macve004:
For a different strategy to try on practice tests before Saturday, try this (it’s my personal strategy for the reading sections and it’s always netted me 34-36 on the reading section of the ACT):</p>
<p>Prose: Read the entirety, but only to attain the gist: what is the subject? who are the characters? what are their attitudes toward the subject and toward each other? If you can decipher the answers to these questions in a short time, you will have an important foundation in answering all the subsequent ACT questions asked. As this passage involves a fair bit of irony, metaphor, and other stylistic devices, it is the most intense. Prepare to spend the most time here.</p>
<p>For the other three, use what I call the “Puzzle strategy”:</p>
<p>Read the first paragraph to cop a feel for the essay as a whole, but then go immediately to the questions and refer back to the text. Most of these questions are very specific to the text (they give you the paragraph and in most cases the lines where the information is located). I call these “puzzle pieces.” They usually net you the specific answers, but with only one or two, you won’t be able to visualize the picture as a whole, and thus you may lapse when it comes to general questions of authorial intention, attitude, etc. How do you answers those? Well, you simply kill two birds with one stone. Remember your strategy with specific questions? Just add to that: make sure to read surrounding sentences when answering them. By the end of the specific questions, you will have so many “puzzle pieces” that you’ll be able to analyze how each piece contributes to the whole with relatively little brainpower. This is because you’ve spent time answering the specific questions, which in turn has created a sort of short-term memory storage (at least with me). With all these puzzle pieces, you can establish the big picture of the passage with only minor referencing. Again, reading sentences surrounding the specifics (even if they haven’t much to do with the specific question at hand) is a must for this strategy to work.</p>
<p>When a section lacks line reference, you will have to refer to the text. The only way to compensate for the time crunch is to avoid looking in places where you know the answers won’t be (i.e. the places where you’ve already found information that answers the specific questions, but wouldn’t help you answer the one that isn’t referencing the text).</p>
<p>If you’re referring to questions like those found in natural science sections (e.g. “Which of the following is something the author DOES NOT use to describe African Climates?”), the answer is usually a triple description within a paragraph (it’s really a specific question disguised as a general one). No, you don’t have to scour the entire text to find the three things the author does describe the climate with, but you will have to refer to the paragraph which concerns the subject, and discern the three things he/she does describe. Since the descriptions are condensed in a paragraph, this should not take you too much time.</p>
<p>I know it’s a lot more difficult than i’ve just described, but with more practice you’ll get these strategies down.</p>
<p>Good luck! </p>
<p>When and if it addresses a specific paragraph, you should refer to that paragraph. SupberbBlast’s concern was those questions that didn’t refer to paragraphs.</p>
<p>Via the puzzle strategy and questions that do reference lines, especially in the Natural/Social Science passages: (1) read the lines first and (2) read surrounding material in the paragraph where the lines are. This surrounding material will not only confirm the meaning of the lines referenced and help you better answer the specifric question, but it will also provide additional material to illustrate the paragraph (or the puzzle-piece).</p>
<p>Better understanding of individual paragraphs will always generate a greater understanding of the entire essay. This is a given. But the great thing about the “puzzle strategy” I outlined above is that because you’re answering questions while at the same time analyzing the paragraphs, line references, or whatever, you better retain the information (as opposed to, say, just reading the passage in its entirety and forgetting 50% of its content–as readers normally do). This increased retainment makes it easier to answer the “general questions” with little to no referencing. Thus, it reduces time costs and maximizes accuracy.</p>
<p>Of course, you can supplement that retainer through the often-cited strategy of note-taking, where you scribble one or two words to capture the idea of the essay. This will cost you time. You’d be cutting it close to the 35min. mark, but the benefits could prove to outweigh that cost.</p>
<p>More specifically to the Natural and Social Sciences: Often times the question asks you to refer to one of the scientists written about in the text. For example, a passage I recently read concerning Ancient Roman Arcitecture had two or three scientists offering data as to origins and accuracy of our modern interpretations of that Arcitecture (this case being the Coliseum). Nearly half the questions referred to scientist 1, 2, or 3 and his or her work. If you can quickly find the scientist’s name in the essay, you will quickly answer the question. These questions I consider godsends for their relative ease, and by knowing the results of the experiments (which, unlike the conflicting viewpoints passage in the science section, are always related and complimentary), you can quickly figure out the main points of the essay to answer the general questions as to authorial purpose, attitude, etc.</p>
<p>Hope this helps! </p>
<p>Try it out and see how it works!
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