ACT Overview

By Penny Wood

Courtesy of The Real ACT booklet, 3rd edition, copyright 2011

What’s in this Presentation:

• Parts of the test

• Types of problems

• Focus skills

Parts of the Test

• English – 75 questions, 45 minutes

• Reading – 40 questions, 35 minutes

• Math – 60 questions, 60 minutes

• Science – 40 questions, 35 minutes

• Writing – 1 response, 30 minutes

English Test

Mechanics # questions

Punctuation 10

Grammar and Usage 12

Sentence Structure 18

Rhetoric

Strategy 12

Organization 11

Style 12

Mechanics Example Questions

1. Choose the correction for the first underlined portion.

• Otherwise, this difference points to significant underlying cultural values.

• F. No change• G. on• H. at• J. Omit the underlined portion• If you plug in each of the answers, you will

discover that no change is the best choice.

Rhetoric Example Questions

• May be about strategy (purpose), point of view, word connotation, and style.

• Might ask about making revisions to underlined portions of essays.

• May ask about organization or paragraph progression.

Rhetoric Example Questions1. In the early 1900s the O’odham became acquainted with

marching bands and woodwind instruments (which explains the presence of saxophones in waila).

• Given all the choices are true, which one is most relevant to the focus of the paragraph?

• A. NO CHANGE• B. (although fiddles were once widely used in waila

bands).• C. (even though they’re now often constructed of metal).• D. (which are frequently found in jazz bands also).• Choice A would keep the phrase as is. It is the phrase

that gives the best example of the main idea (a saxophone is a marching band and a woodwind instrument).

Summary

• Grammar – about 60% of total test

• Rhetoric – about 40% of total test (word choice, connotation, paragraph progression, point of view, purpose, style)

Focus Skills

• Recall and Apply Grammar Rules

• Teach Using Main Ideas to Help with Rhetoric Questions (key words)– Both these skills we taught with success on

the Graduation Exam– Test format is a different – sometimes there is

no question, only an underlined portion of a passage and choices given

Reading Test

Reading – 40 questions, 35 minutes

Four Sections of the Reading Test

• Prose

• Humanities

• Social Science

• Natural Science

Social Science: This passage is adapted from Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature by Janine M. Benyus (©1997 by Janine M Benyus)If anybody’s growing biomass, it’s us. To keep our system from collapsing on itself, industrial ecologists are attempting to build a “no-waste economy.” Instead of a linear production system, which binges on virgin raw materials and spews out unusable waste, they envision a web of closed loops in which a minimum of raw materials comes in the door, and very little waste escapes. the first examples of this no-waste economy are collections of companies clustered in an ecopark and connected in a food chain, with each firm’s waste going next door to become the other firm’s raw material or fuel.

In Denmark, the town of Kalundborg has the world’s most elaborate prototype of an ecopark. Four companies are co-located, and all of them are linked, dependent on one another for resources or energy. The Asnaesverket Power Company pipes some of its waste steam to power the engines of two companies: the Statoil Refinery and Novo Nordisk (a pharmaceutical plant). Another pipeline delivers the remaining waste steam to heat thirty-five hundred homes in the town, eliminating the need for oil furnaces. The power plant also delivers its cooling water, now tasty warm, to fifty-seven ponds’ worth of fish. The fish revel in the warm water, and the fish farm produces 250 tons of sea trout and turbot each year.

A. insulin

B. heating oil

C. plant fertilizer

D. industrial gypsum

1. According to the passage, waste emissions from the Asnaesverket Power Company are used to help produce all of the following except:

Waste steam from the power company is used by Novo Nordisk to heat the fermentation tanks that produce insulin and enzymes. This process in turn creates 700,000 tons of nitrogen-rich slurry a year, which used to be dumped into the fjord. Now, Novo bequeaths it free to nearby farmers--a pipeline delivers the fertilizer to the growing plants, which are in turn harvested to feed the bacteria in the fermentation tanks.

Meanwhile, back at the Statoil Refinery, waste gas that used to go up a smokestack is now purified. Some is used internally as fuel, some is piped to the power company, and the rest goes to Gyproc, the wallboard maker next door. The sulfur squeezed from the gas during purification is loaded onto trucks and sent to Kemira, a company that produces sulfuric acid. The power company also squeezes sulfur from its emissions, but converts most of it to calcium sulfate (industrial gypsum), which it sells to Gyproc for wallboard.

The key to this question is understanding first that you are looking for the answer that is not in the passage. Then, you just have to dig for the answers, which are underlined in the passage.

A. relocating their operations to a common geographic area in Europe

B. providing industrial waste to private homes and farming operations

C. eliminating the need for raw materials

D. using industrial waste as raw materials

8. According to the passage, the common element for companies that want to be part of a food web is their mutual interest in:

Although Kalndborg is a cozy co-location, industries need not be geographically close to operate in a food web as long as they are connected by a mutual desire to use waste. Already, some companies are designing their processes so that any waste that falls on the production-room floor is valuable and can be used by someone else. In this game of “designed offal,” a process with lots of waste, as long as it’s “wanted waste,” may be better than one with a small amount of waste that must be landfilled or burned. As author Daniel Chiras says, more companies are recognizing that “technologies”that produce by-products society cannot absorb are essentially failed technologies.”So far, we’ve talked about recycling within a circle of companies. But what happens when a product leaves the manufacturer and passes to the consumer and finally to the trash can? Right now, a product visits one of two fates at the end of its useful life. It can be buried in a landfill or incinerated, or it can be recaptured through recycling or reuse. Traditionally, manufacturers haven’t had to worry about what happens to a product after it leaves their gates. But that is starting to change, thanks to laws now in the wings in Europe (and headed for the United States) that will require companies to take back their durable goods such as refrigerators, washers, and cars at the end of their useful lives. In Germany, the take-back laws start with the initial sale. Companies must take back all their packaging or hire middlemen to do the recycling. Take-back laws mean that manufacturers who have been saying, “This product can be recycled,” must now say, “We recycle our products and packaging.”When the onus shifts in this way, it’s suddenly in the company’s best interest to design a product that will either last a long time or come apart easily for recycling or reuse. Refrigerators and cars will be assembled using easy-open snaps instead of glued-together joints, and for recyclability, each part will be made of one material instead of twenty. Even simple things, like the snack bags for potato chips, will be streamlined. Today’s bags, which have nine thin layers made of seven different materials, will not doubt be replaced by one material that can preserve freshness and can easily be remade into a new bag.

Once again, use your clue words to help you find the answer. In the paragraph above, it is clear that the waste of one company should be used by another company “someone else.”

Reading Summary• In Sample Passages, test questions were about:

• Overall Main Idea 10%

• Supporting Details with Key Words - 40%

• Supporting Details or Main Idea with Inference (where you had to figure out word meaning or add info not directly stated) - 50%

– Items with key words that lead to answers is about 75% overall

Focus Skill• Use Key Words that match/lead the

reader to answers

• “Read and Dig” Strategy. Read questions first then look for answer– Very similar to skills and strategies used for

graduation exam– Difference is the reading level is higher and

passages are longer

Math Test

Math – 60 questions, 60 minutes

Types of Questions

• Basic Math

• What is 4% of 1000?• A. 4• B. 4.4• C. 40• D. 44• E. 440

Types of Questions

• Basic Elementary Algebra

• For all x, (x+ 4)(x-5) = • A. x2-20• B. x2-x-20• C. 2x-1• D. 2x2-1• E. 2x2-x+20v

• Using the foil method, solve.

• Front• Outer• Inner• Last• x2 -5x + 4x -20• x2– x-20

Types of Questions

• Intermediate Algebra

• If x+y=1, and x-y=1, then y=?

• A. -1• B. 0• C. ½ • D. 1• E. 2

• One of the easiest ways to solve this systems of equations problem is to plug in answers and solve for x until the same value for x is found. The only answer that results in x=1 for both equations. So the answer is B. Y has to be 0 to get the same result.

Types of Questions

• Coordinate Geometry

• What is the slope of the line containing the points (-2, 7) and (3, -3)?

• F. 4• G. ¼• H. 0• J. -1/2• K. -2

• Use the formula • y1-y2

• X1-x2

• 7- (-3)• -2-3• 10• -5• =-2

Types of Questions

• Plane Geometry

• If the measure of an angle is 37 ½ degrees, what is the measure of its supplement?

• A. 52 ½ • B. 62 ½ • C. 127 ½ • D. 142 ½ • E. Cannot be determined

from the information given

• Knowing the definition of supplemental angles adding to 180 will help you find the correct answer. Take 180 and subtract it from 37 ½. The answer is thus 142 ½.

22

Summary• Basic Math: 50% of Problems• Algebra Problems – 25%• Geometry Problems: 15%• Algebra with Trigonometry Problems: 10%

Focus Skills

• Basic Math Skills (multiply, divide, percentages, etc)

• Know Formulas (Distance, Pythagorean Theorem, Area, etc)– “Eric the Red Tutor” has a great page of

formulas for the ACT Test (Google)– Different from grad exam in that geometry and

trig are tested (only about 25% of test)

Science

Science – 40 questions, 35 minutes

Types of Questions

• Reading and analyzing charts and tables

• Making estimates using data from one or two tables or charts

• Determining a missing piece of information to answer a question

1. Students used 2 methods to calculate D, a car’s total stopping distance; D is the distance a car travels form the time a driver first reacts to an emergency until the car comes to a complete stop.

In Method 1, R is the distance a car travels during a driver’s assumed reaction time of 0.75 seconds, and B is the average

distance traveled once the brakes are applied. Method 2 assumes that D=initial speech in ft/sec x 2 sec. Table 1 lists R, B, and D for

various initial speeds, where D was computed using both methods. Figure 1 contains graphs of D versus initial speed for Method 1 and

Method 2.

A. 1/4 as great

B. 1/2 as great

C. 2 times as great

D. 4 times as great

Table 1 and Figure 1 adapted from Edwin F. Meyer III, Multiple Care Pileups and the Two-Second Rule. Copyright 1994 by The American Association of Physics Teachers.

1. Compared to R at an initial speed of 20 mi/hr, R at an initial speed of 80 mi/hr is

Most science questions ask you to use a table to answer the question. First, find initial speeds of 20 and 80 on the table. Then, look at R for both values. You can then see that 88 is 4 times greater than 22.

A. 75 cm

B. 94 cm

C. 113 cm

D. 135 cm

7. According to Figure 4, the chain with the Y0 = 20 cm will have a fall time on the Moon of 2.0 sec if L is approximately

The first thing to do is find the 2.0 sec line that is closest to the Moon + marks. After this, the question asks the amount for L. The amount of L = 120 for about 2.4 seconds. The amount thus for 120 at 2 sec will be less than 120. The closest estimate is 113 cm.

A. less than its fall time at Jupiter’s surface

B. greater than its fall time at Jupiter’s surface, and less than its fall time at Earth’s surface

C. greater than its fall time at Earth’s surface, and less than its fall time at the Moon’s surface

D. greater than its fall time at the Moon’s surface

10. The acceleration due to gravity on the surface at the planet Neptune is approximately 11.7 miles/sec2. Based on Figure 3, a chain’s fall time, calculated for Neptune’s surface and a given Y0 would be

In order to answer this question, information from Table 1 is very useful. In fact, when answering any of these questions refer to all the info to help you. If Neptune’s acceleration is 11.7 miles per second, then it is between Earth and Jupiter’s acceleration. So, this tells us that on Figure 3, Neptune’s plots would be between Earth and Jupiter.

Summary

• On Sample Tests 40% of the questions could be answered simply by reading the graphs

• 30% of questions were answered by making estimates based on the graphs

• 10% of questions were determined using extra information by looking at the graph

• 20% of questions required looking at two graphs or two pictures for the answer

Focus Skills

• Skills used in this practice test:

• Reading Tables

• Forming Estimates based on the Tables

• Finding missing information

Writing

1 Essay – 30 Minutes

Content of the Writing Test

• Express judgments by taking a position on the issue

• Maintain a focus on the topic• Develop a position by using logical reasoning

and by supporting your ideas• Organize ideas in a logical way• Use language clearly and effectively

according to Standard English conventions• 30 Minutes to Write

Scores• The essay is scored holistically on a 1 – 6 scale with 6 being the

highest score• *6 – Effective skill in response, few if any errors, good command of

language• 5 – Competent skill in response, organization is clear and logical, no

distracting errors• 4 – Adequate skill in response, focus is maintained, transitions may be

simple, some distracting errors• *3 – Developing skill in response, limited development of ideas, focus

may not be maintained, distracting errors may impede understanding• 2 – Inconsistent or weak skill, repetition, minimal intro and conclusion,

errors are frequent• *1 – Little or no skill, no understanding, few reasons, no logic,

significant errors

Focus Skills

• Writing with organization and with clarity

• Writing with few grammatical errors– Very similar to writing assessment except

more emphasis on grammar

Summation

• Experience from grad exam is applicable to preparing for the ACT

• Only a few additional skills needed in addition to reading at a higher level

• Test format is a little different – ACT website has a practice question each day