ACT Prep

Topic Development questions focus on: 

What a Topic Development question may look like on the test: 

The effect a certain word, phrase, or sentence has in the context of the essay 

If the writer were to delete the preceding sentence, the essay would primarily lose:  If the writer were to add the phrase “____” at this point, the paragraph would primarily gain: How a certain word, phrase, or sentence can accomplish a specific purpose or goal 

How a certain word, phrase, or sentence can accomplish a specific purpose or goal 

At this point, the writer wants to emphasize ____. Which choice best accomplishes that goal? 

Whether a certain detail is relevant to the essay 

Which choice provides the most relevant information at this point in the essay? 

Whether an essay has achieved a specific purpose 

Suppose the writer’s primary purpose had been to ____. Would this essay accomplish that purpose? 

Organization questions focus on: 

What an Organization question may look like on the test: 

Transition words or phrases (however, in fact, etc.) and how they create a logical flow of ideas 

Which transition word or phrase, if any, is most logical in context? 

Introductory or concluding sentences in paragraphs

Which choice most effectively concludes the paragraph and the essay by ____?

Sentences that create a transition, or link, between ideas

Which choice most effectively leads readers into the rest of the essay?

Where to place sentences in an essay for maximum logic and effectiveness

Which sequence of sentences [sentences are marked with numbers: [1], [2], etc.] makes this paragraph most logical?

The writer wants to add the following sentence to the essay:

[sentence]

The sentence would most logically be placed at
which of the following points (A, B, C, D)? 

When or where to start a new paragraph in an essay

At this point, the writer is considering dividing the paragraph into two. Should the writer begin

a new paragraph here?

Expressing Ideas Clearly Skill Description: Use words that create clarity or logic in a sentence. Identify and eliminate words and phrases that are overly wordy or repetitious (redundant).

Expressing Ideas Clearly questions focus on:

What an Expressing Ideas Clearly question may look like on the test:

Whether certain information in an essay is clear and relatively concise

Which choice is least redundant in context?

How words are used to create precise and/or logical meaning in a sentence

Which choice is clearest and most precise in context?

Style Skill Description: Use words, phrases, and sentences to maintain aconsistent style or tone in an essay or to achieve a certain effect.

Style questions focus on:

What a Style question may look like on the test:

The tone of an essay (the writer’s treatment of/attitude toward the subject matter)

Which choice most closely maintains the essay’s informal tone?

How the writer uses words and phrases for effect or to achieve a certain style

Which choice is most stylistically effective in that it uses playful language to reinforce the main focus of the essay?

Identify and correct errors related to sentence structure

Example of a sentence structure error:

Corrected sentence

Fragments

The road less traveled.

I took the road less traveled.

Run-on Sentences

I took the road less traveled, it wasn’t the right choice.

I took the road less traveled, but it wasn’t the right choice.

Parallelism

Not only did the scientists research the Peruvian rain forest, and they explored part of the rain forest in Brazil.

Not only did the scientists research the Peruvian rain forest, but they also explored part of the rain forest in Brazil.

Subordination and

coordination

Since she couldn’t stay out late, so she decided not to go out at all.

Since she couldn’t stay out late, she decided not to go out at all.

Modifiers

Running the program once again, it became clear that something had been coded wrong.

Running the program once again, we could see clearly that something had been coded wrong.

Identify and correct errors related to usage

Example of a usage error:

Corrected sentence

Pronoun-antecedent agreement

The books were somewhere in here, but I couldn’t find it.

The books were somewhere in here, but I couldn’t find them.

Pronoun ambiguity

When the two women met at the subway station, she apologized for being late.

When the two women met at the subway station, Rose apologized for being late.

Possessive pronouns

They’re bags were finally packed for the trip.

Their bags were finally packed for the trip.

Pronoun case

The person whom is in charge of this event did a fantastic job.

The person who is in charge of this event did a fantastic job.

Subject-verb agreement

Each of the movies were fun to watch, but I had a definite favorite.

Each of the movies was fun to watch, but I had a definite favorite.

Frequently confused words

The music she heard that afternoon greatly effected her.

The music she heard

that afternoon greatly affected her.

Identify and correct errors related to punctuation

Example of a punctuation error:

Corrected sentence

Possessives

The schools doors’ close at 8 a.m.

The school’s doors close at 8 a.m.

Nonrestrictive (or nonessential) and restrictive (essential) elements

The student, the one with the pink hair is in my homeroom.

The student, the one with the pink hair, is in my homeroom.

Unnecessary punctuation

She walked all the way home, from the restaurant.

She walked all the way home from the restaurant.

Sharp breaks

I left so many things at the hotel such as, my coat, my book, my key.

I left so many things

at the hotel: my coat, my book, my key.

Text Structure questions focus on:

What a Text Structure question may look like on the test:

How an author has organized the information, events, or action in the passage as a whole

Which of the following choices best describes the structure of the passage?
 
Beginning with the second paragraph, the structure of the passage shifts from:

The purpose of a specific part of the text (such as a single paragraph)

In the context of the passage, the main function of the fourth paragraph is to:

The impact or effect of a specific sentence or phrase

The author includes the details in lines xx–xx primarily to:

The purpose or effect of a figurative device (simile, image, metaphor, etc.)

In the context of the passage, the metaphor “____” (lines xx–xx) is most likely used to demonstrate that:

The purpose or effect of a specific word or short phrase

It can reasonably be inferred that the author uses the word ____ in line x most likely to:

Word Meaning questions focus on:

What a Word Meaning question may look like on the test:

The dictionary meaning of a word as well as synonyms for that word 

As it is used in line x, the word ____ most nearly means:

The underlying meaning or effect of a certain word or phrase

Which of the following words from the passage has the most clearly negative connotation in context?

A literal translation of a figurative word, phrase, or sentence

In the context of the passage, the simile in lines xx most nearly means that:

Whether a word is being used in a literal sense or in a figurative sense

Which of the following phrases from the passage is used more figuratively than literally?

Purpose and Point of View questions focus on:

What a Purpose and Point of View question may look like on the test:

What the passage aims to do

The main purpose of the passage is to:

Who is narrating the story (for literary narrative passages)

The passage is told from the point of view of a narrator who:

Shifts in a story’s point of view (for literary narrative passages)

At the beginning of the third paragraph, the point of view from which the passage is told shifts from that of a:

The attitudes, beliefs, or positions held by the author or by another person mentioned in the passage

Based on the passage, the statement in lines xx–xx most closely reflects the perspective of:

Overgeneralizations or stereotypes that the author or another person/character makes

In the passage, the author implies that everyone in ____ is:

Argument questions focus on:

What an Argument question may look like on the test:

The argumentative claims made in a text (main claims as well as smaller, secondary claims)

What is the passage’s central claim?

Which of the following is a counterclaim the author explicitly raises and then refutes?

The evidence used to support claims or challenge counterclaims

Evidence in the fifth paragraph primarily serves to support which of the following claims?

What main evidence does the author use to support her claim that _____?

The strengths and weaknesses of an argument’s reasoning 

How does the information in the third paragraph contradict the author’s argument about ____?

Based on the passage, which of the following statements, if true, would most strengthen the author’s claim that ____?

Whether a statement from the passage is a fact, opinion, or reasoned judgment

In the context of the passage, the statement in lines xx–xx can best be described as:

The persuasive techniques used to support an argument

When the author states “____,” he is most likely attempting to persuade the reader by:

Synthesis questions focus on:

What a Synthesis question may look like on the test:

Broad concepts that are addressed in both passages

The ideas presented in the first paragraph of Passage A most directly
exemplify which of the following concepts mentioned in Passage B?

The comparison of smaller details within the passages

Based on the passages, one difference between ____ in Passage A and ____
in Passage B is that both:

Central ideas or themes as they apply to both passages

Which of the following statements best captures a main theme of both
passages?

Similarities or differences in the organization or approach of the passages 

Which choice best describes a difference in how the passages are structured?

How a detail, rhetorical device (such as anecdotes or rhetorical questions), figurative device (metaphor, simile, etc.), or paragraph identified in each passage functions similarly or differently 

The details about ____ in Passage A and ____ in Passage B function similarly in that they:

Which of the following rhetorical strategies is used by the author of Passage B but not by the author of Passage A?

Similarities and differences in the purpose or point of view of the
passages

The main purposes of the passages are similar in that both passages:

Which of the following statements best describes a difference in the points of view of the passages?

How an argumentative claim made in one passage relates to information provided in the other passage

Which of the following points made in Passage A offers the clearest support for the author’s claim in Passage B that ____?

Visual and Quantitative Information questions focus on:

What a Visual and Quantitative Information question may look like on the test:

The data presented in the graphic alone

The chart represents an increasing trend in ____ for which of the following years?

The purpose of the graphic overall as it relates to the passage

As it relates to the passage, the table primarily functions to:

How a claim, detail or concept from the passage is related to the graphic

One way the study, as it is presented in the passage, differs from the study represented in the graph is that:

How information from a graphic applies to the passage.

Which ____ shown in the table would most closely resemble ___, as it is described in the passage?

Which additional information, if added to the table, would most weaken the passage author’s claim that ____?