<p>I personally think I suck at reading yet I still got a 30 on the Sept. ACT. The reading part of the ACT is really easy i think. I agree that reading the passage is a waste of time. You don't retain that much information once you read it. Also, the questions are pretty direct so you can go back and look through the passage and be able to find the answer. I don't think the Critical Reading for the SAT and the reading for the ACT compare. I don't know what a 30 on the ACT reading translates to on the SAT critical reading but i know the 30 doesn't much up with what i got on the critical reading when i took the SAT.</p>
<p>I never did any prep for the Reading and I honestly don't do anything special for it, to be honest. I just read a lot lol. Being a rigorous reader, I think, will be the best way to prepare.</p>
<p>Then again, I sucked majorly on this last ACT Reading and I'm seriously distraught =/ (Went from 2 consecutive 34s to a 32 x_x And yeah, I realize I'm coming off a bit pompous here, but if this is your BEST subject and this is all you have to show for it, you'd be kind of upset, too =/ My overall composite went down, too)</p>
<p>i jumped 7 points from april to sept (27-->34) i dont know how i did it...a lot of practice...at least 10 practice tests and 5 books. but now i can prove to everyone that I CAN READ!</p>
<p>I got 36 on my first reading ACT and a 35 on the second one. I didn't have any strategies. I read through all the paragraphs and finished with about 5 minutes to spare. I guess I just read fast.</p>
<p>I'm not sure if the reading passages are supposed to get harder but usually I don't read the passages a second time. I read it once and go straight to the questions. ACT reading is not like SAT. It asks simpler questions which are more direct and I remember them from reading even though it's very long. I usually read it once kinda carefully like 2 or 3 minutes then answer the questions. For all EXCEPT questions, I remember because there's only 4 choices which isn't a lot.</p>
<p>I got a 36 on ACT reading w/out practice but for SAT reading, I could never break 700. The two tests are just different. for the ACT I only read the passage once very carefully and just asnwer all the questions. i usually have 5-10 minutes to spare. hope this helps!!</p>
<p>Does the kaplan method work for you guys?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Read the passage taking notes as you go.</p></li>
<li><p>Examine the question stem, looking for clues.</p></li>
<li><p>Predict the answer and select the choice that matches your
prediction.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I'm taking the kaplan class and my scores are getting lower because of this method...should i scrap this method?</p>
<p>I g0t a 35. Their are all the skimming ideas 0ut there and I tried it f0r the first 5 minutes 0f the test, realizing that a few slip ups can 0ccur with this strategy. If y0u can read fast, read the wh0le thing, burn it int0 y0ur mem0ry and start the questi0ns glancing back at the general area where the answer sh0uld be. I think reading speed is the m0st imp0rtant thing in this area, and with faster reading speed the science bec0mes easier as it is esentially reading w/ graph interpretati0n.</p>
<p>I got a 36 on the reading section. While studying for the test, I found that simply underlining key words relating to events and tone/mood helped me do much better on the test.</p>
<p>Do people really have time to read all 4 passages and answer all 10 questions pertaining to each passage? I mean I really have trouble reading one passage and doing questions at 8 minutes and 45 seconds average. Like usually won't have time to read and answer the questions. But I also don't do well for the question first strategy. What should I do?</p>
<p>35 and 34 on my two tests so far...i really dont have any strategy, i just think its simple because the answers are right there, you dont have to even think really lol</p>
<p>Ironically, I haven't <em>read</em> anything posted so far so this technique may have already been stated. I also received a 36 on reading somehow.</p>
<p>Be sure you can read quite quickly. Believe it or not, I had to read two of the passages two to three times when I took the test because they were just so strange that it was difficult to comprehend them. The most important thing is to be able to understand what each paragraph has added to the overall story. For me, if I wasn't completely sure what I had just read about, it became pointless to even attempt to answer the questions.</p>
<p>Once you've read the passage and have thoroughly understood what is said, you should have an idea of where all of the "answers" are. From my experience, 99% of the answers were actually stated in the passage and not really a matter of opinion or even intelligent decision making...which is probably why I made a 36 only on reading. :D</p>
<p>but you have the time to read all four passages?</p>
<p>yep....</p>
<p>I dunno...it just works for me. I spend the actual majority of my time reading and thoroughly understanding the passage. Once I get to the question, I usually can spot the answer right away. Then, after selecting an answer, I find it in the passage (which is also quick since I am familiar with the paragraphs) to confirm that I'm correct. Worked for me!</p>
<p>that's what I do, but I usually can't watch the last passage in time. omg</p>
<p>what does watch the last passage in time mean?</p>
<p>I mean finish rofl. What should I do?</p>
<p>lol oh ok.</p>
<p>I dunno! Be sure to watch your time. I'd like to give advice on that but I always have about 5 minutes left over on Reading/English. Math and Science are usually the ones that I have to work at to finish in time. For those sections, I do the obvious thing and answer the ones that I know, mark the ones I don't know, and then come back and try to figure it out or just guess.</p>
<p>I also second the idea to read the passages, but do it quickly. This will help you get the overall message/tone, and you'll know where to look back to find answers and will probably already know many of them. So what if you don't get word-for-word? Better than having to scan the whole thing for just one question at the end of a passage when you already spent a bunch of time looking back for the answers to previous questions.</p>
<p>Bump for others taking tomorrow, like me ;)</p>