ACT Prep: Miscellany Active vs. Passive Voice, Formal Word Choice, Redundancy, and Writer’s Goal

Active or Passive Voice Active voice is preferable to passive voice. ▪“I made mistakes” is better than “Mistakes were made by me.” ▪“Adam hit the ball” is better than “The ball was hit by Adam.” Remember: If you can insert “by zombies” after the verb, the sentence is in the passive voice. Choose the passive voice option only if something is wrong with the other answer choices.

Formal Word Choice Replace informal and slang words with formal words: “The Indian River Lagoon has been trashed by careless Brevard residents” would be better stated, “The Indian River Lagoon has been polluted by careless Brevard residents.”

Redundancy Omit words and phrases if they ▪Repeat what has already been said: “In my opinion, I believe...” (either phrase may be deleted). ▪Explain something the reader already knows. ▪Give an unnecessary definition for a common word.

Writer’s Goal Questions A common trick asks you whether the writer succeeded in addressing a broad subject when the passage is about a specific one. The question might ask whether the writer succeeded in writing about the history of classical music even though the passage was about only Beethoven. The answer should be “No, the writer did not succeed in writing about the history of classical music.”