ACT Reading and English!

<p>Alright so some people have been asking what to do to get their eng. and reading scores up. so if you can post on how to get them up it would help. they don't need help in rhetorical skills but U/M and reading its all. So Please help if you can</p>

<p>With the English section, I would just suggest taking as many practice tests as you can, and then go over your errors and see what you did wrong. Do the tests out of The Real ACT book because they have detailed instructions on each and every question, and they also go over why each answer is the right answer and why each answer is the wrong answer. Also, cover some basic grammar rules on your own like when to use commas vs. semicolons and also go over using who vs. whom. For example, what sentence do you think is correct? 1) It is raining outside, therefore, we will have to cancel the baseball game. Or, 2) It is raining outside; therefore, we will have to cancel the baseball game. The correct answer is actually #2, and in my daughter’s first couple of practice tests, she would have answered #1 as being correct, but just learning from her past tests, as well as going over some grammar rules, she has been able to get a better handle on when to use commas vs. semicolons. If you use google, you can find some websites that explain these grammar rules and give you multiple examples of the right and wrong ways to use them. This is what really helped my daughter improve in this section. For reading, I just have no idea. I think by this point, everyone’s reading is what it is. I think the only thing that you can really do is to take as many practice reading sections as you can to get used to the format, timing, and pacing of the test. You can also go over your wrong answers and see if there is anything you could have done while taking the test in order to have answered the question correctly. When my daughter does a practice test, she usually spends 3-4 minutes quickly reading he passage, and then she will go back and refer to the passage as needed. I just think that this section is just really hard for a lot of people. I consider myself an intelligent person and I am a college graduate, but I went through and did the reading section on a practice test and it was HARD. I don’t know how anyone scores high into the 30’s on this particular section. They must be very fast readers who are able to retain everything they read, which is not a gift that everyone is blessed with. So basically, I just don’t think there are are tricks, loopholes, or shortcuts to doing well on these sections. I think if someone wants to improve as much as they can, they will have to do it the old fashion way of just putting the time in and practicing. So practice, practice, practice, and just when you think you can’t stand it anymore, practice some more.</p>

<p>The reading section is simply that: reading! For reading, simply FORGET all you learnt for SAT CR, because you had to look into the passage for CR. Here, instead. it’s skimming the passage for info. I suggest you quickly glance at the questions and have a rough idea for what you’re looking for and then tackle the passage - mark what you need to find. And, as a warning, if you try to critically analyse the passage and apply SAT CR strategies to it and whatnot, you WILL fail the section. Brrr.</p>

<p>On the bright side, reading only requires two eyes and half a brain. ^_^You just read the thing.</p>