act english test preparation

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ACT English Test Preparation

Dakota State University

February 18, 2008Maureen Murphy, PhD

Assistant Professor of English


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Overview

Understanding the ACT English Test

Categories & kinds of questions

Basic usage/mechanics and rhetorical skills Punctuation, grammar, sentence structure

Style, organization, strategy

----------- Break Sample Test Passage


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Understanding the Test

Usage/

Mechanics

53%

Rhetorical

Skills

47%

ACT English Test

Strategy

Organization

Style

Punctuation

Grammar &

Usage

Sentence

Structure


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Practice Tests Preparing for the ACT

Pages 14-25 (5 passages, 15 questions each)

Page 60, scoring key

2 subscores: Usage/Mechanics & Rhetorical Skills

ACT English: Improving College Admissions Test Scores

Instructivision, Inc.

PO Box 2004

16 Chapin RoadPine Brook NJ 07058

www.instructivision.com


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Kinds of Questions

Punctuation

13%

Grammar &

Usage

16%

Sentence

Structure

24%

Strategy

16%

Organization

15%

Style

16%

ACT English Test Content

Rhetorical Usage/

Mechanics

rhetoric


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Punctuation13%

Internal & end of sentence punctuation

Commas, apostrophes, semicolons, colons,

quotation marks

Periods, question marks, exclamation marks

Relationship of punctuation to meaning

?How happy I am exclaimed the bride.?How could you say that.

? The car ride was long, and exhausting.

?The boys bicycle was broken, so he took his sisters.


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Grammar & Usage: 16%

Subject-verb agreement? The boys in the bandwas late for rehearsal.

?Every man, woman, and childwere searched.

Pronoun-antecedent agreement

? Everyone wantedtheirown room. Modifier agreement

? These kind of pears taste sweet.

Verb formation

?If he hadntran, he wouldnt havefallen.?The sun had shinedall morning.

Adverb use

?You do these problems easy.

?The pie smells deliciously.

Indefinite pronouns

(anybody, anyone,

anything, each, either,

every, everyone,

everybody, everything,

neither, nobody, no

one, one, somebody,

someone, something)

generally use singular

verbs


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Verb Tenses

Past

Simple was, jumped,took

Progressivewas being, was taking

Past perfect

had been, had beenjumping

Present

Simple is, jump,take

Progressiveis being, is taking

Present perfect

has been, has beenjumping

Future

Simplewill, will take

Progressivewill be taking,will be jumping

Future perfect

will have been,will have been jumping

?The crowd is cheering because they justfound outthat their candidate

had won the election.

Purdue OWL (online writing lab):http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/esltensverb.html#pastprog
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/esltensverb.htmlhttp://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/esltensverb.html


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Sentence Structure24%

Sentence (Main or Independent Clause)

Subject, verb, can stand alone

She slept.

Dependent Clause

Subject, verb, cannot stand alone

When she slept.

Phrase

does not contain both a subject and a verb; cannot stand

alone

inside the tent.


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End of sentence punctuation

Two main or independent clauses can be joined into a single sentence in 4ways

1. a semicolon only, indicating a close relationship and equal importance:

Women athletes work hard to achieve their goals; they deserve our recognition.

2. a comma and a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, nor, for, so), indicating the

relation of meaning between the two clauses:Women athletes work hard to achieve their goals, so they deserve our recognition.

3. subordinating one of the clauses, indicating

that one of the clauses is more important

the relation between the two clauses

Because women athletes work hard to achieve their goals, they deserve ourrecognition.

4. a semicolon, a conjunctive adverb (however, nevertheless, consequently,

however, therefore) , and a comma:

Women athletes work hard to achieve their goals; therefore, they deserve our

recognition.


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Elements of Sentence Structure

Relationships between and among clauses? I want to get my brother a video game for his birthday he loves to play

video games.

Placement of modifying phrases

?Walking down the produce aisle, the oranges looked tempting.?Sara took belly-dancing lessons to improve her figure at the community

center.

Shifts in construction (subject, person, number, tense, voice)

?Crickets could be heard chirping as we entered the meadow.

?If someone works hard, they can become successful.

visual


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Style: 16% Precise and appropriate words and images

Join, combine, link

Manner, demeanor, presence

Outlive, outlast, survive

Maintain level of diction and tone (conversational formal)

Kids, children

Manage sentence elements for effectiveness

Glancing at the newspaper, Jack noticed the headline about the plane

crash.

Jack glanced at the newspaper, noticing the headline about the planecrash.

Avoid ambiguities & redundancies

After the Blue Team beat the Orange Team, they gave them the

second-place trophy.

His imperceptible mistakes went unnoticed.


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Redundancies

advance notice alienated from others

along the lines of

attractive in appearance

by means of

despite the fact that

due to the fact that

divide up

for the purpose of

four A.M. in the morning

give consideration to

In order to in view of the fact that

make an inquiry

needless to say

of a confidential nature

one and the same

refer back

repeat again

same identical

up until

where at

as to whether


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Organization: 15%

Organize ideas according to a pattern

Chronology, compare-contrast, cause-effect, advantages-disadvantages

Paragraph development: elaboration, definition, classification, summary,

analysis, comparison, refutation, examples, quotations,

What method of development is used in paragraph 4?

Choose effective openings main ideas, thesis statements

What is the main idea of paragraph 3?

Use appropriate transitions: connecting terms consistent with organizationalpattern

Time: after, before, until, soon

Place: here, there, beyond

Result: consequently, hence, therefore

Emphasis: in particular, most important, note that

I have always loved working with test tubes; ________________, I

majored in chemistry.A) nevertheless, b) after that, 3) therefore, 4) however


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Strategies for English Test Pace yourself

Skim an entire passage1 minutes

30 seconds per question

Mark any clear errors

Focus on underlined portionswhat elements are included:word use? Verb tense? Punctuation? Tone? Purpose? NOT or

LEAST?

Examine alternativesnote especially the differences among

them (do not select an answer that solves one problem while

creating another)

Determine BEST answereliminate poor choices

Reread the sentence inserting your choice

-------------------------------------------------------------

Passa e 1: 15 uestions ?? Time?


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Passage 1[2]

The valley center consists of a salt lake that had almost dried up.

Called and named Badwater, it is the lowest place in the

Western Hemisphere. Nearby are the remains of a town once

inhabited by miners who worked the borax deposits. Kings

Canyon National Park, 90 miles away, is located in a beautiful

natural setting.

5.

[ ] A. NO CHANGE[ ] B. has

[ ] C. had been

[ ] D. was

6.

[ ] F. NO CHANGE[ ] G. by the title of

[ ] H. there and elsewhere

[ ] J.OMIT the underlined portion

7.

[ ] A. NO CHANGE[ ] B. was working

[ ] C. would be working

[ ] D. are working


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Passage 1[2]

The valley center consists of a salt lake that had almost dried up.

Called and named Badwater, it is the lowest place in the

Western Hemisphere. Nearby are the remains of a town once

inhabited by miners who worked the borax deposits. Kings

Canyon National Park, 90 miles away, is located in a beautiful

natural setting.

8. Does the information about the distance between the ghost town and

Kings Canyon National Park contribute to the description of Death Valley in

this paragraph?

[ ] F. Yes, because it is a good idea to provide as much information as possible aboutdistances between tourist attractions.

[ ] G. Yes, because the information supplements the information about Badwater.

[ ] H. No, because the focus of this paragraph is on the valley center and its environs

[ ] J. No, because the emphasis of this paragraph is on Telescope Peak.


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Passage 1[2 cont.]

Badwater its actually a bed of an old lake. Close inspection of the

lake reveals salt crystals in infinite variations. Driving to

Dantes Point from Badwater, a half hours drive, where you

can view the highest and lowest points in the continental

United States. In an hours drive, you can visit a ghost won,

hike up Telescope Peak, explore any of the colorful canyons,or climb down into a volcanic crater. A short trip will take you

to the castle constructed by millionaire, Albert Johnson. Built

in the middle of the desert, the castle took ten years to

complete.

9.

[ ] A. NO CHANGE[ ] B. its

[ ] C. is

[ ] D . OMIT theunderlined portion

10.

[ ] F. NO CHANGE[ ] G. When you have driven to Dantes Point, from the

lake, a half hours drive,

[ ] H. A half hours drive from the lake takes you to

Dantes Point, where[ ] J. After you are taking a half hours drive,

11.

[ ] A. NO CHANGE[ ] B. desertthe

[ ] C. desert; the[ ] D. desert: the


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Passage 1[3]

Although Death Valley remains open all year, the summer

months extending from May through October, is too hot to be

enjoyable. Despite this extreme heat and lack of rain, various

forms of life flourish; the many plants and animals living in

Death Valley, and there are a large number of them,

demonstrate Darwins theory that those who survive mustadapt to their environment.

13.[ ] A. NO CHANGE[ ] B. Because

[ ] C. On account of the

decision that

[ ] D . Due to the fact

that

14.

[ ] F. NO CHANGE[ ] G. months, extending from May

through October, are

[ ] H. months, extending from May

through October are

[ ] J. months extending from May

through October are

15.

[ ] A. NO CHANGE[ ] Valley, and there are a lot of

them,

[ ] C. Valley

[ ] D. Valley, and the area also has

a wealth of geological

phenomena,


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Error analysis--Instructivision1. C grammar & usage

2. J sentence structure3. B sentence structure

4. H grammar & usage

5. B sentence structure

6. J style

7. A sentence structure

8. H strategy

9. C grammar & usage

10. H strategy

11. A punctuation12. J strategy

13. A organization

14. G punctuation

15. C organization


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Next Steps Identify & work on weak areas

Practice pacing

Skim an entire passage1 minutes

30 seconds per question

Mark any clear errors

Focus on underlined portionswhat elements are included:

word use? Verb tense? Punctuation? Tone? Purpose? NOT or

LEAST?

Examine alternativesnote especially the differences among

them (do not select an answer that solves one problem while

creating another)

Determine BEST answereliminate poor choices

Reread the sentence inserting your choice

act english test preparation

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