<p>I took the PSAT (pre-SAT) and the PLAN (basically pre-ACT) test last (sophomore) year. I slammed the PSAT but only did okay on the PLAN because I read too slowly (and wasn't able to get through all the problems).<br>
I know this is going to hurt me on the upcoming ACT, so I'm looking for recommendations on how to improve my reading (reading more is not the answer as I'm an avid reader--just slow).
Has anyone done and online or a book that helped? Do speed reading courses work and has anyone used one? Are there tricks to reading the test questions more quickly with understanding? Thanks!</p>
<p>Um, reading more definitely helps. I was able to improve my ACT score significantly after going through 10th grade. I just compared what I remembered about a book that I read to the summary by sparknotes to see how much I could correctly remember. And I used it as a guideline to get the “gist” of each chapter.</p>
<p>When I took the ACT, I didn’t try memorizing what I read, but more of a idea where everything was. Like a basic idea of each paragraph. So when I read a question, I could quickly refer to the passage and find exactly what I needed: I didn’t have to skim the whole passage, which would be literally impossible.</p>
<p>The answer is often stated in the passage, so always refer back to it unless you’re 100% sure on something.</p>