Guide to ACT Preperation

Basic NEEDS: SLEEP AND FOOD

what to wear/bring:

• Dress so that you will be prepared for varying temperature conditions
• Bring a calculator your are comfortable with & one that is permitted

Remember Time Limitations:
Wear a watch & plan to manage your own time!

AVOID Whiplash

• English:  Read a passage then record your answers (15 questions for each)  
• Mathematics: Finish a  page & then  bubble in scan tron for that page
• Reading: Read a passage then record your answers (10 questions for each)
• Science: Analyze information each section then record your answers   
• BE CAREFUL WHILE BUBBLING IN ANSWERS

No penalties for wrong answers. Leave NOTHING blank.

BE COMFORTABLE WITH "NO CHANGE"

ENGLISH

Semicolon Rules:
-Use a semicolon in place of a period to separate two sentences where the conjunction has been left out.
-Use a semicolon before introductory words such as "however or therefore."
-Use the semicolon to separate units of a series when one or more of the units contain commas.

Colons: almost never used on the act

ACT Fragments:
Will be extremely long sentences with unclear sentences

commas

• Common punctuation mark on the ACT
• Often used incorrectly to disrupt the flow of a sentence or phrase 
• Choose the answer without unnecessary commas 
• Used to set off  a parenthetical phrase OR an appositive 

dashes (Super commas) :

• Used to set off parenthetical phrases or appositives
• An indicatation of an interuption in thought

Contractions vs. Possessives
*questions will test your knowledge of correct apostrophe usage
Strategy tip: "break open" contractions to hear if they used correctly...
- You're very pretty (Sounds correct)
"break open"
-You are very pretty (Proof that it is used correctly)

Be Comfortable

Verb Agreement (the most tested skill)

• Tested primarily on Verb Tense & Subject Verb Agreement
• Verb Tense: use the rest of the passage to guide you
• Subject-Verb Agreement: noun by to the verb will show a different verb

AVOID Redundacy

Question:
How will you be tested on Pronouns?

Answer: On Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement which tests if the pronoun agrees with the noun it stands for.

*Who: usually part of the subject & placed in the 1st half of the sentence
*Whom: usually part of the direct/ indirect object, comes after "to" or "for" & is an object pronoun
*Which: is ALWAYS preceded by a comma & is in reference to an object
*That: is in reference to an object & is used in restrictive clauses

A sentence should keep the a consistent rythm

Rhetorical Skills you must know how to do

• "Choose the sentence that best introduces a paragraph"
• "Select the sentence that best achieves a desired effect"
• "Determine the effect of removing a sentence"
• "Determine the effect of adding a sentence"
• "Determine whether or not the passage has achieved a stated purpose"

Mathematics - 60 minutes

Use MULTIPLE choice for your own advantage

You must be familiar with Quadratic Equations derived from:
ax^2 + bx + c = 0

Important Angle properties to know:

• Triangle Sum Theory: sum of interior angles equal 180 degrees
• Supplementary Angles: two angles that add up to 180 degrees
• Complementary Angles: two angles that add up to 90 degrees
• Vertical Angles: angles opposite each other when lines intersect 
• Corresponding Angles: angles in matching corners of two lines that cross

Perimeter questions are usually in reference to real life situations so be able to detect what information is important.
Ex. "Find the perimeter of this garden that is 6*6 ft."

Area Formulas You will be EXPECTED to know:

• Area of a Rectangle: Base * Height
• Area of a Triangle: 1/2 Base * Height
• Area of a Circle: pie(3.14) * Radius^2

Know How to Find the Slope Of Line:
~ Slope = (change in y)/ (change in x)
~ Slope of parallel lines are the same
~ Slope of perpendicular lines are opposite reciprocals

What you need to know for x-intercept & y-intercept questions:
1. The value of x when y is equal to zeros if the x-intercept.
2. The value of y when x is equal to zero is the y-intercept.

exponent Rules:

• a^m * a^n = a^(m+n)
• (a^m) / (a^n) = a^(m-n)
• (a^m)^n = a^(m*n)
• a^(-m) = 1 / (a^m)
• a^1 = a    ... a^0 = 1

Know how to right a number correctly in

a SQUARED + b SQAURED =c sQUARED^

Trigonometry mean:
SOH - CAH- TOA

sINE, Cosine, & Tangent

• Sine (sin) = (opposite) / (hypotenuse)
• Cosine (cos) = (adjacent) / (hypotenuse)
• Tangent (tan) = (opposite) / (adjacent)

Remember: You are NOT allotted a lot of time for the Reading Section, so try to finish at least 3 of the 4 passages.

Types of Passages

• Prose Fiction
• Social Scinces
• Humanities
• Natural Sciences

Different type of questions you will be asked

• "What did the author mean in line 2?" (Specific References)
• "What is the meaning of the word italicized?" (Lead Words)

QUICKLY READ THROUGH THE PASSAGES

Answer Choices such as :
Always,
Never, &
ALL - are typically not the correct answer.

Five Major Skills You Need To Have:

• Be able to identify the MAIN IDEA 
• Be able to go back & search for SPECIFIC EVIDENCE in the passage
• Be able to make a CONCLUSION / INFERENCE
• Be able to use the author's tone & information in the passage for EXTRAPOLA
• Be able to understand the VOCABULARY

SCience Test

dIFFERENT THINGS YOU WILL BE ASKED TO ANALYSES

• Experiment Passages
• Charts / Graphs
• Fighting Scietist 

What You need to do IN ORDER to do well:

• Ignore the Introduction: usually has irrelevant information
• Spot the Difference: detect specific details in experiments

Fighting Scientists Articles:
~You will have to identify the different stances of the scientist.

REMEMBER: Don't Study the Passages

... & there is your Guide to