ACT Bellringer Monday, November 16, 2009

Ever since Bessie Coleman saw her first airplane—the wobbly, biplane kind— when she was a little girl, she had known that someday, somehow, she would fly. A. NO CHANGE B. her first airplane when she was a little girl, she C. her first airplane when she was a little girl of small stature, she D. The first flying object she—at age seven or eight—would ever see, an airplane, she

Now that the Navajo code is no longer used, the code talkers, whose secret work saved American lives, can finally receive public recognition for their actions. A. NO CHANGE B. hush-hush actions C. concealed, hidden efforts D. doings, secretly kept under wraps,

Go Short! ACT generally loves concise, clear writing.ACT generally loves concise, clear writing. Review answer choices from shortest to longest.Review answer choices from shortest to longest. Go Short! helps us understand and delete answer choices that are wordy, redundant, or irrelevant.Go Short! helps us understand and delete answer choices that are wordy, redundant, or irrelevant.

What do we do? Read the passage that includes the underlined text.Read the passage that includes the underlined text. Go to the answer choice.Go to the answer choice.

What do we do? If that choice doesn’t work, go to the next shortest choice, and so on.If that choice doesn’t work, go to the next shortest choice, and so on.

What do we do? Watch for synonyms in the answer choices that repeat what is said in the passage.Watch for synonyms in the answer choices that repeat what is said in the passage. This is called redundancy.This is called redundancy. –It makes the answer longer  –It is very often wrong... 

Now go to the examples…

Ever since Bessie Coleman saw her first airplane—the wobbly, biplane kind— when she was a little girl, she had known that someday, somehow, she would fly. A. NO CHANGE B. her first airplane when she was a little girl, she C. her first airplane when she was a little girl of small stature, she D. The first flying object she—at age seven or eight—would ever see, an airplane, she

What to do now? Eliminate at least two answer choicesEliminate at least two answer choices C and DC and D Where are we now?Where are we now?

Ever since Bessie Coleman saw her first airplane—the wobbly, biplane kind— when she was a little girl, she had known that someday, somehow, she would fly. A. NO CHANGE B. her first airplane when she was a little girl, she C. her first airplane when she was a little girl of small stature, she D. The first flying object she—at age seven or eight—would ever see, an airplane, she

Then Go Short! B is correct.B is correct. but then you probably knew that already if you used Go Short!

Do the next one… This one also has some diction aspects to the question, so be careful.This one also has some diction aspects to the question, so be careful.

Now that the Navajo code is no longer used, the code talkers, whose secret work saved American lives, can finally receive public recognition for their actions. A. NO CHANGE B. hush-hush actions C. concealed, hidden efforts D. doings, secretly kept under wraps,

Now that the Navajo code is no longer used, the code talkers, whose secret work saved American lives, can finally receive public recognition for their actions. A. NO CHANGE This is short, so this might be good… B. hush-hush actions The ACT doesn’t do baby talk, so I don’t think so… C. concealed, hidden efforts “Concealed” and “hidden” mean the same thing! Don’t try to fool me! D. doings, secretly kept under wraps, “under wraps?” That’s being “secret” isn’t it? And who talks like that anyway?

It’s got to be… A. NO CHANGE Now that the Navajo code is no longer used, the code talkers, whose secret work saved American lives, can finally receive public recognition for their actions.

Brilliant!