The ACT test can be daunting, especially for newbies and first timers. It takes a lot of prep and practice to be able to muster confidence come the ACT test day. So what ACT prep methods are considered to be effective? You’ll want to pass the ACT test with flying colors to be able to gain admission to the college of your choice. Among the most challenging sections of this test is the ACT English Test. Just like with the other topics, you’re aiming to get hold of foolproof tips about how to ace your English ACT test. You will find them in the discussion below.

Ace The ACT English Test With These Valuable Tips

Avoid giving wordy answers. That is, keep it simple when conveying your thoughts and ideas in the ACT English test. Not that you’ll have to give short answers either. Sometimes you need to put in more words in your phrases and sentences so that they become grammatically correct. The key to providing efficient answers in your ACT English is to be concise and straight to the point.

Read the whole sentences in the questions. Don’t rush when answering the questions in the test. It’ll make you frazzled and haphazard as you respond to the items. It may be tempting to read only the underlined portion of the sentence, but steer clear of this tendency. Be particular that the wrong clause or clauses in your sentence can affect your answer.

Consider the context and the meaning of the test items. Just because you’re tackling the grammar portion of the test doesn’t mean that you should disregard the meaning of the sentence. In many of the questions in ACT English, the context must be taken into account. This ought to be applied, especially in transition word questions and questions that require you to find the proper placement of a sentence in the whole paragraph.

Take into account the consistency of the sentence. A major example of this the proper placement of the verb tense and the voice. When adding the tense of the sentence, look for cues in the surrounding sentences and accord their tenses. But there are exceptions, such as when a certain clause conveys a past event within a paragraph that is set in the present tense.

Steer clear of being redundant. Avoid stating a meaning or idea that has already been conveyed or implied. Likewise, refrain from using two adjectives that mean the same. As mentioned earlier in this text, keep your sentences simple and consider the whole sentence when answering the questions. Remember that reading only the underlined phrase in the items can make you go amiss on the other parts that also state the same idea.

Apply the rule of sentence parallelism in grammar. You can easily spot the parallelism of ideas in a sentence the more you familiarize yourself with them. A sentence that is parallel have clauses that match in structure. An example of a sentence that lacks parallelism is:

My hobbies are swimming, running and to sing.

“Swimming” and “running” are in gerund form while “to sing” is in infinitive form. The above sentence can become parallel if the infinitive form “to sing” is changed to its gerund form which is “singing”.

Be careful of run-on sentences. In everyday writing, common mistakes such as comma splices might also jump out as mistakes in the ACT English test. A sentence becomes a run-on if it is comprised of a comma splice wherein two independent clauses are combined with only a comma. If an independent clause can stand on its own as a sentence, then it has a complete thought. Adding a conjunction rectifies a comma splice. The same happens when one of the clauses is made to be dependent or when a comma is changed into a semi-colon.

Be aware of subject-verb agreement. If a subject is singular, it has to be connected with a verb that is singular. In the same way, plural subjects have to be followed by plural verbs. Generally, errors in subject-verb agreement are easily spotted if the subject and the verb are next to each other. The tricky part is when they are not, specifically if prepositional phrases are placed in between them. If you want to do away with this dilemma, take the prepositional phrase out and figure out if the subject and verb agree with each other now that they are side by side. Don’t confuse the object of the prepositional phrase as the subject.

Be particular about pronoun- antecedent agreement. The noun that the pronoun replaces in a sentence is known as the antecedent. To check for accuracy, you can mark the pronoun with an arrow that points back to its antecedent. See to it that they agree in gender and number. As examples, the pronoun “they” may refer to the antecedent “students”, and these are plural, while the pronoun “her”, which is singular may refer to the feminine antecedent “Jane” which is singular.

Make sure that ideas from current and previous paragraphs are included in transitional sentences. There are items in the ACT English test wherein you will be required to choose the most fitting opening or closing sentence in a paragraph. You’ll want your sentences to create a smooth transition by incorporating ideas in your sentences from the current, previous or following paragraphs. Your goal here is to connect two ideas, that’s why ideas from the surrounding paragraphs have to be considered.

Be One Step Ahead, ACT English Can Be Tricky

Because the ACT English test can be tricky, you have to watch out as well. While you carry on with the necessary prep, be one step ahead by being armed with tips about how to approach the questions. You can always do practice tests, but be keen about the structure, context and meaning of the items in the test. Well-equipped with smarts, skills and confidence, you can ace your English ACT test and pursue your desired higher learning in the college of your choice.

Smart students scoring low on the ACT happens quite a lot. It is in fact a common problem. However, there are ways to avoid it, such as by using the most effective test prep techniques. You can maintain your excellent performance in the classroom and the ACT if you apply the right strategies. The first thing that you ought to do is to understand the reasons why some high achievers in class obtain a low score on the ACT.

The tendency of many intelligent students is to get complacent, thinking that the ACT is merely the same as the usual tests that they take in school. Then again, this is not the case. Why?

Multiple subjects are included in the exam. When you take the ACT, you’ll take a comprehensive exam that covers Math, Science, Literature and Writing. Whereas in the classroom, if you’re going to tackle a Math test, all you have to do is study for Math. That’s why studying for the ACT is more rigorous, and you have to engage on an effectual review program before taking it. A test prep routine for the ACT tends to be more challenging and time-consuming.

There is a time limit to follow when taking every section in the test. Time pressure when dealing with the ACT can be overwhelming. It can cause test anxiety that results to poor performance and low ACT scores.

You’ll encounter test questions and answer options that can be misleading.Test-takers ought to be meticulous and wary because there are items in the ACT that could fool them. You may think that you’ve marked the right bubble, but it is actually erroneous. It’s not the same as the typically straightforward tests that you take in high school.

Expectations are high when tackling the ACT. This could be distressing to numerous students. As an important standardized test, your score in the ACT will dictate whether you’ll gain admission to a high quality college or otherwise. Because of this, you might push yourself too hard, and the frustration that you feel might lead to a low score.

Different Problem Scenarios About the ACT and How To Resolve Them

Scenario # 1

You might be using the wrong study methods. How was your ACT prep? Have you done it effectively and with a sufficient amount of time? Come the day of taking the test, you might have answered all the questions within the time limit. You had no worries about test anxiety, either. Things seemed to be looking up, but you were disappointed when your score report came. You got a low ACT score! Why did this happen?

The Resolution:

There are many cases of students having studied for an ample time before taking the ACT, but upon getting the results, they were aghast to get a low score. A Math whiz in the classroom may not always ace the ACT Math test. This section of the ACT usually covers more topics, requiring more skills and knowledge. Consider as well that the phrasing of some questions and answer selections in the test can be tricky. Try changing your studying approach for your retake. Take note that the common ways of studying for a test in the classroom may not suffice when prepping for the ACT.

For instance, take more ACT practice tests. Research has shown that a good study program should comprise 30% of practice testing. Practice tests can acclimatize you to the format and approach of the ACT, consequently boosting your confidence and eliminating test anxiety.

Scenario #2

You were overconfident, and studied insufficiently for the exam. Intelligent students are predilected to ace their tests in the classroom. They may think that the ACT is as easy as their typical high school tests, thus they prepared haphazardly for it. Nevertheless, they get a low score in the ACT.

The Resolution:

Be aware that the ACT is different from the customary tests that you deal with in high school. If you’re not used its approach, you might get confused. The creators of the ACT have designed their test to measure students’ skills and knowledge. They therefore sprinkled it with a good dose of tricky and misleading items. Succumbing to it can ultimately result to a low score.

Practice as much as you can to combat this phenomenon. Schedule your ACT take or retake so that you get enough time to study for it. Preferably a few months. Arrange a routine study schedule utilizing credible and effective online and offline test prep resources. It is particularly crucial to take ACT practice tests regularly. Three or four practice tests throughout your whole test prep period could suffice in conditioning you to tackle the format and structure of the test. Be sure to review your wrong answers and decipher why you missed them. Know your weak points and build on them so that you’ll be ready and able to take the ACT despite its intricacies.