<p>Alright, thanks! I just ordered it and a few others</p>
<p>@SpitPhire Just curious, but what other books did you order?</p>
<p>Cracking the ACT, 2012 Edition
1,296 ACT Practice Questions, 2nd Edition
McGraw-Hill’s Top 50 Skills for a Top Score</p>
<p>-6/30/2012-</p>
<p>Dear Diary, </p>
<p>Today has been really productive. This morning I started using the Barrons ACT 36. At first I was not sure how beneficial this book was going to be. It actually turned out to be very useful. It has clarified many doubts and confusion on some of the grammar rules. Overall today I have finished chapter 2 of this book, and before I got to bed I am going to review and reinforce what I have learned.</p>
<p>I can’t be much of a help when it comes to ACT but I’d like to say that this is very inspiring. Keep up the hard work. Very, very people - including myself - have your outstanding motivation and work ethic. Keep fighting for your goal.</p>
<p>My goal was a 2400 SAT - I ended up hitting 2370. I couldn’t help but wish I did a little bit better on the math, but I realized that the score didn’t matter to me after putting in my work. A quote that really hit me well was “You are entitled to your actions, but not to the fruit. Don’t act for the fruit of the action, but for the action itself.”</p>
<p>Remember that regardless of your score, the actions that you’ve taken in studying are far more impressive than a 36. Your future will be affected by your ACT score - and yes, your ACT score is very important. But there is nothing you or anybody can do that would impress me more than your work ethic! Regardless of your score, and regardless of what people (including your parents) tell you, you WILL do great things with your life. The sky is the limit for someone like you who puts in 110% of your effort into your endeavors. Your ACT score will not dictate your life, your actions will, and your actions have rocketed past the actions of most people your age. Keep it up and give yourself a pat on the back for the work you’ve put in!</p>
<p>^this 10char</p>
<p>Guys I am a little confused about double dashes. </p>
<p>For example: Bob wants to go to the parkhis mother won’t let himfor his friend’s birthday. (In this case the stuff inside the M brackets are nonessential). </p>
<p>My question is do M dashes () work the same as commas? Does the ACT test you on single M dashes? If so what is an example of it?</p>
<p>Em dashes act as asides. The four ways to create an aside are em dashes, parentheses, brackets, and commas. I haven’t seen a question that dealt specifically with em dashes, but I have seen questions where you just really have to know that an em dash is a type of aside.</p>
<p>@JacksonHolbert</p>
<p>Thanks but what exactly do you mean by an aside? So how does this function differently than a comma? Can you give an example?</p>
<p>Bob wants to go to the park—his mother won’t let him—for his friend’s birthday.</p>
<p>Bob wants to go to the park,his mother won’t let him,for his friend’s birthday.</p>
<p>They both seem to function the same.</p>
<p>First of all ACT does not test parenthesis. But dashes can be used in the same sense as commas like in your example. Just like commas, whatever is on the inside is nonessential when using dashes. The other thing is ACT usually does not test one dash by itself but if they do then you just need to pick the answer that has the other dash</p>
<p>Thanks guys!</p>
<p>There was this question where it used M dashes over the comma. I was wondering if someone could explain it to me. That would be great.</p>
<p>Because of the unbelievable heat today—it is 110 degrees—I need to find some shade.</p>
<p>A.) NO CHANGE (Right Answer)
B.) today, it is 110 degrees, I (Why couldn’t this be the right answer?)
C.) today; it is 110 degrees, I (I know this is wrong)
D.) today: it is 110 degrees, I (I know this is wrong)</p>
<p>I think that in this case, the M dashes are used to include information that is not completely necessary. Mentioning that it was 110 degrees was another way of stating that it was hot.</p>
<p>-7/1/2012-</p>
<p>Dear Diary, </p>
<p>Today I have finally mastered the usage of commas, semicolons, and apostrophes. I feel like Barron’s ACT 36 has really helped me out. Tomorrow, I am going to go on to chapter 3. Well that’s really all I have to say!</p>
<p>Can someone please explani to me the reason behind the tense shift in this sentence.</p>
<p>Incorrect:
Mirth (has dressed) up like a ballerina every year since the third grade, and every year her friends (laughed at her).</p>
<p>Correct:
Mirth (has dressed) up like a ballerina every year since the third grade, and every year her friends (have laughed).</p>
<p>I thought the “laughed at her part” was right, why is it wrong. Thanks to who ever answers this!</p>
<p>I believe it has to do with the fact that “have laughed” is the past imperfect tense while while “laughed,” alone, is the past preterit tense. </p>
<p>I know this because of Spanish. In Spanish, the verbs are more diverse than they are in the English language. In English, we have helping verbs, like “be, do, and have” (Spanish doesn’t) I have no way to explain this using English because if English is your first language, chances are you do not know all your verb tenses (not that you really need to know them for the ACT)</p>
<p>Just think of it as parallelism:</p>
<p>Has laughed = have laughed
(helping verb in past tense)(verb in past tense) = (helping verb in past tense)(verb in past tense)</p>
<p>-7/2/2012-</p>
<p>Dear Diary, </p>
<p>Today has been very productive, I have gone through two chapters already from the Barrons 36! What’s even better is that I actually am learning things I did not know! This book has really clarified things which were unclear to me once. Excited for tomorrow!</p>
<p>Just curious has anyone used the Sparknotes ACT Math and Science prep? Any good results?</p>
<p>Guys I need clarification on two things:</p>
<p>1.) When do you use that and when do you use which?</p>
<p>2.) When do you use who and when do use whom?</p>
<p>What do you guys think the of the Barrons 36 ACT English practice test? I know it’s not the Red Book one but how does it compare?</p>
<p>I am almost finished with the Barron’s ACT 36 and so far, I have thought it was fantastic. I’m currently near the end of the science section in the book. Barron’s ACT 36 and the Red Book are completely different. The Red Book is purely for practice tests while Barron’s is for strategy. Get both, not one or the other.</p>
<p>The when/which and who/whom comparisons are in the Barron’s book I believe.</p>