<p>When taking the reading section of the ACT i ALWAYS run out of time with only 2-5 questions answered on the last passage and at least 5 left guessed. I have tried to skim the passage as well as not even look at the passage before jumping into the answers, but nothing seems to work. My first 3 passages i miss around 2-3 total. My last one drops my score from what should be 30-34 to 27-29 (depending on my luck). Are there any other strategies out there!? I just don't get it. I have taken around 8 practice reading tests and i haven't finished it once. I have the actual test this Saturday and this situation is really stressing me out. I believe it is the only thing keeping me from getting the score i want. </p>
<p>Note: I have read all of the other posts regarding this topic. I just want to test my luck and see if anyone special can respond with new insight that will be of any benefit of me.</p>
<p>Always read the whole reading passage or else you won’t be able to read in between the lines on the inference questions. </p>
<p>The best things is to read actively and at a good pace. Use your pencil to guide you so you don’t lose your place and also always try to be interested in what you read, picturing it in your head. </p>
<p>Think about it, if you read the whole thing you’ll waste less time trying to dig things up from the passage and waiting for the answer to just reveal itself to you. </p>
<p>I originally thought like you are, but my score is always from 30-35 since I’ve started doing this new routine.</p>
<p>Funny thing: i’ve been so caught up in these strategies that i’ve NEVER tried just normally reading it! I am going to take a practice test for reading right now. I will try your method of just reading the passage and following with my pencil to stay focused. I will get back to you in about 40 minutes with the result and verdict as to if it is more beneficial. Thanks for a possible obvious solution!</p>
<p>Just finished. Got a 28, missed 5 on the last passage, like always. UGH! Went into the last passage at 30:30. I only had 4:30 left to answer those 10 so i just didnt read the passage and answered the ones that referred to a line. I blind guessed 4 at the end.</p>
<p>Well it sounds to me like speed/comprehension is your problem; you probably need to read a little faster. Kaplan calls this reading actively. It’s simply reading at a steady pace, not reading for the details (as you can reference the passage for those later), but reading for the main point and having an idea of what’s going on in each paragraph so that you are easily able to answer all those inference questions.</p>
<p>You don’t want to read like you would a newspaper or book, because it doesn’t need to be at a leisurely but accelerated pace. Every pencil swipe should be approximately 2 seconds. On test day, another strategy may be to leave that science section till last which mostly references the passage anyway.</p>
<p>You don’t necessarily need more ACT Reading Practice Passages–practice reading anything you can get your hands on at an intensified pace.</p>
<p>edit: Oh yes and work from easiest to hardest in this method. In essence, least boring to most boring. lol</p>
<p>Yeah, i think i was definitely reading it like i would a book… eh maybe a bit faster than that. But i know i can go a bit quicker. I see what you are saying, thanks!</p>
<p>Huge update with GREAT news!
So, I took a reading test today. I started off the first passage like normal: i read it fast, and i took a super long time answering the questions (10+ minutes)… So, going into the next passage, after looking at the timer, i just said, “F*** IT, IM NOT EVEN READING THE PASSAGE!” I went on, did the ‘direct line’ questions and finished it in 5 minutes. I repeated the for the rest of the passages and finished in a little less that 30 minutes! I went on to check my scores, and, ironically, for the passage i actually read i missed a total of 3, while on the other 3, i missed a total of 2!!! The leisure of time that i felt enabled me to find the answer, conclude it was right, and move on. I ended up scoring a 30 because the curve on this one was surprisingly rough. Next practice test, i will just not read anything (fine by me, i hate these passages), and hopefully get an even higher score! Thanks guys, i finally found what works for me! :)</p>
I think i only have 2 left</p>