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This article provides a quick overview of critical information to know and key strategies to apply to boost your performance on the ACT-English test.
It is organized around three sections: overview, strategies, and concepts.
A. ACT-English Section Overview
Timing:
75 questions in 45 minutes
15 questions every 9 minutes
Skills tested: Usage/grammar and rhetorical skills
B. Strategies to employ
General strategies for the ACT-English section
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Don’t waste too much time on any single question. Every question is worth the same amount, regardless of difficulty.
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Go mostly in order. Answer all questions in a section before moving on to the next one.
Strategy for usage/grammar questions
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Read each answer in the context of the sentence.
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Eliminate answers that are obviously wrong.
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Look for patterns in the remaining answers.
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If no obvious grammatical issues in the remaining choices, choose the most concise, to-the-point answer.
Strategy for rhetorical skills questions
When a question asks you to put something into context of the paragraph/passage, quickly read over the paragraph (or skim the passage) and be able to sum it up in a single sentence. This will often directly relate to the answer.
C. Concepts to grasp
1. Paralell structure - having the same pattern of words, phrases, or clauses.
Example 1:
Not Parallel: Mary likes hiking, swimming, and to ride a bicycle.
Parallel: Mary likes hiking, swimming, and riding a bicycle.
Example 2:
Not Parallel: The teacher said that he was a poor student because he waited until the last minute to study for the exam, completed his lab problems in a careless manner, and his motivation was low.
Parallel: The teacher said that he was a poor student because he waited until the last minute to study for the exam, completed his lab problems in a careless manner, and lacked motivation.
2. - Misplaced modifier - word or phrase that is improperly separated from the word it describes.
Example 1:
Unclear:
On her way home, Jan found a gold man's watch.
Clear:
On her way home, Jan found a man's gold watch.
Unclear:
The waiter served a dinner roll to the woman that was well buttered.
Clear:
The waiter served a dinner roll that was well buttered to the woman.
3. Transitional phrases - the ACT loves transitional words and phrases. Examples include but, and, yet, however, nonetheless, and furthermore.
If you notice that all of the answer choices are transition words/phrases, read the sentence before the transition and the sentence after it and determine how they are related.
4. Comma splice – connecting two full sentences with a comma.
Example 1:
Comma splice:
It is nearly half past five, we cannot reach town before dark.
Fixed version 1 (using semi-colon):
It is nearly half past five; we cannot reach town before dark.
Fixed version 2 (using dash):
It is nearly half past five – we cannot reach town before dark.
Fixed version 3 (using colon):
We cannot reach town before dark: it is nearly half past five.
Fixed version 4 (using two sentences):
It is nearly half past five. We cannot reach town before dark.
Fixed version 5 (inserting a conjunction):
It is nearly half past five, so we cannot reach town before dark
Hopefully you are now on your way to preparing for the ACT-English section.