ACT English - 45 Minute Review

Basic Facts

  • A total of 75 questions to be answered in 45 minutes.
  • There are a total of five passages of about 300 to 400 words each.
  • Pace yourself, as you only have nine minutes to spend on each passage together with its questions.
  • Questions in the English section contain four answer choices.
  • To score a 21 on the test you need to get 48 - 50 questions correct - ~65% of the questions.

    • Breakdown of the English section by concepts

    Conventions of Standard English (51% - 56%)

  • Sentence Structure and Formation: Apply understanding of sentence structure and formation in a text and to make revisions to improve the writing.
  • Punctuation: Recognize common problems with standard English punctuation and to make revisions to improve the writing.
  • Usage: Recognize common problems with standard English usage in a text and to make revisions to improve the writing.

    • Knowledge of Language (13% - 19%): Demonstrate effective language use through ensuring precision and concision in word choice and maintaining consistency in style and tone.

    Production of Writing (29% - 32%)

  • Topic Development: Demonstrate an understanding of, and control over, the rhetorical aspects of texts. Identify the purposes of parts of texts, determine whether a text or part of a text has met its intended goal, and evaluate the relevance of material in terms of a text's focus.
  • Organization, Unity, and Cohesion: Use various strategies to ensure that a text is logically organized, flows smoothly, and has an effective introduction and conclusion.

    • Test Directions

    Do not waste any time reading the directions at the beginning of the test. The directions are always the same as follows:

    DIRECTIONS: In the five passages that follow, certain words and phrases are underlined and numbered. In the right-hand column, you will find alternatives for the underlined part. In most cases, you are to choose the one that best expresses the idea, makes the statement appropriate for standard written English, or is worded most consistently with the style and tone of the passage as a whole. If you think the original version is best, choose “NO CHANGE.” In some cases, you will find in the right-hand column a question about the underlined part. You are to choose the best answer to the question.
    You will also find questions about a section of the passage, or about the passage as a whole. These questions do not refer to an underlined portion of the passage, but rather are identified by a number or numbers in a box.

    For each question, choose the alternative you consider best and fill in the corresponding oval on your answer document. Read each passage through once before you begin to answer the questions that accompany it. For many of the questions, you must read several sentences beyond the question to determine the answer. Be sure that you have read far enough ahead each time you choose an alternative.

    Basic Strategies

    • There are no negative points for incorrect or blank answers, so answer every question on the test.
    • Before you guess an answer, try to eliminate wrong answers.
    • Don't look at previous answers.

    Nouns and Pronouns

    On the ACT you will be tested on noun agreement. Nouns must agree with other nouns and pronouns must agree with the nouns that they modify. When it comes to pronouns you will be tested on agreement, ambiguity, and case.

    Practice:

    1) A sports book earns most of its money from the commission taken on each bet, not on the bets themselves.

    (A).NO CHANGE
    (B).earns most of their money
    (C).earns most of it's money
    (D).are earning most of their money

    Adjective and Adverbs

    Adjectives modify nouns, while adverbs modify verbs, adjectives and other adverbs. Adverbs are typically easy to spot because they often end in —ly. The ACT will try to trick you by using adjectives when adverbs should be used and vice versa.

    Practice:

    2) We spent Sunday afternoon wandering aimless in Central Park.

    (A).NO CHANGE
    (B).wandering in an amiless manner
    (C).wandering almost aimlessly
    (D).wandering amilessly

    Diction

    Occasionally on the ACT you will see diction errors being tested. Diction means word choice, and diction errors are often difficult to spot because the incorrect word and the correct word sound exactly the same.

    Practice:

    3) On the ACT reading section it is wise to read the passage over quickly at first, than see the major points, and finally outline the material.

    (A).NO CHANGE
    (B).first: then
    (C).first, then
    (D).first-then

    Verb Tense

    Verbs come in many different tenses, but you will simply need to ensure that the correct tense is being used throughout the sentence.

    Practice:

    4) Joseph claims that dogs made the best pets.

    (A).NO CHANGE
    (B).make the best pets.
    (C).are the best pets.
    (D).could be the best pets.

    Subject-Verb Agreement

    The ACT English test will hide the subject and verbs in a sentence to make it difficult for you to spot them. You should know that a singular subject must take singular verb and plural subject must take plural verb. The test will also try to trick you by using collective nouns and pronouns which are always singular.

    Practice:

    5) In the basket was several savory treats that Jessica knew her friends would enjoy.

    (A).NO CHANGE
    (B).is
    (C).has
    (D).were

    The Comma Splice

    This error is incredibly common and often difficult to spot because it sounds fine. Independent clauses must be joined by a semicolon or a comma with a conjunction.

    Practice:

    6) There is not much difference between the decision to enter a presidential race and the decision to walk into a lion's den, in reality, the lion's den seems more fun.

    (A).NO CHANGE
    (B).a lion's den. In reality,
    (C).a lion's den in reality,
    (D).a lion's den, in reality

    The Run-on sentence

    These should be pretty easy to spot because it will be immediately clear that the sentence is long and confusing. They occur when independent clauses are joined without any punctuation.

    Practice:

    7) The recreation department plans to include a new gym and a new lunch room if the federal grant application is successful there will be enough funds for both.

    (A).NO CHANGE
    (B).room, if
    (C).room; if,
    (D).room. If

    Sentence Fragments

    These errors are usually easy to spot because they sound wrong and/or confusing. Subordinate clauses cannot stand on their own because they don't contain both a subject and verb. Every sentence must have an independent clause, but only some sentences will have subordinate (dependent) clauses.

    Practice:

    8) Although it will be forever associated with Shakespeare's Hamlet. The castle at Elsinore was never actually Hamlet's home.

    (A).NO CHANGE
    (B).Hamlet. A
    (C).Hamlet; the
    (D).Hamlet, the

    Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers

    Modifiers are words or phrases that are used to add depth or dimension to the phrase that they modify. Modifiers are misplaced if they do not actually refer to what they are modifying. Modifiers are dangling if you are unsure of what they modify.

    Practice:

    9) Running in the park, Jack's watch dropped into the water.

    (A).NO CHANGE
    (B).Jack's watch dropped in the water.
    (C).Jack dropped his watch in the water.
    (D).Jack's dropped watch in the water.

    Apostrophes

    An apostrophe is used to indicate possession or to mark the missing letters in a word. When used to indicate possession, the apostrophe appears either directly before or directly after the s at the end of a possessive noun. If the possessive noun is singular, the apostrophe falls before the “s.”

    Practice:

    10) As I followed along behind my classmates lead, I noticed each of the rocks displayed a unique color formation: violet and charcoal in some places, greenish brown in others.

    (A).NO CHANGE
    (B).classmates’ lead
    (C).classmate’s leads
    (D).classmate’s lead

    Dashes

    Dashes are used to separate a word or group of words from the rest of the sentence. Use dashes in pairs to indicate an abrupt break in through, or to introduce an explanation in the middle of the sentence. However, when the phrase that needs isolation is at the end of the sentence, then only one dash is used.

    Practice:

    11) My image of Yosemite full of flora and fauna was not exactly accurate, yet the true scenery was more amazing than I imagined.

    (A).NO CHANGE
    (B).Yosemite—full of flora and fauna—
    (C).Yosemite—full of flora and fauna
    (D).Yosemite—full of flora and fauna,

    Colon

    Use a colon after a complete statement to introduce a list of related details or to separate independent clauses when one represents a general thought and the other explains or expands upon the first.

    12) A lot of it has to do with experience; how you instinctively begin to know what's wrong with the engine, just by hearing an old car wheezing its way into the shop.

    (A).NO CHANGE
    (B).experience, how
    (C).experience. How
    (D).experience: how

    Semicolons

    Use a semicolon instead of a period when you are connecting independent clauses with a similar subject. On the ACT, semicolons should be used exactly the same way as a period.

    Practice:

    13) My most memorable class trip as a kid was the trip I took to New York City with my 7th grade class. I was only 12 at that point; and I'd never been on a subway before.

    (A).NO CHANGE
    (B).at that point and
    (C).at that point, and
    (D).at that point. And

    Writing to the point

    The ACT tests redundancy, wordiness, slang, or irrelevance and prefers formal English usage compared to casual.

    Practice:

    14) Behind the ringmaster, I could see a majestic lion, pacing back and forth from side to side in the cage and snarling at the clowns that stood off to one side.

    (A).NO CHANGE
    (B).back and forth
    (C).between the sides
    (D).DELETE the underlined portion
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