1. Reading
Section
Strategies

2. Reading Section (30 min – 40 items)
Question Types
Question Type Average Number of Questions   Percentage of Questions 
Big Picture     10%
Small Detail     45%
Vocabulary in Context     8%
Development and Function   22% 
Inference   15% %

3. Reading Section (30 min – 40 items)
Strategy #1
Reading Section (30 min – 40 items)
Bold Introductions
DON’T IGNORE THEM!
Every reading passage is introduced by a few lines that begin in BOLD and tell you about the passage
These give away a ton of info and help you anticipate and better understand the passage.

4. Reading Section (30 min – 40 items)
Strategy #2
Reading Section (30 min – 40 items)
Zen Reading
Read the passage in a relaxed, yet very focused way (Average is 3 minutes).
Don’t focus too much on details. Read for the main idea and tone.
Circle key words that capture these, and mark the text.
Note transition words and phrases.
Don’t reread!

5. Example As it is used in line 34, the word “mythos” most nearly means…
Strategy #3
Most Nearly Means…
Example
Do “line number” and specific detail questions first.
Go back and reread not only the lines that the question refers to, but also at least three lines before and after.
Many times these questions are much easier to answer looking at the full context.
As it is used in line 34, the word “mythos” most nearly means…
A. legends
B. ropes
C. rebirths
D. lies

6. What Are You Trying To Suggest?
Strategy #4
What Are You Trying To Suggest?
Example
By his statement “Islamic tolerance” in lines 23 and 24, the author is most likely suggesting that Jinnah
A. believed piety and
tolerance are incompatible
B. thought Islam could not
function in a “Western
democracy”
C. considered religious
freedom important
D. sought to bring
individual and state into
harmony
When a question asks that the author “implies” or “suggests,” or what you can “infer,” then the information you’re looking for is not directly stated, but it is directly hinted at.
The key here is: don’t overthink.

7. Strategy #5
Some Attitude
Example
Remember to answer questions about the mood or tone of the passage based on evidence from the passage, not your own attitude towards it.
Try rereading the first and last lines of each paragraph, along with the bold introduction.
In terms of mood, which of the following best describes the passage?
A. informative and sober
B. cautious but hopeful
C. distraught
D. apologetic and resolute

8. Strategy #6
Main Idea
A main idea is what the passage is really trying to get across. “What’s the point?”
Keep this question in mind as you read.
Again, try rereading the first and last lines of each paragraph, along with the bold introduction.
Example
The main point of the passage is that
A. city parks are
essential to real estate
B. Olmsted was a man of vision
C. city park planning has not
changed since Olmsted’s time
D. Olmsted sought equal city
park use

9. Example Such a Good Friend
Strategy #7
Such a Good Friend
Example
The author italicizes the word even in line 12 most likely to emphasize that
A. the agencies keep unpredictable hours
B. some people want to take tours on holiday
C. he is concerned about the credibility of the agency
D. if tour companies closed,
every business would close
The ACT loves to ask questions about why the author chose a certain word, punctuation mark, or structure.
Use process of elimination. Only eliminate an answer when you are sure that it doesn’t work.

10. Don’t give up on vocabulary
Strategy #8
Example
Don’t give up on vocabulary
As it is used in line 16, the word “hastened” means
A. Slowed
B. Sped up
C. Stalled
D. Improved
If you don’t know the meaning of a word, ask yourself if you can break it apart.
Ask yourself if you’ve ever heard or seen it in a book, movie, song, on a sign or commercial, in class, etc. Try to remember the context.
Look at the context around the word in the passage itself.
The line states that “the lack of tourists hastened the decline of downtown,” and then the sentence continues that “traveling Americans rapidly had fewer and fewer reasons to pas through Meadville. So, “hastened” means “sped up”