act english test

ACT English Test

Question Types&

Strategies

Two Types of Content on English Test Content of Passages

Subjects covered by the five passages

Content of Questions **the more important of the two

Question Types Usage / Mechanics

40 questions re: Proper use of standard written English Punctuation (10 questions) Basic Grammar & Usage (12 questions) Sentence Structure (18 questions)

Rhetorical Skills 35 questions re: your ability to refine written English

Writing Strategy (12 questions) Organization (11 questions) Style (12 questions)

Rhetorical Skills Much more challenging than the Usage /

Mechanics questions! Require a sense of what constitutes good writing in

English

Memorization Not really…

No vocab… But having a decent vocabulary is important when

answering the style and strategy questions No definitions…

You won’t have to state the definition of a gerund, but you’ll be in trouble if you can’t make your subjects and verbs agree.

Strategies for the English Test Skim the Entire Passage First

Quickly read through passage before jumping to questions Will prevent you from making unnecessary errors. Instructions warn that you need to read beyond question to

answer it correctly. Skimming passage first will also help w/ Rhetorical Skills

Exampleher dogs has sleek, brown hair

14

14. F. NO CHANGE G. areH. haveJ. do not have

ExampleThe girl walking her dogs has sleek, brown hair

14

14. F. NO CHANGE G. areH. haveJ. do not have

Reading the rest of the sentence reveals that the sleek, brown hair belongs to a girl rather than a pack of dogs.

Answer the Questions in Order Say what?!

Rule applies to English test ONLY Questions appear in order for a reason:

? at the beginning deals w/ beginning of passage, ? In middle deals w/ middle of passage, etc.

An organization question in the middle of the passage won’t ask you to reorganize the entire passage (or a faraway section of the passage)… but it WILL ask you to reorganize material directly to the left of the question.

Questions on the passage as a whole appear at the END of the passage!

Guess and Move On The English test assesses what you already

know (not what you can figure out) If you can’t get the answer right away (or

within a few seconds), you’re not likely to get it through intense wriggling and head scratching.

If you find yourself in this situation… On the English test (and ONLY on the English

test) – it is best to guess and move on.

Guess and Move On, continued… Do not move on to a new passage without

answering all the questions from the previous one.

Unlike the math or science tests, you’re not likely to “figure out” an answer.

Guess right away

Guess and Move On, continued… If you do decide to return to a question that

you skipped or guessed on, do so before moving on to the next passage; otherwise, you’re likely to forget crucial details from the passage.

Eliminate Answer Choices Educated guessing is always better than

random guessing.

Try to eliminate at least one answer before guessing.

Sample P.o.E.

A. When I swung the bat I knew, I had hit a home run.

B. When I swung the bat, I knew I had hit a home run.

C. When I swing the bat I will know I always hit a home run.

D. When, I swung the bat I knew, I had hit a home run.

Hmmm… the answer choices indicate that there is a comma placement error.

Sample P.o.E.

A. When I swung the bat I knew, I had hit a home run.

B. When I swung the bat, I knew I had hit a home run.

C. When I swing the bat I will know I always hit a home run.

D. When, I swung the bat I knew, I had hit a home run.

A, B, and D all give versions of the same sentencewith different comma placement. C, has no commasbut the verb tenses don’t make sense.

I feel confident eliminating C because it reallydoesn’t make sense.

Sample P.o.E.

A. When I swung the bat I knew, I had hit a home run.

B. When I swung the bat, I knew I had hit a home run.

C. When I swing the bat I will know I always hit a home run.

D. When, I swung the bat I knew, I had hit a home run.

Sample P.o.E.

A. When I swung the bat I knew, I had hit a home run.

B. When I swung the bat, I knew I had hit a home run.

C. When I swing the bat I will know I always hit a home run.

D. When, I swung the bat I knew, I had hit a home run.

D also looks like it can go because of the commaplaced after “When,” which leaves the word dangling at the beginning of the sentence.

Sample P.o.E.

A. When I swung the bat I knew, I had hit a home run.

B. When I swung the bat, I knew I had hit a home run.

C. When I swing the bat I will know I always hit a home run.

D. When, I swung the bat I knew, I had hit a home run.

Sample P.o.E.

A. When I swung the bat I knew, I had hit a home run.

B. When I swung the bat, I knew I had hit a home run.

C. When I swing the bat I will know I always hit a home run.

D. When, I swung the bat I knew, I had hit a home run.

I’m still not completely certain so I should guess.At least I have a 50% chance of picking the correct answer!

Sample P.o.E.

A. When I swung the bat I knew, I had hit a home run.

B. When I swung the bat, I knew I had hit a home run.

C. When I swing the bat I will know I always hit a home run.

D. When, I swung the bat I knew, I had hit a home run.

I think I’ll pick B.

Eliminate Answers with Multiple Errors!

You will encounter questions that involve more than one error – this may benefit you!!!

When eliminating answer choices… if you can’t spot one error, you might spot the other!

STRATEGY Instead of tackling all the errors at once, pick them

off one by one.

Multiple Error Sample #1

A. Cathys’ friends left they’re bags in the room.

B. Cathy’s friends left there bags in the room.

C. Cathys friends left their bags in the room.

D. Cathy’s friends left their bags in the room.

Multiple Error Sample #1

A. Cathys’ friends left they’re bags in the room.

B. Cathy’s friends left there bags in the room.

C. Cathys friends left their bags in the room.

D. Cathy’s friends left their bags in the room.These sentences contain two variations. If you focus on Cathy and her friends, you realize you should eliminate A and C for the incorrect apostrophe placement.

Multiple Error Sample #1

A. Cathys’ friends left they’re bags in the room.

B. Cathy’s friends left there bags in the room.

C. Cathys friends left their bags in the room.

D. Cathy’s friends left their bags in the room.Now you’ve narrowed your options to B and D, which use “there” and “their” as possessive pronouns. If you don’t know the difference between the two, you have a 50% chance of guessing the correct answer.If you do know the difference, you know that the correct answer is D.