<p>What is the best way to go at the ACT Reading section? Should you read each passage before answering questions? Skim through the passage, then answer questions? Or should you go directly to the questions and look through the passage to answer them? </p>
<p>I ask this because on the April ACT I read the passages first, but that made me run short on time, and I was rushed for the last 2 passages which is probably where I got the most questions wrong.</p>
<p>I think that that is what messes people up the most. The time limit. Some of the people at my school weren’t prepared for the small amounts of time, and I noticed that they didn’t finish many sections. I went directly to the questions first, then went back and skimmed the passage for key words that were in the question. Everyone has different styles and tactics, though. Get an ACT study guide from the bookstore or ask your counseler for a booklet and go home and find the way that is the easiest for you. I made a composite of 25 the first time. A 30 on the Reading. (16 on the Math :0) This time, after I hardcore devour practice books and problems, I plan on making a 29-31.</p>
<p>I think everyone has to find a strategy that works for them. Some people skim the passage and then go to answer the questions and refer back to the passage as needed, and some go directly to the questions and then go try to find the answers in the passage. I would take timed practice sections of the reading portion of the test and see what strategy works best for you.</p>
<p>For my daughter, she skims/reads the passage really quickly, like in under 3 minutes. Then she goes to the questions and refers back to the passage as needed. On her practice tests she would usually get around a 27. One time she tried to annotate the passage while reading it (like her ACT instructor from her prep class had told her to do), and she got a 23 on that reading section on that particular test. That definitely was not a strategy that worked for her; however, I am sure it works for others. Anyway, when she took the real ACT test both on April 14th and April 24th, she scored a 31 and a 33 respectively on the reading sections of those 2 tests. I just think practicing lots of reading sections from real released ACT tests helped her. I think it helped her in terms of the timing, format, and pacing of the test, as well as giving her a little bit of perspective in how to answer the questions.</p>
<p>I think you should try to do as many practice reading sections as you can, and then use the strategy that enables you to get the highest score. Good luck!</p>