ACT READING QUICK-TIP PREP GUIDE

There is no single “correct” way to tackle the ACT Reading section; depending on
your reading speed, comprehension level, and retention ability, you may need to
make adjustments to what you read below.
Follow the steps to start on your way in determining the best ACT Reading strategy
for you!

STEP ONE:
DETERMINE YOUR READING SPEED

While running a timer, read a full ACT passage at your natural reading speed. Stop
the timer between 2:30 and 3:00 minutes. Then, find your reading speed on the
spectrum below. Note that, with practice over time, you can increase your natural
reading speed. The only thing that makes reading easier is reading itself!

I finished the full

I finished less than ½ of I finished between ½
passage with
the passage. and ¾ of the passage.
time to spare.

Slow Pace Moderate Pace Fast Pace

Reader Reader Reader

STEP TWO:
PLAN HOW TO USE YOUR TIME
**(See page 4 for a word about paired passages)**

Slow Pace Moderate Pace Fast Pace

Readers Readers Readers
Consider completing only Aim to finish all four passages. Aim to finish all four
three of the four passages Read each passage for passages. Read each
on the ACT reading section. between 2.5 and 3 minutes. passage in full, and then go
Read each passage for about Then, answer the Line- after the questions in
4 minutes, and then spend Reference questions (see next whatever order is best for
about 12 minutes on each page) first. Lastly, do the you. Spend about 8.5
passage’s questions. It’s very others questions, aiming to minutes total reading each
important that you’re as spend around 6 minutes total passage and answering its
accurate as possible on each on each of the passage’s questions. Slow down on the
question: read the answer question sets. Remember that questions, because details
choices carefully! accuracy is more important are crucial to getting the
than answering 100% of the correct answers!
questions!
 QUESTION TYPES AND STRATEGIES

Read the following paragraph taken from an ACT Reading passage and then view
the strategies for each type of ACT Reading question.
The direct election of United States Senators is a
relatively recent political phenomenon. Prior to the Word Meaning Questions
20th century, US Senators were elected “indirectly”,
chosen not by each state’s citizens themselves, but by
5 the elected members of each state legislature. This As it is used in line 6, the word “quagmires” most nearly
system led to several political quagmires. First, it means:
was highly corrupt: senate candidates would some-
times bribe state legislators, who, in a time that lacked A. figures.
the constantly vigilant eyes of today’s internet watch- B. elections.
10 dogs and tweeting journalists, could be bought with- C. problems.
out public detection. Second, it led to political grid- D. fights.
lock that could leave US Senate seats vacant for weeks
on end: if the politicians in a given state legislature
When asked for the meaning of a word or phrase,
could not agree to support the same candidate, no sen-
15 ator would be sent to the capitol, and the state would remember: it’s never about the word or phrase itself: it’s
remain unrepresented on the federal level. The issues about the context. Read around the word and ask yourself
grew significant enough to necessitate change, which “what’s being discussed here?” The main discussion
would come in the form of the Seventeenth Amend- following “quagmires” concerns the difficulties caused by
ment to the United States Constitution. Many politi- the indirect election of senators. Which goes along best?
20 cal observers, however, believe that this change sim- Choice (C): problems.
ply replaced old problems with new ones, and that to
make the system even more equitable, we ought to
change the very method of election itself.

Main Idea Questions EXCEPT Questions

The main purpose of lines 7–11 is to: The passages states that all of the following resulted
from the system of indirect election of US Senators
A. show that without using technology, it is impossible to EXCEPT:
ensure fair elections.
B. mock the ways in which political observers who A. guaranteed federal representation for each state.
expose corruption. B. corrupt political practices like bribery.
C. suggest that the majority of state senate candidates C. the alteration of the United States Constitution.
bribed their way into office. D. disagreement in state legislatures over senate
D. assert that it used to be more difficult to expose candidates.
political wrongdoing.
EXCEPT questions are questions that require you find
When asked a main idea question, always go back to the which thing was NOT mentioned in the passage.
lines or paragraph referenced and determine the Typically, the three things that were mentioned will be
main idea in your own words before looking back at clustered; that is, they will show up in the passage
the answer choices. After you re-read lines 7–11, you relatively close to one another. Use key words in the
might come up with something like, “The main answer choices (examples here are “bribery” and
purpose of lines 7–11 is to show how it used to be “federal representation” to search for the relevant
hard to catch bribery, but now, with technology and information, and then, reading carefully, use process of
specific groups constantly watching, it’s easier to elimination to get rid of the three things that are present
discover.” Then, line your answer up to each answer in the passage. Doing so here gives us choice (A), which
choice, and see which one does the job. Choice (D) is directly contradicts the statement in lines 12–16.
definitely the closest.
 The direct election of United States Senators is a “Find the Deta il” Questions
relatively recent political phenomenon. Prior to the
20th century, US Senators were elected “indirectly”,
chosen not by each state’s citizens themselves, but by The passage suggests that several of today’s political
5 the elected members of each state legislature. This observers believe that:
system led to several political quagmires. First, it
was highly corrupt: senate candidates would some- A. the direct election of senators has provided a
times bribe state legislators, who, in a time that lacked comprehensive solution to troubling political issues.
the constantly vigilant eyes of today’s internet watch- B. the system of elections in general remains unfair and
10 dogs and tweeting journalists, could be bought with- should be altered.
out public detection. Second, it led to political grid- C. if we do not change the way we run our elections, it is
lock that could leave US Senate seats vacant for weeks likely that the system of government in the US will fail.
on end: if the politicians in a given state legislature D. due to the rise of new electoral problems, the US should
could not agree to support the same candidate, no sen- return to a system of indirect senatorial elections.
15 ator would be sent to the capitol, and the state would
remain unrepresented on the federal level. The issues
Sometimes, the ACT won’t give you line references, so if
grew significant enough to necessitate change, which
would come in the form of the Seventeenth Amend- you don’t simply remember the answer to the question,
ment to the United States Constitution. Many politi- you’ll have to find where the answer is being discussed.
20 cal observers, however, believe that this change sim- Use key words in the answer question that would be
ply replaced old problems with new ones, and that to unique to the discussion (here, those would be “political
make the system even more equitable, we ought to observers”), and find them in the passage. Then, read
change the very method of election itself. around to determine the main point at this spot in the
passage. Here, it is clear that the “political observers” think
that our current system is imperfect, and that it needs to
be changed, making choice (B) correct.

Inference Questions Primary Function (Context)

Questions
According to the passage, it can reasonably be inferred
that:
In the context of the first paragraph
(lines 1–24), the primary function of lines 1–4 is to:
A. indirect election of senators is a recent political
phenomenon.
A. add historical perspective to the discussion of
B. prior to the Seventeenth Amendment, senators were
senatorial elections.
typically elected directly by the people.
B. define several responsibilities of state legislatures in
C. today’s method of electing US Senators is different from
the early twentieth century.
the method originally specified by the US Constitution
C. introduce a discussion of the voting rights of US
D. due to the direct election of senators, bribery has been
citizens.
eliminated from the US political system.
D. respond to potential criticisms of the current method
of senatorial election.
When asked an “inference” question, start by glancing over the
answer choices to determine where you might find the
relevant information. Look for key words in the answer choices Primary function questions ask you to determine the role a
to search for in the passage, specifically capitalized words, particular segment of text plays in the passage as a whole.
proper nouns, and unique descriptive words (examples here To answer this type of question, start by reading the
are “phenomenon” and “Seventeenth Amendment”). Once referenced lines for the main idea. Then consider the
you’ve found the relevant information, skim over the passage’s overall main idea. Here, the overall main idea is
paragraph again to get the main idea. Keep in mind that that US Senators used to be elected indirectly, but that this
many answer choices often feature phrases that appear word- caused problems that encouraged a switch to direct
for-word in the passage – this DOES NOT mean they’re elections by the people. In the context of this discussion,
correct! For example, choice (A) above contains a phrase that lines 1–4 highlight the way senatorial elections were run prior
appears lines 1–2, but mixes them with other words that make to the 20th century, and to show us that the method has
the answer as a whole incorrect; notice that the passage says changed. In other words, the lines focus on what used to be,
direct election of senators is the recent phenomenon. Only and what now is. This aligns directly with the “historical
choice (C) can be correctly inferred, since the passage perspective” mentioned in choice (A).
mentions that elections were different “prior to the 20th
century”, and that the method of election was changed by the
Seventeenth Amendment.
 GENERAL ACT READING STRATEGIES

1. SPEED. The ACT Reading section is FAST. Train yourself to read and answer questions
more quickly by always practicing with a timer or watch. Remember that you can bring a
wristwatch to the ACT, as long as it doesn’t make noise or perform mathematical
calculations.

2. W HITTLE IT DOW N. Use process of elimination to your advantage. Examine any

extreme answer choices (answers that talk in absolute terms like “never”, “always”, etc.)
very carefully before choosing them.

3. BE LIKE A SPO NGE AND GET YO UR BEARINGS – THE Q UADRANT

M ETHOD. Many ACT Reading questions will not tell you where to go to find an
answer (see “Find the Detail” Questions on the previous page); this means you need to
remember where things are. Whatever your reading speed, make sure that you’re as
focused as possible on what you’re reading so that you absorb and understand as much
as you can. To help you remember where things are, consider using the “Quadrant
Method”, illustrated below. Using your pencil, divide the passage into four roughly
equally sized regions. In each region, focus on the main ideas: what point is the author
making? What are the major events and who are the major figures/characters
discussed? What is the setting? When you get to the questions, ask yourself, “In which
quadrant might I find this information?”. Knowing where to go is half the battle.

4. PAIRED PASSAGES. Sometimes, the ACT Reading will feature two mini-passages for
a series of ten questions. Fortunately, the questions will feature headers that indicate
the passages to which they apply. It’s up to you how you want to handle these, but we
suggest doing the following. Try to spend about 2.5 minutes on each step

a. READ PASSAGE “A” FIRST, AND ANSW ER ITS Q UESTIO NS. Spend
about a minute reading the passage and a minute answer the questions that
apply to passage A.
b. READ PASSAGE “B” SECO ND, AND ANSW ER ITS Q UESTIO NS.
Spend about a minute reading the passage and a minute answer the questions
that apply to passage B.
c. ANSW ER THE Q UESTIO NS THAT APPLY TO BO TH PASSAGES. The
passage will tell you which questions require information from both passages.
Do these last.

5. PRACTICE 3 . Practice constantly. Practice consistently. Practice effectively. Use real

ACT exams and Method Test Prep’s web-based program to improve your skills
gradually, and you’ll be ready for the test when the real thing comes around.