As you may have heard, the ACT is tweaking its Reading test to include some graph- or chart-based questions similar to those on the Science test and the SAT Reading test. I’ve received several inquiries regarding these changes, so I wanted to let everyone know where things stand in terms of my materials.

First, yes,  I will be updating The Complete Guide to ACT Reading, although not immediately.

Unfortunately, the 2021-22 ACT Official Guide does not include any sample passages accompanied by the new question type; as of July 2021, the only example I’ve been able to locate is the one posted on the ACT website, and, well… It doesn’t seem particularly well done (to put things diplomatically). In the absence of any material from administered tests, there’s also no way for me to tell how well it reflects what the actual exam will look like.

So rather than work from one questionable sample and risk producing something that isn’t accurate, I’ve decided to wait until I can get my hands on a few released tests and then revise the book accordingly.

I apologize for making people wait, but I have the sense that the changes shouldn’t really affect anyone’s preparation too much. At least the way the ACT is currently presenting things, it’s not even clear whether a graph-based Reading question will appear on every test. And since the ACT already has an entire Science test devoted exclusively to graph and chart reading, I don’t think answering a couple of additional graph-based questions elsewhere in the exam will pose an overwhelming hurdle.

That said, I appreciate everyone’s patience, and I’ll post more information as it becomes available.

Update: as a commenter mentioned, you can use SAT graph material in the meantime. It’s probably safe to assume that the ACT questions will ultimately look pretty similar.