1. READING ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 1: Know The Test
FORMAT
35 Minutes – 40 Questions
Designed to measure reading comprehension.
4 reading passages.
Each passage is about 800 words.
Contains passages from: prose fiction or literary narrative, humanities, social science, and natural science.
3 contain one long prose passage.
1 contains 2 shorter prose passages.
Paired passages deal with the same topic or related topics.
Passages represent kinds of text commonly encountered in first-year college curricula.
Each passage will have 10 questions.
There are 4 answer choices.

2. READING ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 1: Know The Test (cont.)
FORMAT (cont.)
Each passage is preceded by a heading that identifies what type of passage it is.
Names the author and source.
May include important background information to help you understand the passage.
Questions do not test the rote recall of facts from outside the passage.
Questions do not test rules of formal logic.
Questions do not test isolated vocabulary questions.
Answer questions based upon the information in the passage.
DO NOT ANSWER QUESTIONS BASED UPON INFORMATION GATHERED OUTSIDE OF THE TEST ITSELF!

3. READING ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 1: Know The Test (cont.)
CONTENT
Key Ideas and Details (55-60%)
- Determine central ideas and themes.
- Summarize information and ideas accurately.
- Draw logical inferences and conclusions.
Craft and Structure (25-30%)
- Determine word and phrase meanings.
- Analyze an author’s word choice rhetorically.
- Analyze text structure.
- Analyze characters’ point of view.

4. READING ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 1: Know The Test (cont.)
CONTENT (cont.)
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas (13-18%)
- Requires you to understand the author’s
claims.
- Differentiate between facts and opinions.
- Analyze how authors construct arguments.

5. READING ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 1: Know The Test (cont.)
CONTENT (cont.)
Types of Questions
Identify and interpret details.
Determine the main idea of a paragraph, paragraphs, or a passage.
Understand comparative relationships.
Make generalizations.
Determine the meaning of words from context.
Understand sequences of events.
Analyze the author’s voice and method.

6. READING ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 2: Know The Directions
Always memorize the directions!

7. READING ACT STRATEGIES
Strategy 3: ACT Method
Read each passage carefully before you begin answering a question.
Take notes in the test booklet about important ideas in the passages.
Refer to the passages when answering the questions.
Some questions will ask what is explicitly stated in the text of the passage.
Some questions will require you to determine implicit meanings and to draw a conclusion, make comparisons, and generalizations.

8. READING ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 3: ACT Method (cont.)
Pace yourself. Some readers will preview the questions before they read the passage.
Take 2 to 3 minutes to read each passage, and you’ll have 35 seconds to answer each question.
Think of the test as four 8-minute, 30-second units and try to complete all the questions for a passage in the allotted time.
Notice the subject heading and short paragraph before each passage.
Always refer to the passage for an answer. You are looking for the author’s perspective which may differ from yours.
Look for the best answer, but read and consider all the options.
Some students will answer first the easy questions then go back to the more difficult questions, making certain to circle the questions they skipped in the test booklet.
Eliminate answer choices that are incorrect by physically crossing out the wrong choices.

9. READING ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 4: Kaplan Method
Take a few seconds at the beginning of the test to flip through the four passages, gauging the difficulty of each.
Spend 8 – 9 minutes on each passage.
Have an organized approach. Start with your easiest passage, and work your way to the most difficult passage.
If you’re running out of time, look for questions with specific line references and answer those.
Make sure you have gridded in an answer for every question before time is called.
Look up the answers directly in the passage, don’t be tempted by the choices or your memory.
Don’t be intimidated by technical vocabulary. Odds are the definition will be given to you in the passage.
You can get most questions right even if you don’t fully understand the passage.

10. READING ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 4: Kaplan Method (cont.)
Step 1: Read actively
- Take notes as you read. (Create a passage map)
- In the margin, write the “why” or the central
idea of the passage.
- Write transitions or changes in direction in a
passage’s logic.
- Note the author’s opinions and other’s
opinions.
- Note the author’s tone and purpose.
- Underline or circle dates and lists.

11. READING ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 4: Kaplan Method (cont.)
Step 2: Examine the Question Stem
- Identify key words and line references in the
question stem.
Step 3: Predict and Answer
- Predict an answer before looking at the
answer choices. This helps you avoid weighing
each answer choice equally, saving time.
- Select the best match.

12. READING ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 4: Kaplan Method (cont.)
PAIRED PASSAGES
Step 1: Actively read Passage A, then answer its questions.
Step 2: Actively read Passage B, then answer its questions.
Step 3: Answer questions about both passages.
Remember to read actively, examine the questions stem, predict and answer.

13. READING ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 5: Peterson’s Method
Read critically and carefully.
Know the who, what, when, where and why of a passage and the author who wrote it.
Read the passage twice.
- First time: lightly underline essential details,
key terms, the main idea, and supporting
details. Use question marks in the margins for
questions, draw big boxes around key terms,
draw double lines under main ideas, wavy lines
for supporting details. Make notes in the
margins of the test booklet.

14. READING ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 5: Peterson’s Method (cont.)
- Second time: Think about context of the
passage. Word choice, tone, and internal
references can tell you when the text was
written. Think about why it was written. Is
the author trying to inform? Entertain?
Persuade? Disagree?
Always reread the specific paragraphs, lines, or phrases mentioned in the question or answer choices.

15. READING ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 5: Peterson’s Method (cont.)
Read the questions carefully, looking for trick phrases like “all of the following except” or “Which of the following is NOT an example of…”
Consider all of the answer choices before you choose the best answer.
Always refer back to the passage.

16. READING ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 6: Princeton Review Method
Stop treating the Reading test as a school assignment.
Choose your own order of working the passages – choosing the passages that are easiest for you and leaving the difficult ones for last.
Questions are not in chronological order, nor are they in order from easiest to hardest.
Never leave any bubbles blank, use your letter of the day if you run out of time.

17. READING ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 6: Princeton Review Method (cont.)
Do passages with lots of line references first.
Do passages with lots of questions with short answers first.
Use Process of Elimination to cross off wrong answers and save time.
Skim and scan when you work the passage.
On dual passages, work one at a time.
Double underline, circle, or cross out negative words EXCEPT, LEAST, or NOT. Use POE to cross out answers that are found in the passage.

18. READING ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 6: Princeton Review Method (cont.)
4-Step Basic Approach
- Step 1: Preview. Check the blurb, then map
the QUESTIONS. Star line and paragraph
references and underline lead words.
- Step 2: Work the passage. Finish in 2 – 3
minutes. Look for and underline lead
words.

19. READING ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 6: Princeton Review Method (cont.)
- Step 3: Work the questions. Do Now questions that are easy to answer or whose answers are easy to find. Read what you need in a window of 5 – 10 lines to find your answer. Save for later questions that are both hard to find and hard to answer. - Step 4: Work the Answers. USE POE to find your answer.

20. READING ACT STRATEGIES
Strategy 7: Tips
If you have a problem completing the passages consider the following:
1. Learn to spot the easier questions and answer these quickly.
2. Address the ones you might be able to get with more research.
3. Guess randomly on the ones you would need lots of time for.

21. READING ACT STRATEGIES
Strategy 7: Tips (cont.)
When you’re running out of time:
1. Look for questions with specific line references and do them.
2. Refer to the cited location in the passage and answer the question as best you can, based on what you see there.
3. Make sure you have gridded in an answer for every question before time is called.

22. READING ACT STRATEGIES
Strategy 7: Tips (cont.)
If the passage seems too difficult, skip it, go on to an easier passage and return at the end of the test.
Read the passage in no more than 5 minutes.
While reading, try to pick out the main idea,
logical structure, and tone of the passage.
Create a “road map” by marking the passage as
you read.
Do not try to pick out or remember the details
of the passage.

23. READING ACT STRATEGIES
Strategy 7: Tips (cont.)
Examine the question stem.
Predict the answer and select the choice that best matches your prediction.
Eliminate 2 or 3 poorer choices.
Read the questions first before reading the passage.
Return to the section of the passage for detailed answers.
Pay attention to the nuances of each answer choice.
Do not base your answers on prior knowledge.