Transcript ACT English Test - Scott County Schools

ACT English Test
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The ACT English test is 75 questions long.
There are five passages of 15 questions.
36 seconds a question
8 minutes a passage
45 minutes for the entire test
Use your entire time. If you finish early check over
your answers.
• You only get three time cues: Begin, five minutes
remaining, stop.
• Scan each paragraph, and then go back and answer the
questions that are in that paragraph.
• To achieve the average national score of 20 on the ACT
English test, you need to answer at least 2/3 of the
questions correctly (That is 10/15 per passage or 50/75
for the English test).
Skimming the Paragraphs
• It usually pays to skim each paragraph to get a
sense of how it’s shaped and what it’s about.
• The skimming technique is simple: You skim
the paragraph, then do the questions it
contains, and so forth.
Three-Step Method for Answering
ACT English Questions
• Step 1: Ask: “Does this stuff belong here?”
– Make sure the underlined phrase makes sense in its
location in the sentence and that it is as concise as
possible.
• Step 2: Ask: “Does this stuff make sense?”
– Make sure the sentences flow together and make logical
sense.
• Step 3: Ask: “Does this stuff sound like English?”
– Grammatical errors will most likely sound wrong to your
ear, so trust your instinct!
– Don’t concentrate solely on the technical rules of
grammar and punctuation.
Economy Questions
• One third of the English questions are
“Economy” questions: testing for longwindedness, repetition, and irrelevance.
• Look for the answer that makes the sentence
as concise as possible.
• Remember that longer is not always better!
• Note: When OMIT is the choice, it is the
shortest answer, since taking the material out
leaves a shorter text than leaving anything in.
The Three Rules of Economy Questions
1. Redundancy: The text in the sentence should
never repeat itself.
2. Verbosity: Write concisely, as long as it is
grammatically correct. The best way to write
something (on the ACT) is the shortest way.
3. Irrelevance: Omit the ideas that are not
directly related to the purpose of the
passage.
ACT of the Day
the final performance of one last
1
practice landing, the French instructor nodded to the
After
young African-American woman at the controls and
jumped down to the ground. Bessie Coleman was on her
own now.
(1) A. NO CHANGE
B. one finally ultimate
C. one final
D. one last final
ACT of the Day
both semesters of the two-semester year
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at Langston Industrial College, Coleman headed for Chicago to see what could be
After
done to realize a dream. Ever since she saw her first airplane when she was a little
girl, Coleman had known that someday, somehow, she would fly.
(6) A. NO CHANGE
B. a year
C. a year like two full semesters
D. one year filled with two semesters
ACT of the Day
It was a long journey from the American Southwest, where she’d been born
in 1893, to these French skies.
The year in which she was born was about a century ago.
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There hadn't been much of a future for her in Oklahoma then.
(5) A. NO CHANGE
B. It is now just about a century
since the year of her birth.
C. Just about a century has
passed since the year of her
birth.
D. OMIT the underlined
portion.
When in Doubt…
• On a real ACT, more than twenty questions—
almost one third of all the English items—test
your awareness of redundancy, verbosity,
relevance, and similar issues.
• For economy questions, the shortest answer is
very often correct.
• That’s why the first thing you should ask yourself
for each question is “Does this stuff make sense?
Can the passage or sentence work without it?”
• When in doubt, take it out!
Sense Questions
• ACT expects you to use words efficiently, and
that, in fact, the shortest answer is right
remarkably often; however, obviously, the
shortest answer is sometimes wrong.
• What could make it wrong? It may not mean
what it says.
• After deciding whether or not the selection in
a question is concise and relevant (step 1), the
next step is to make sure the sentence says
exactly what it is supposed to mean.
• If not, it is your job to fix it.
ACT of the Day
Coping with a daily foreign language and flying in capricious, unstable machines
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held together with baling wire was daunting, but Coleman persevered.
(10) A. NO CHANGE
B. (Place after with)
C. (Place after flying)
D. (Place after in)
ACT of the Day
[1] While there, she had as one of her instructors Anthony Fokker, the famous
aircraft designer. [2] Bessie Coleman took a quick course in French, settled her
affairs, and sailed for Europe. [3] Coping with a foreign language and flying daily in
capricious, unstable machines held together with baling wire was daunting, but
Coleman persevered.
(11) Which of the following
sequences of sentences will make
Paragraph 4 most logical?
A. NO CHANGE
B. 1, 3, 2
C. 2, 1, 3
D. 3, 2, 1
Good Grammar Makes Sense
• The ACT test makers include questions to test
many different rules of writing mechanics.
• Though it is not necessary to think about rules
to answer the questions, familiarity with the
rules can give you an alternative approach.
The more ways you have to think about a
question, the more likely you are to find the
right answer.
Good Grammar Makes Sense (cont.)
• Completeness: Every sentence should consist
of an entire thought.
• Sentence Structure: Avoid both fragments and
run-ons
• Modifiers: Modifiers should be a close as
possible to the things they modify.
• Idiom: Make sure all words in the sentence are
used in the correct manner.
ACT of the Day
up
Bessie Coleman was on her own now. She lined 2
the nose of the open cockpit biplane on the runway's
center history.
(2) A. NO CHANGE
B. off
C. along
D. OMIT the underlined
portion.
Good Grammar Makes Sense (cont.)
• Pronouns: Make it explicit to whom or to what
the pronoun refers.
• Logic: Structural clues must be logical!
• Verb usage: Make sure the verbs match their
subject and the tense surrounding the verb
context.
• Tone: The tone of the text should be kept
consistent.
ACT of the Day
Bessie Coleman was on her own now. She lined up
the nose of the open cockpit biplane on the runway's
mark, she
center
gave the engine full throttle, and
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took off into history.
(3) A. NO CHANGE
B. mark,
C. mark, Coleman
D. mark that
ACT of the Day
Coleman, earned an international pilot’s license,
issued by the International
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Aeronautical Federation. Not only was she the first black woman to win her pilot's
wings, she was the first American woman to hold this coveted license.
(12) A. NO CHANGE
B. Coleman earned an international pilot's license
C. Coleman, earned an international pilot's license
D. Coleman earned an international pilot's license;
Nonstandard-Format English Questions
• Judging the Passage: Some questions ask
about the passage as a whole. They are
looking for the main point—the gist of the
passage—as well as the over all tone and
style.
– Make sure that your answer is in keeping with the
logical “flow” of the passage.
• Reading-Type Questions: One reason you
should focus on what the passage means,
rather than on picky grammar rules or
punctuation, is that the ACT often asks these
type of questions.
ACT of the Day
Bessie Coleman: In Flight
The writer intends to add the following
sentence to the essay in order to provide a
comparison that would help underline the
challenges that Bessie Coleman faced:
Her dream of becoming the world's first black
woman pilot seemed as remote in Chicago as it
had been in Oklahoma.
In order to accomplish this purpose, it would
be most logical and appropriate to place this
sentence after the:
(15) A. first sentence in Paragraph 2.
B. first sentence in Paragraph 3.
C. last sentence in Paragraph 3.
D. first sentence in Paragraph 5.
[1]
After one final practice landing, the French instructor nodded to the young AfricanAmerican woman at the controls and jumped down to the ground. Bessie Coleman was on
her own now. She lined up the nose of the open cockpit biplane on the runway's center mark,
gave the engine full throttle, and took off into history.
[2]
It was a long journey from the American Southwest, where she’d been born in 1893, to
these French skies. There hadn't been much of a future for her in Oklahoma then. After a year
at Langston Industrial College, Coleman headed for Chicago to see what could be done to
realize a dream. Ever since she saw her first airplane when she was a little girl, Coleman had
known that someday, somehow, she would fly.
[3]
Try as she might, however, Coleman could not obtain flying lessons anywhere in the city.
Then she sought aid from Robert S. Abbott of the Chicago Weekly Defender. The
newspaperman got in touch with a flight school in France that was willing to teach this
determined young woman to fly.
[4]
While there, she had as one of her instructors Anthony Fokker, the famous aircraft
designer. Bessie Coleman took a quick course in French, settled her affairs, and sailed for
Europe. Coping with a foreign language
and flying daily in capricious, unstable machines held together with baling wire was daunting,
but Coleman persevered.
[5]
On June 15, 1921, Bessie Coleman earned an international pilot's license issued by the
International Aeronautical Federation. Not only was she the first black woman to win her
pilot's wings, she was the first American woman to hold this coveted license.
[6]
She was ready for a triumphant return to the United States to barnstorm and lecture, proof
that if the will is strong enough, one's dream can be attained.