<p>I can't stand the reading section! I have taken the ACT like four times and EVERYTIME I have received a 25 on reading. My last test I got a English 34, Math 31,Reading 25, Science 33. It is so frustrating because I feel like I am a good reader, so I must be going about the test the wrong way. Has anyone dramatically improved their reading score? This is my last shot at the test and I am looking to break the 30's in reading, but my 4 25's are making me lose hope. My strategy is to quickly read the passage (in about 2-4 minutes) and then use the rest of the 8 minutes to answer the questions. I am open to any strategy though since mine is obviously not working for me. Please help and thank you!</p>
<p>I know how you feel about this, on my actual ACT scores I kept scoring 27s while everything else was high.</p>
<p>I got some tips.
First i always worked on the last section first and worked backwards. The first one is fiction and tends to be harder. Next I answered all the questions that forced me to look at the passage (according to line 76, the word in like 73, the summary of paragraph 3 ). This allowed me to answer some questions AND get a feel of the passage without wasting time on reading itself. Next i answered the remaining questions of that passage by skimming through and finding the answer. MOST of the questions can be answered from direct statements in the passage itself. I did the same with every other passage. </p>
<p>It got me from a 27 to a 33.</p>
<p>best of luck</p>
<p>I was doing some practice tests and IMO, the reading section is a giant hunt. The best answers for the questions are supported by the questions. On one of the practice tests I got a 35. Why? I stopped analyzing everything and just started looking for substantiation.</p>
<p>I went from a 17 reading in April to a 32 reading in October.</p>
<p>How? I don’t really know. I just practiced. I quit trying to understand the passages and just read them fast. I always go to the last passage first (now) and do them backwards. I think October’s ACT Reading must have been too simple or something because I barely passed my states Standardized Reading Test.</p>
<p>Anyway, I would just suggest practicing the passages. I still can’t finish on time, but I come pretty close. Just keep taking the practice tests, the questions are not hard, the time limit is.</p>
<p>great advice from all! Thanks I really think this will help</p>
<p>I don’t really understand why, but I got a 35 on the reading portion in October and have scored 35s or 36s on it each time I practiced it. It’s not as if I have some secret skill that no one else has, because I really couldn’t explain to you how to score well… I guess, the best way to put it is that I looked at the reading test very similarly to the way I looked at the science test (which was always a part that I struggled with). It’s all about skimming but being able to absorb a large amount of temporary information and then spit it out in the form of questions. However, whereas some people look at the questions first and then read specific parts of the passage, I just skimmed the entire thing and then answered - I found it to be easier because I generally understood the passage’s ideas and I wasn’t struggling so much with the contextual ideas of each question. I also find that often, for some reason, my first instinct is NOT always correct (whereas in the English and Math portions, it usually is) and that I almost always benefited from putting a dot by answers I was uneasy about and thinking them over carefully with my leftover time at the end.</p>
<p>Hope it helps!</p>
<p>thanks everyone for your advice. i am also trying to get this section up to a 30 or higher.</p>
<p>Just as an experiment, take a practice reading section WITH a dictionary (you can give yourself a little extra time). If you do significantly better than usual, then your vocabulary is getting in the way of your reading. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>