For anyone who got a 35 or 36 on it, do you read the entire passage?
Lol I’m a sophomore and I just got a 34 on a practice test if it helps. Try to skim it if you can since time is very limited… After getting a broad overview, I then go to the questions and look back when needed. That’s just what I do but if it doesn’t help go online!
Good luck!
I got a 36 this december. For ACT English, you should read as you answer the questions. It is a waste of time to read the entire passage first before looking at the questions. Look at the 1st question, read the section that the question is asking about, then answer. Look at the 2nd question, read the section that the question is asking about, then answer. Repeat. For the questions that ask about putting sentences in different places/ require you to understand what the passage is about, by doing what I said you should gain some understanding of the passage naturally.
Short version: Read and answer at the same time. Broad overviews are a waste of time.
I got a 36 on ACT English and I don’t read the passage. I stand by @theofrelord in that you should read as you answer, and skip long paragraphs if there are no questions corresponding to them. However, I have never had issues with time constraints on the ACT English section, so it might not hurt to read the passage beforehand. 75 questions in 45 minutes really isn’t that fast-paced for the type of question they ask.
35 ACT English scorer here.
I strongly urge you to read the passages while you answer the questions. Even when there is not a question in a particular paragraph, there’s usually a question about organization/purpose that may need that information. You can probably get by with only reading where the questions are, but I find that reading everything helps significantly with the rhetorical questions.
Time is rarely an issue on this section. Even with my strategy, you still should have at least 5 minutes to look over your work and return to the trickier problems.