For people that scored high on the reading section, what strategy did you use to effectively finish the section on time? The test I took on sept 12, I wasn’t able to finish the last section on time and spent avg of ten min on the other sections to completely answer all questions.
What do you mean by “section”? Are you talking about the “passages”?
I’m not really sure if I am privileged to answer your question, as I also took the Sept ACT a week ago. However, I finished the reading section with about 5 minutes left and feel confident about it. Here’s what I do:
I don’t follow those so-called tips and tricks where you go straight to the questions. Blindly looking at questions will mess up your train of thoughts, since you have no idea what the passage is about. So for each passage, I spend 2 1/2 minutes to 3 minutes actively-skimming the passages. When I skim/read the passages, I use my pencil to guide throughout the lines, so that way I don’t get distracted or go slow. And while skimming through the passage, I subconsciously try to pinpoint the author’s tone/purpose of the passage. After skimming through the whole passage, I usually have a solid idea of what the passage is about. Then I move over to the questions. I spend about 5-6 minutes on it. The first two questions usually ask about the theme/“what is the author trying to convey”. Then the next 5-6 questions refer to a specific line(s), paragraph, or set of paragraphs. So adding all the time together for one passage, it will be: 2 1/2~3 minutes + 5~5 1/2 minutes= 7 1/2~8 1/2 minutes for one passage X 4 = 32 minutes (for all 4 passages).
Sorry if this is all confusing. I tried my best to make it clear, but I am not the best explainer in the world, lol.
@clichescreenname do you use the same strategy for the natural science passage? I find the facts way too confusing to be able to recall them while answering the questions without always going back to the passage and therefore losing a lot of time…
@nadinem123 Well, most of the time, I use the same strategy. But if I am unable recall any info, then I have no choice other than to look back at the passage. I’m not really aware of any other strategies for natural science section. I recommend getting Erica Seltzer’s ACT reading prep book and completing all 10 practice reading tests. They will be really helpful as the test materials are really similar to the official ACT.
@clichescreenname thanks for your tips! appreciate it.