How to Prepare for the ACT Exam
Learn the format of the exam., Read the questions before you read the passage., Eliminate obviously wrong questions., Practice writing essays., Identify your weaknesses.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Learn the format of the exam.
It is important to understand how the exam is structured so that you can master all of its sections.
The ACT has four sections with an optional writing section as well.
The English section covers punctuation, grammar, proper word usage, sentence structure, and style.
Vocabulary is not a big component of the ACT English section.There are 75 questions over 45 minutes.
The math section tests algebra, geometry questions, statistics, and word problems.There are 60 questions over 60 minutes.
The reading section will have about four reading passages with a few questions following each one.
The subjects can range from science, literature, history, and politics.
There are 40 questions over 35 minutes.
The science section has a series of passages with questions on each one.
A few questions may need outside knowledge, but most can be answered by the passage.There are 40 questions over 35 minutes.
For the writing section, you will write an essay on a given prompt.
The writing section is graded based on four areas: ideas and analysis, development and support, organization, and language use and conventions.
It is one essay prompt written in 40 minutes. -
Step 2: Read the questions before you read the passage.
Before you read the passages for the science and reading sections, you should read the questions so that you understand what you are looking for.As you read the questions, underline or mark passages in the text that the questions ask about.
This will make them easier to find. , ACT questions may seem to be ambiguously worded.
It may be difficult to decide which answer is the right one since all of the answers seem to be partially correct.
Instead, try to look for the answers that have something that is wrong about them.
This may be a single word or detail that is not correct.
The right answer is the one that is completely correct., If you have decided to take the writing exam, you will need to hone your writing skills as well.
Get sample prompts from the ACT website or a prep book, and time yourself for forty minutes to write the exam.
Ask a teacher or parent to grade the essay based on the ACT essay rubric.
The prompt will ask you to take a perspective on an issue and argue against a different perspective.While you should aim for neat handwriting and generally good grammar, do not focus on making the essay perfect.
You will not have points deducted for an occasional spelling error or grammatical mistake. , After you have done some practice, you may want to look back on the type of questions you consistently get wrong.
Is there a pattern? Are you doing better on some sections than others? Devote extra time to these issues to help you improve.For example, if you do poorly on geometry questions, you may want to spend extra time studying geometry.
Once you have identified what your weaknesses are, try to think about why you might have them.
For example, are you doing poorly on the reading section because you are unable to read the passages quickly enough? Do the words in the science section confuse you? -
Step 3: Eliminate obviously wrong questions.
-
Step 4: Practice writing essays.
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Step 5: Identify your weaknesses.
Detailed Guide
It is important to understand how the exam is structured so that you can master all of its sections.
The ACT has four sections with an optional writing section as well.
The English section covers punctuation, grammar, proper word usage, sentence structure, and style.
Vocabulary is not a big component of the ACT English section.There are 75 questions over 45 minutes.
The math section tests algebra, geometry questions, statistics, and word problems.There are 60 questions over 60 minutes.
The reading section will have about four reading passages with a few questions following each one.
The subjects can range from science, literature, history, and politics.
There are 40 questions over 35 minutes.
The science section has a series of passages with questions on each one.
A few questions may need outside knowledge, but most can be answered by the passage.There are 40 questions over 35 minutes.
For the writing section, you will write an essay on a given prompt.
The writing section is graded based on four areas: ideas and analysis, development and support, organization, and language use and conventions.
It is one essay prompt written in 40 minutes.
Before you read the passages for the science and reading sections, you should read the questions so that you understand what you are looking for.As you read the questions, underline or mark passages in the text that the questions ask about.
This will make them easier to find. , ACT questions may seem to be ambiguously worded.
It may be difficult to decide which answer is the right one since all of the answers seem to be partially correct.
Instead, try to look for the answers that have something that is wrong about them.
This may be a single word or detail that is not correct.
The right answer is the one that is completely correct., If you have decided to take the writing exam, you will need to hone your writing skills as well.
Get sample prompts from the ACT website or a prep book, and time yourself for forty minutes to write the exam.
Ask a teacher or parent to grade the essay based on the ACT essay rubric.
The prompt will ask you to take a perspective on an issue and argue against a different perspective.While you should aim for neat handwriting and generally good grammar, do not focus on making the essay perfect.
You will not have points deducted for an occasional spelling error or grammatical mistake. , After you have done some practice, you may want to look back on the type of questions you consistently get wrong.
Is there a pattern? Are you doing better on some sections than others? Devote extra time to these issues to help you improve.For example, if you do poorly on geometry questions, you may want to spend extra time studying geometry.
Once you have identified what your weaknesses are, try to think about why you might have them.
For example, are you doing poorly on the reading section because you are unable to read the passages quickly enough? Do the words in the science section confuse you?
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Jose Lee
Specializes in breaking down complex crafts topics into simple steps.
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