READING 35 Minutes; 40 Questions; 4 Passages Social Studies/Natural Sciences: Social Studies 10 Multiple Choice A passage from history, political science, anthropology, psychology or sociology Natural Sciences 10 Multiple Choice A passage from biology, chemistry, physics, or physical sciences

CONTENT COVERED BY ACT READING EXAM (continued) Arts/Literature: Prose Fiction 10 Multiple Choice Humanities 10 Multiple Choice Arts passages will cover art, music, philosophy, theater, architecture or dance Literature questions: based on a passage that is a complete short story, or an excerpt from a short story or novel

READING EXAM FORMAT 4 Reading Passages One passage in each category Passages are about 1000 words long Written same difficulty level as college textbooks and readings Each passage will have 10 questions There are 4 answer choices

READING EXAM FORMAT (continued) Passages are well organized essays Measures reading comprehension as a product of your skill in referring and reasoning Each essay has a very specific theme Questions expect you to recognize theme Understand structure of the essay Answer questions based upon the information in the passage DO NOT ANSWER QUESTIONS BASED UPON INFORMATION GATHERED OUTSIDE OF THE TEST ITSELF

READING FORMAT (continued) Reason on a higher critical-thinking order Critical thinking involves: Questioning Analyzing Evaluating Judging Applying results of your reasoning to a given situation

READING FORMAT (continued) Social Science, Humanities, and Natural Science have a very specific purpose Questions expect you to recognize the purpose, comprehend specific facts, and understand structure of the essay Prose Fiction: understand thoughts, feelings, and motivations of fictional characters

STRATEGY 1 DIRECTIONS Always memorize the directions! Remember: Answer questions about what is stated or implied in the passage Choose the best answer for each question Read all of the answer choices to determine the best answer

STRATEGY 2 3 CATEGORIES OF READING QUESTIONS Specific Detail Inference Big Picture Questions

STRATEGY 2 (continued) Specific Detail What does the author say? Asks about things stated explicitly in the passage Find the exact place in the passage where the answer can be found Match the detail from the text in the passage with the correct answer Many wrong choices will be designed to trip you up by using same wording as the passage while distorting the meaning Some choices may appear half-right, half-wrong Look for the one choice that is flawless

STRATEGY 2 (continued) Inference Questions Why is this included? What conclusions can you make? Questions require you to “read between the lines”

STRATEGY 2 (continued) 3. Big Picture Questions What’s the overall topic? Asks about the passage as a whole Requires you to find purpose, tone or structure of the passage Asks you to evaluate writing

STRATEGY 3 Skim the passage with an eye to structure rather than detail Look for key words that tells you what the author is doing Actively read the passage, taking notes as you go Abbreviate margin notes Bracket key sentences Circle key words and phrases

STRATEGY 3 (continued) Abbreviate margin notes Develop your own shorthand notes, such as opin (opinion), contr (contrast or comparison) hist (history), bio (early years) Understand what you’ve written Bracket key sentences May or may not be the first and last sentence Look for sentences that express key themes, conclusions, or opinions String bracketed sentences together should have highlighted author’s thought

STRATEGY 3 (continued) Circle key words and phrases Structural clues or flags (however, therefore, on one hand…on the other hand) Circle proper names, dates, key actions, etc, - the signposts of each paragraph Box numbers and dates Underline key sentences Draw arrows to lists of details

STRATEGY 3 (continued) Examine the question stem What is the test maker asking? A detail? (what happened) The passage as a whole? (the Big Idea?) A conclusion? (reading between the lines) A specific word or phrase used in the passage? Think about the question stem without looking at the choices Test makers will offer you choices that don’t answer the question at hand Once you’ve found the right spot in the passage…

STRATEGY 3 (continued) Predict the Answer and Select the Choice that Best Matches Your Prediction - Make a habit of answering the question in your own words before looking at the answer choices - Predict before you pick - Re-check the passage, then match your prediction to an answer choice - Answer choices are intended to confuse you, so don’t think about them any more than you absolutely have to

TIPS If you have a problem completing the passages consider the following: 1. Learn to spot the easier questions and answer these quickly 2. Address the ones you might be able to get with more research 3. Guess randomly on the ones you would need lots of time for

TIPS (continued) When you’re running out of time: 1. Look for questions with specific line references and do them 2. Refer to the cited location in the passage and answer the question as best you can, based on what you see there 3. Make sure you have gridded in an answer for every question before time is called

SUMMARY If the passage seems too difficult, skip it, go on to an easier passage and return at the end of the test Read the passage in no more than 5 minutes While reading, try to pick out the main idea, logical structure, and tone of the passage Create a “road map” by marking the passage as your read Do not try to pick out or remember the details of the passage

SUMMARY (continued) Examine the question stem Predict the answer and select the choice that best matches your prediction Eliminate 2 or 3 poorer choices Return to the section of the passage for detailed answers Pay attention to the nuances of each answer choice Do not base your answers on prior knowledge