ACT 1-on-1 CurriculumReading: Prose Fiction & Social Science

ACT Reading

• 40 questions• 35 minutes

• Two subsections:– Social Studies/

Sciences• 20 questions

– Arts/Literature• 20 questions

Reading Section at a Glance

DIRECTIONS

DIRECTIONS: You will find four passages of various genres. Following each to the passages, there will be 10 questions to answer. Pick the best response and fill in the correct bubble on the answer sheet. If you need to, you can look back in the passages to answer the questions

ACT Reading

• There are four passages on the ACT Reading section:– Prose Fiction– Social Science– Humanities– Natural Science

The Basics

ACT Reading

• There are two types of questions on the ACT Reading test.

• Reference questions– Reference questions refer to a specific phrase in the passage.– Three types of reference question: paragraph, line, and general.

• Reasoning questions:– Reasoning questions require you to use context clues to infer what the

answer will be in the passage.

• Prose fiction and Humanities have more reasoning questions.• Social Science and Natural Science have more reference

questions.

Types of questions

ACT Reading

• Process of Elimination– It can be easier to eliminate wrong answers rather than find the correct answer.– Eliminate answers that are contrary to the passage, that are not relevant to the

question, or that are not discussed by the passage.

• Skimming– Skimming effectively means to read the first and last sentence of each

paragraph while also finding key words and phrases in the passage.– Underline key words so that you can refer back to them.– This works best on Natural Science and Social Science passages.– Practice this before using it.

• Pit Stop Approach– Read 2-3 paragraphs and then stop to think about what you have read.– If you do not understand what you have read, go back and reread it. – Do this again after the next couple of passages.

Test-Taking Strategies

ACT Reading

• Focus on 3– For many students, it is difficult to finish all 4 passages in the

time given.– Focus on 3 means that you focus on the three passages on

which you can answer all questions correctly and skip the other.

• Note Taking– The strategy that will create the most impact on your test – Relies on your knowledge of the passage characteristics

Test-Taking Strategies

ACT Reading

• Between now and the test the two most important aspects of the reading test to focus on are:

– knowing the passage characteristics– developing a note taking system that highlights them

• Break down the passages: – Use the techniques mentioned before to help you do this – Mark items you know you will see in the questions

• Examples: circle transitions, circle character names, label each paragraph with its function, etc.

Test-Taking Strategies

ACT Reading

• Prose fiction passage will be a short story or excerpt from a novel.

• 70% of the prose fiction questions are reasoning. This means that you need to read the passage completely.

• Questions to be prepared for on the Prose Fiction passage:– Who are the characters?– What events or people help shape their personality?– What happens when the characters interact? What is their relationship

with each other?

Prose Fiction

ACT Reading

• Turn to page 91 in the book.

• Who are the characters?• What do we know about them?• How do they interact with each other?• What background information do we have about any of these

characters?

Try It out — Prose Fiction

ACT Reading

• Social science is going to a factual, formal passage in a subject such as anthropology, archaeology, economics, geography, history, or political science.

• This passage will have a point of view or an argument in it.

• Questions to be prepared for:– What is the argument the author is making?– What information is used to support this argument

• Underlining is very important on this passage. Underline key names, dates, and concepts that are mentioned.

Social Science

ACT Reading

• Turn to page 93.

• What is the author’s argument?• What are some of the author’s supporting details for this

argument?

Try It Out – Social Science

ACT Reading

• Turn to page 180.

• Read the prose fiction passage and then answer questions.

• I will let you know when 8 minutes 30 seconds pass.• If you do Focus on 3, you will have 11 minutes, 45 seconds to

finish this section.

• After you finish this, we will do the social science passage on p. 182.

Try It Out