The ACT Reading section is very overwhelming for most students because it’s so much text in such a short amount of time.
Even with the changes the ACT is proposing, including making the reading and writing passages shorter, there’s still more text on the page than a student can be expected to read thoroughly. And then the questions can take a minute to interpret and rearrange on top of that!
So how do you answer questions well if you don’t have time to fully read and understand the whole passage?
Here are four key tricks to improve your ACT Reading score:
1. Don’t read the whole passage!
This might seem obvious to some test-takers, and super risky to others. But think about it this way: You only have enough time to reach each word on that page MAYBE once, so when you’re reading the passage, don’t you want to already know what you’re looking for?
If you prefer to get acquainted with the topic of the passage before you look at questions, skim the first and last paragraph, or just grab the thesis at the top for an overview.
Either way, let the answer choices tell you what to read and what to look for! You’ll be surprised how well you can answer the ACT Reading questions without covering the entire passage.
2. Answer the questions out of order
You’ve probably heard this advice for lots of standardized tests, but for the ACT Reading, you specifically want to answer them based on how easy they are to find in the text (for instance, if they reference a specific line or paragraph).
This way, you can get familiar with the content and argument of the passage while getting some easy points!
And remember: You don’t necessarily have to answer every single question on every single passage. Pick your battles! The goal is not to answer all the questions but to get the questions you DO answer correct!
3. Take the questions and answers super literally
The questions will tell you very specifically what they are looking for, often in the exact order that they would like the information to be included in the answer. Sometimes the answers are just a re-phrasing of the question but clearer and with fewer words!
The answer choices will often be very similar except for a few transition words (like changing “and” for agreement to “but” for disagreement) or putting the correct information in the opposite order of how it is mentioned in the passage. There will also never be any hidden meanings or exaggeration.
Something scary about the ACT is that you can pick an answer that is factually true but does not answer the EXACT question being asked, so be specific!
4. When in doubt, choose the least dramatic and least offensive answer!
Is the answer choice insulting anyone in the passage (even someone the author disagrees with)? Don’t choose it.
Does the answer choice make a claim about the “best” or “worst” thing ever? Or something that is true for “everyone” or “nobody”? Don’t choose that answer.
All the correct answers will be respectful and will likely have qualifiers like “most” or “many” or “some” rather that extremes at either end, no matter how strong the opinion is in the text.
And that’s it! You’ve got four new tools in your toolkit to go ace those ACT reading questions. Now it’s time to practice.
Want more support on the ACT? Check out our Digital ACT Test Prep Courses that have helped students earn more cash for college.
