grammar errors will sound wrong to your ear. Choose the answer that corrects the error and makes the sentence right.

Don’t Get Bogged Down!

Technical Schmechnical Don’t think too much about technical rules. The first thing to think about is getting rid of unnecessary or irrelevant words. Only after you’ve decided that the underlined section is concise and relevant do you go on to the technical stuff.

Words to the Wise Get into a “grammar mindset.” For a few weeks before taking the ACT, get used to noticing grammar and usage mistakes in your life! Be that annoying person who’s always correcting other people’s grammar errors  The ACT expects you to cut anything that isn’t absolutely needed. Do not defend something if the passage could make sense without it. You’ll never be asked to add unnecessary details or description.

Review Start with the shortest answer Ask yourself: Do these words belong here? Do these words make sense? Is there an error in grammar here? How does this idea (or these words) sound in context? Read the passage as far as you find necessary to answer each question, and then answer each one in turn.

The Breakdown

The ACT English Test includes… 10 punctuation questions 12 grammar and usage questions 18 sentence structure questions 11 organization questions 12 style questions