<p>How should I answer the questions? For example, should I read the passage before the questions or vice versa? Any help would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>For Reading, just read the passage, then answer the questions.
The one thing you shouldn’t do is go in the order of the passages. I tend to find the Natural Science passage easy(surprising as it is), so I complete it first to boost my confidence. Then I move backwards, completing the 3rd, 2nd, and the fiction(1st) passages for last. It’s all about which path you feel most comfortable.</p>
<p>Math and english are pretty straightforward - just go through them normally. </p>
<p>For science, I would suggest reading the questions and then looking for the answers. There is not enough time to analyze the data or read the passage and then answer the questions; you have to save as much time as you can. </p>
<p>For reading, I think it’s best if you skim through the passage fairly quickly, but make sure you understand the main idea. Then, you should have plenty of time to deal with the questions.</p>
<p>English - learn the most frequent things that are tested. There’s a few main ones: parallel sentence structure, semicolons/colons/commas, subject verb agreement… You can find these in almost any review book.</p>
<p>Math - learn the math. I don’t think there’s any way around this.</p>
<p>Reading - What I did was read the passage quickly, but after every paragraph, I would write a small 2-3 word summary next to each paragraph so 1) I could make sure I understood it and 2) It helps when you refer back to the passage. After reading and annotating, I would then read the questions and answer them.</p>
<p>Science - Go straight to the questions, and use the figures/tables/graphs to answer them. For the questions in which these are given, only 1 or 2 questions (if any at all) will have you refer the introductory stuff before all the diagrams. On the comparing viewpoints one; however, you have no choice but to read it, but don’t try to dissect it. Get each author’s main point and move on.</p>
<p>For reading, get through the passage as quickly as possible - the questions dictate. I got a 33 in reading by just going in the order of the passages (fiction first, science last) and going through the questions. You should be done reading the passage and moving on to the questions after about 2 mins 30 sec.</p>
<p>I don’t know if you want to be as strict with the actual reading of the passage as johnk2011 suggests, but make sure you do plan your time. You have 35 minutes for 4 passages and questions, which, if you divide, gives you about 8 minutes per passage + question set, and leaves 3 minutes at the end to check your answers. If you read the passage carefully (but of course, at a relatively fast pace), the answers shouldn’t be hard. Don’t restrict your time too much — you’ll feel pressured and make stupid mistakes or not read the passage as well as you should.</p>
<p>^ well put. But yeah, the order in which you do the passages is all a matter of personal preference.</p>
<p>I don’t see why the ACT makes time such a huge constraint. For me it is the hardest part about the test…and time does not necessarily test knowledge.</p>