1. 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

2. CONTENT COVERED BY ACT READING EXAM (continued)
Arts/Literature:
Prose Fiction Multiple Choice
Humanities 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

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

9. 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

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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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…

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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