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Fiveable's ACT Reading Section Overview: What's On It?

6 min read•june 18, 2024

Shagun Khare

ACT 🎒

53 resources

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Welcome to Fiveable's ACT Reading overview! If you're here, you're probably wondering what's tested in this section of the ACT. Well, guess what? We'll cover all of that for you here. ⬇️

✍🏽 ACT Reading Section Passages

The ACT Reading section comprises 40 questions, which must be completed within 35 minutes. It is divided into four sections, each containing either one long or two shorter prose passages. Each of the four sections is accompanied by a set of multiple-choice questions, and the sections with paired passages include some questions that relate to both passages. Now let's get into it! 🙌🏼

😅 ACT Reading Passage Types

The ACT reading questions are based on passages that will be given to you. These passages tend to come from four subject areas:

🌍 Social Studies: The social studies portion will take information from anthropology, archaeology, economics, education, history, political science, etc.

🧪 Natural Sciences: Natural sciences include astronomy, biology, botany, chemistry, ecology, medicine, zoology, etc.

📖 Literary Narrative or Prose Fiction: Questions in this category involve passages taken from short stories, novels, memoirs, and personal essays.

📚 Humanities: Humanities questions come from a wide variety of sources, including architecture, art, dance, film, language, literary criticism, music, philosophy, television, etc.

However, this doesn't mean you have over 500 new subjects to learn about before you take the test! All answers to ACT Reading questions can be taken from the passages themselves.

🤔 ACT Reading Question Types

The ACT Reading questions fall into two categories:

Referring questions inquire directly about information explicitly stated in the passage.

Reasoning questions prompt students to draw conclusions from implied information within the passage(s).

⚒️ ACT Reading Skills Tested

Before we get into the details of this section, here is an overview of the main skills that you will be tested on the ACT as determined by the Official ACT Guide:

Determine main ideas
Locate and interpret significant details
Understand sequences of events
Make comparisons
Comprehend cause-effect relationships
Determine the meaning of context-dependent words, phrases, and statements
Draw generalizations
Analyze the author’s or narrator’s voice and method
Analyze claims and evidence in arguments
Integrate information from multiple texts

You may want to use this checklist to give you an idea of your strengths and weaknesses. You got this! 📖

🧠Content Covered on the ACT Reading by Weightage

Reportedly, there are three sections that you will be tested on the ACT. However, each section is weighted differently and will appear differently on the exam. Here is a thorough breakdown to understand each section:

🥇 Key Ideas and Details (52-60%)

This domain necessitates a close examination of texts to identify central concepts and themes. It involves accurately summarizing information and ideas, comprehending relationships, and making logical inferences and conclusions, which includes understanding sequential, comparative, and cause-effect relationships.

🥈 Craft and Structure (25–30%)

These questions require you to:

Ascertain word and phrase meanings.
Analyze an author's rhetorical use of language.
Examine the structure of the text.
Grasp the author's purpose and perspective.
Analyze characters' viewpoints.
Interpret authorial decisions from a rhetorical standpoint.
Differentiate between various perspectives and sources of information.

🥉 Integration of Knowledge and Ideas (13–23%)

In this category, you are expected to comprehend authors' assertions, distinguish between facts and opinions, and utilize evidence to establish connections between related texts on a given topic. Certain questions will prompt you to analyze how authors build their arguments and assess the reasoning and evidence presented from diverse sources.

👀 Visual and Quantitative Information in the Reading Section

In some instances, a passage may be complemented by visual aids such as graphs, figures, or tables containing pertinent information related to the reading task. When encountering such passages with these visual and quantitative elements, specific questions will inquire about identifying or interpreting information from the graphic. Additionally, you may need to integrate the information from both the passage and the graphic to arrive at the most suitable answer.

🤩 ACT Reading Section Tips

Remember, no one is automatically gifted at the ACT Reading. If you know this a section where you will struggle, the ultimate best way to conquer the ACT Reading section is to know the ACT Reading section. Not only should you practice the core skills involved, but you should practice taking the exam as many times as you can. Every time you practice, you learn more about what works best FOR YOU to get as many questions right within the time limit.

Practice Regularly: Regular practice is essential to build your reading comprehension skills. Read a variety of texts and attempt practice tests to become familiar with the types of passages and questions you'll encounter.

Skim the Passage: Before diving into the questions, quickly skim through the passage to get an overall idea of the content and main ideas. Pay attention to headings, subheadings, and the first and last sentences of paragraphs.

Annotate as You Read: Underline or jot down key points, main ideas, and any important details as you read the passage. This will help you refer back to the text when answering questions.

Time Management: Time is limited, so practice pacing yourself during practice tests. Allocate roughly 8-9 minutes per passage, ensuring you have enough time for all the questions.

Focus on Keywords: Pay attention to keywords and phrases in the questions, as they can guide you to specific parts of the passage where you might find the answers.

Answer Referring Questions First: Answer the referring questions (those with explicit answers in the passage) first, as they are usually quicker to tackle and ensure you don't miss easy points.

Don't Overthink: Avoid reading too much into the questions or overthinking the answers. Stick to the information presented in the passage.

Practice with Graphs and Tables: Familiarize yourself with interpreting data from graphs and tables. Pay attention to the axes, labels, and units to correctly answer questions related to visual elements.

Stay Calm and Focused: The ACT can be stressful, but try to stay calm and focused during the test. If you encounter a challenging passage, don't dwell on it too long. Move on and return to it if you have time.

Eliminate Wrong Answers: If you're unsure about an answer, try to eliminate obviously incorrect choices to increase your chances of selecting the correct one.

For most students, process of elimination (POE) has worked as one of the best tips by far. Here's why: the ACT Content Creators know what they are doing. Thousands of dollars are being put into making sure each question is worded correctly, so there is only one right answer that is 100% true and the other answers are 100% false. Therefore, if you ever find yourself stuck between questions, instead of looking for the right answer, focus on eliminating the questions that you know are 100% false. Then, with your remaining answer choices, focus on reading every single word of the answer choices. Remember, even if one word or phrase is wrong, that makes the entire answer choice wrong. If you have to convince yourself that an answer choice is right, then it is wrong. Focus on the facts and what is directly stated in the text: do not bring your own opinions into this. Save that for after the test.

🌟Closing

Good luck! You are going to crush this exam! With the right practice techniques and the correct resources, you will ace the ACT Reading section in no time. The best way to practice efficiently is not to overdo it by reading 15 passages a day and answering hundreds of questions. It is to complete a few passages a day, and DOCUMENT your mistakes. Once you start understanding your mistakes and WHY you got a specific question incorrect, your brain will subconsciously register this and not make the same mistake again. You got this! 🍀