by Erica L. Meltzer | Jun 5, 2011 | ACT Reading
The wording of “main function” questions can be very misleading: after all, they inevitably ask about the main function of a paragraph in relation to the passage as a whole. The thing is, though, you don’t really have to really have to deal with the entire passage when trying to answer them. You don’t even have to deal with the entire paragraph that’s being asked about.
In general, you really only have to deal with a few key sentences: most often, the answer will be found in the first two sentences of the paragraph in question, although in some cases you may need to back up and read the last sentence of the previous paragraph.
As always, you should pay special attention to any major transition words (but, however, furthermore, etc.) or “interesting” forms of punctuation (semicolons, colons, quotation marks) that indicate the relationship between the preceding idea and the current idea.
To reiterate: The first sentence of the paragraph referred to in the question will often not give you the necessary information, so it’s important that you read the first two sentences. Normally the ACT asks about paragraphs that shift the focus from one idea to another, so be particularly on the lookout for anything that suggests contradiction.
Let’s look at an example:
2017/2018 practice test, section 3, question #16:
One of the main purposes of the last paragraph is to state that the:
F. gashes in the rift valley continue to increase in width.
G. seafloor of Atlantic has cooled.
H. entire Atlantic seafloor has issued from the gashes in the rift valley.
J. volcanoes on Earth’s dry land have created the newest, youngest pieces of Atlantic seafloor.
Strategy: The first thing we’re going to do is read the first two sentences of the last paragraph. We do not need to consider any other information.
Yet, what had seemed so foreign to scientists is an integral part of earth’s very being, for at the ridge our own planet gives birth. The floor of the rift valley is torn; from the gashes has sprung the seafloor underlying all of Atlantic.
It’s important to stress here that we don’t even need to know what’s going on in the passage to determine the function of the last paragraph. The paragraph itself provides all the information we need.
The first sentence doesn’t offer a lot of help, but the second sentence is key (note the semicolon). It tells us that the seafloor of the entire Atlantic has sprung from the floor of the rift valley, which is exactly what H says.
by Erica L. Meltzer | Apr 19, 2011 | ACT Reading
As I’ve discussed before, the point of skimming is not simply to read everything fast, but rather to read many things fast in order to identify the handful of places you need to slowly.
While this is generally true for the ACT, there are also some quirks particular to the Reading Comprehension section that make it necessary to approach skimming a bit differently.
1) Initial read-through
One of the particular challenges that ACT passages pose is that they can either focus primarily on a single argument and its supporting and/or contradicting evidence, or on a collection of facts and details that revolve around a particular topic. In the case of the former, you need to focus on the key places in the argument, the places where supporting and/or contradicting information is introduced.
These key places may only occur every other paragraph or even every third paragraph, but if you focus on topic sentences and keep an eye out for transitions such as therefore and for example, and punctuation such as dashes and colons (which signal explanations) you should be able to pick them out pretty easily. In case of the latter (especially Prose Fiction), you do actually need to read everything quickly in order to get a general impression of what’s going on — there’s just no other way to do it. As you skim, however, circle major transitions, explanations, and words like important to help you when you:
2) Go back to the passage in order to answer specific questions
Since the ACT does not usually give line numbers, Reading Comprehension can feel like some sort of twisted scavenger hunt. The trick is to identify one or two key words in the question and look only for them. If a question asks about the architectural significance of Frank Gehry’s Stata Center, for (real) example, look only for the words Stata Center and ignore everything else. If you have no idea where those words could possibly be, don’t just start reading random bits of the passage — chances are you’ll just get lost and miss important information when it does appear. Instead, focus on reading topic sentences to figure out which paragraph is most likely to contain those words.
As your eye moves down the page, draw your index finger along with it
Establishing a physical connection with the passage helps to focus you and makes it easier to spot the words you’re looking for.
Then, when you’ve found them, read the full sentences in which they appear, thoroughly, from beginning to end, and without skipping over anything. If you have to, put your finger on the page in order to make sure that you don’t miss a single word. Pay particular attention to any major transitions you’ve circled in or near those sentences because there’s a good chance the necessary information will be located near them. If you can’t answer the question from the information in that sentence, read the sentence before AND the sentence after it. There’s a good chance you’ll find what you’re looking for.
by Erica L. Meltzer | Mar 17, 2011 | ACT Reading, Blog, SAT Critical Reading (Old Test)
If you have timing issues on reading, you may want to try the following:
1. Read the introduction slowly until you figure out the basic point of the passage. Underline it.
2. Read the first and last sentence of each of the body paragraphs; if you can skim through the rest, do; if you’re too afraid you’ll run out of time, don’t bother. The goal is to establish a mental outline of the argument being presented. 1 Paragraph = 1 Idea, and the first (topic) sentence will give you the point of the paragraph, which the remainder of the information in it will most likely support.
3. Read the conclusion slowly and underline the last sentence, which usually restates the main point.
As long as you can keep in mind the important shifts (for example, the places where an author switches from criticizing one idea to proposing her own explanation), you’ll have plenty of context when you go back and answer the questions. In fact, working this way can actually make it easier to answer them because you won’t be so caught up in the details.
by Erica L. Meltzer | Feb 23, 2011 | ACT Reading
The single biggest problem that I have observed among ACT-takers is that they never have enough time to finish the entire Reading section. 40 questions in 35 minutes is a lot, and if you’re a slow reader, then it can be a disaster.
One possible way of handling that problem: skip one of the passages.
If you know you generally hate Prose Fiction, plan to skip that passage; if Science is usually awful, skip Science, etc. If you don’t have a preference, skim through the four when you first get the test and see which one looks least interesting.
Now I realize what you’re thinking: how can I possibly get a decent score if I omit a quarter of the section?
Here’s how: first, you’re not going to omit it completely. You’re going to pick a letter pair (A/F, B/G, etc.) and fill it in for every single answer for that passage. Statistically, you are almost guaranteed to get at least two questions right, usually three, and sometimes even four (although I wouldn’t bet on the last one).
You now have approximately 11 minutes and 30 seconds to spend on the remaining three passages. If you can use that extra time to get, say, 9/10 questions correct on each one, that already gives you 27 points. Add three more points from the omitted section, and that gives you a raw score of 30, which is usually equivalent to about a scaled score of 27 — not bad if you’ve been stuck at 23 or 24.
Now, let’s say you have a fantastic test and get 10/10 right on the other three passages. That’s a raw score of 30. Plus three points from the omitted test = raw score of 33 = scaled score of 30.
That’s right, a 30.
I will admit that this strategy can be risky. If it backfires, you can end up with a much lower score than what you started with, and sometimes that does happen initially. It also only works if your comprehension is generally very strong. But if that is truly the case, it’s important to stick with it because eventually it will pay off. If you’re a slow enough reader that there’s just no way you’ll ever get through all four passages, it might be the best chance you have to seriously increase your score.
