How do you approach the reading section?

[dtpride29]

<p>I find the math and science section really easy.</p>

<p>English section is okay but i am having a real hard time in the reading section.</p>

<p>Can you guys tell me the "secret" to the reading section?</p>

<p>Could you guys tell me how to approach each subsections in the reading portion?</p>

<p>ex) prose fiction should be approached in blah blah blah way.
humanity should be approached in blah blah blah way.</p>

<pre><code> and so on.
</code></pre>

<p>Please help me out...</p>

[beignet]

<p>personally, i dont have a separate strategy for each section. i got a 36 on reading by not reading the passages. I went directly to the questions (starting with the ones that directed the tester to specific parts of the passage, and reading the text around each section, a paragraph or so) and answered them. by doing these specific questions first, one could move on to the large questions. i would recommend reading the first sentence/paragraph and last sentence/paragraph first though. with this strategy, i could answer all the questions in the given time (you waste a lot of time reading things you dont need to know otherwise), and wasnt mislead by some of the options among the answers to the questions (the ACT does try to mislead the test taker by inserting answers that may sound right just because you read them within the passage, not because theyre the right answer)</p>

<p>hopes this helps</p>

[Marlow]

<p>This is what I did for a 36 Reading:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Skim the passage extremely quickly, just enough so you can remember what general information is in each paragraph.</p></li>
<li><p>Go to the questions. Make sure you answer the questions with specific answers pertaining to the passage first! Save the “What is the main idea of this passage?” questions for the end.</p></li>
<li><p>Always check back to the passage for info. Even if you’re 99.9% sure on an answer, it can’t hurt to check. You should have read the passage rapidly enough to allow yourself time for checking.</p></li>
<li><p>Read like your passage is the most interesting thing in the world. Don’t let your mind wander! Read actively so that you don’t have to spend 2 minutes checking.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>As far as each section:</p>

<p>Prose Fiction
Pay attention to character development and relationships. Keep in who narrator is and what its tone is.</p>

<p>Social Science
Lots of dates here. I always underline any dates and names I come across in this section. There’s a lot of political analyzation, so pay attention to tone again. This passage always has strong controversial viewpoints, so identify those.</p>

<p>Humanities
Very similar to Social Science, but more concentrated on the artistic or literary value of the passage. Be sensitive to any bias the author might have.</p>

<p>Natural Science
REALLY heavy on fact finding in this section. Pay attention to cause-effect relationships too; basically, imagine it like the Science Reasoning test, only easier.</p>

[M.Rom]

<p>I second the tip about double-checking that your answers correspond specifically with the provided text. Often the answer choices are general life lessons or common truths that relate to the topic but are not addressed specifically in the passage.</p>

<p>In a pinch, if you’re vacillating between two answers, follow your gut instinct. Usually the first answer you choose, provided that the information is supported by the text, is the right one. Try not to think too hard.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

[killersdeat0]

<p>^ Some who are fast readers could check all the answers, however, i don’t think anyone who takes the ACT will be checking all of the answers… The ACT reading section isn’t hard, basically anyone can get a 36 if there is no time limit… I think if you are pretty sure that is the answer, go w/ instinct. If you don’t really know, then check the answers.</p>

[Rocket_Surgery]

<p>I’m going to have to disagree with some of the advice given here. Allow me to quote myself (from another thread):</p>

<p>

@Rocket Surgery

I think that the best strategy is to read each passage in its entirety before looking at the questions. Don’t bother underlining stuff or making little stars or anything like that. If you read the questions first, or spend your time trying to underline what you think is important, it distracts you. You need to just focus and read attentively. Almost every question which refers to a specific detail gives a line number or a range of lines anyway, so you’re just wasting your time by trying to figure out what to underline.</p>

<p>I’ve found that it helps to use a finger or a pencil to keep track of where your eyes are focused, for two reasons: this makes it less likely that you will stop and re-read something, and you can also slightly increase your reading speed by moving your finger (or the pencil) a bit faster than you would normally read (but not too fast!).</p>

<p>The most important thing is to visualize what you’re reading and figure out why it’s interesting. If you’re not interested in what you’re reading, try to figure out how it might be useful or surprising. If it’s really none of those things, tell yourself that you find it interesting and pretend to be engrossed.</p>

<p>Don’t look at the time while working on a passage’s questions. After each passage, look at your watch. You’re aiming for under 9 minutes per passage. If you’ve used up too much time, don’t freak out, but try to up the pace a little bit. Track a little faster with your finger or your pencil. But whatever you do, do not, under any circumstance, continue reading if you’ve just read a sentence or paragraph that you don’t immediately comprehend. This is a huge mistake, because your lack of comprehension can only grow as new themes or ideas are introduced which depend on the part that you skimmed through without really understanding. It’s much better to stop, take a breath, stop tracking, and read the sentence or paragraph slowly, trying to really understand it.</p>

<p>If you come to a question that you’re not sure of, use the process of elimination to get rid of any obviously incorrect answers, and cross out the letters corresponding to these choices. This will be important later. Pick what seems to be the most plausible of the remaining answers, and move on. When you’ve answered all of the questions for a passage, look at your watch–if you’ve used fewer than nine minutes, go back to the questions you guessed on and work on them. If you’ve used more than nine minutes, go on to the next passage. Once you’re done with all the passages, use your remaining time (if you have any) to go back and work on the questions that you guessed on and were unable to work on before. This is why it’s important to strike out the obviously incorrect answers: so you don’t have to bother reading them later when you go back to check your answers.</p>

<p>Do the passages in order if possible. If you begin a passage and immediately become lost, try slowing down to get your bearings. If you just can’t, and you know that the passage is going to be very difficult for you, do another passage instead and save the offending passage for last. Each question is worth the same amount, so if you wind up guessing on a bunch of questions due to time pressure it makes a whole lot of sense to guess on questions which you had a good chance of missing anyway.</p>

<p>Cliff notes:</p>

<ul>
<li>don’t read the questions first</li>
<li>don’t try to figure out what’s important enough to underline</li>
<li>track with your finger or a pencil</li>
<li>don’t look at the time until after you’re done with a passage’s questions</li>
<li>look at the time between passages–aim for under 9 minutes per passage</li>
</ul>

<p>The following two items are by far the most important:</p>

<ul>
<li>visualize what you’re reading and figure out why it’s interesting</li>
<li><p>never just continue reading after failing to comprehend part of a passage</p></li>
<li><p>if you are unsure of an answer, eliminate poor choices and cross out their letters</p></li>
<li><p>if you are sure that a passage is going to be a problem, save it for last

</p></li>
</ul>

<p>The reading section is not like the science section; you can’t just read a question and pick out the answer and be certain that it’s right. Doing this in the reading section is a great way to fall for tricky, second-best answers.</p>

[Sam_I_Am]

<p>I approach it the same way as Rocket Surgery does. Its a really good method. I also allot myself about 9 min for each passage plus questions, but when I put myself under that time constraint I go even faster and still have like 5-10 min to check at the end I would highly recommend this strategy.</p>

[Rocket_Surgery]

<p>I think that my method is probably the method that people who naturally have good reading comprehension are going to approach the test. The other strategies seem unnatural and contrived.</p>

<p>It might be a good idea to allot, say, 7 or 8 minutes per section instead of < 9, but I would prefer to err on the side of better comprehension. I usually end up circling two or three questions that I’m not sure about, having maybe two minutes to go check them, and deciding that my guess was right anyway. (And I got three 36s on my practice tests plus a 36 the last time I took the ACT for real.)</p>

[Sam_I_Am]

<p>Wow, Rocket Surgery, you’re good!! But yeah, my reading comp is pretty good as it is and generally I don’t get stuck with two choices in a toss up.</p>

[Rocket_Surgery]

<p>I usually get stuck with two plausible answers, believe it or not. I just happen to pick the right one. (Not luck, though.) I think it’s because I tend to see the answers as slightly subjective and a part of my brain is always saying, “This other answer is technically plausible too!”</p>

[Hackysack]

<p>I got a 36 in reading and I follow the same process as Marlow pretty much. Skim, look for specific questions, then handle the “bigger picture” questions.</p>

<p>I think the whole “pretend you’re interested” part is silly though.</p>

[maatthheew]

<p>I speed read the passage to draw the main idea, then the questions let me reference the passage for further details.</p>

<p>I recommend reading Time magazine, it helps A LOT.
I used to be abysmal on any reading-based test but just about 2-3 weeks of reading the articles in Time has helped me a lot.</p>