<p>i been studyin all day for act today...
by far, english and math i am very positive.</p>
<p>reading, science.. not yet...</p>
<p>i been doing a few practice tests on reading. I strongly believe the answer is right on the passage, but i always get killed by the time. I kinda read the passage, but i began to realize i still have to refer back to find the RIGHT answer(cause the answers i got from what i read were mostly wrong). I guess I would have to skim faster but i still need to understand what the passage is talking about and where the answers might be. It is really frustrating because if i check my answers that were wrong, all the right answers were RIGHT THERE in the passage but i couldnt get there because i didnt have much time to refer back... </p>
<p>so.. how long should it take to skim the passage?? (I still have to kinda understand it so it takes about 2-2:30 min, which leaves me 6 min to refer back to answer 10 questions but i dont know why i cant do it!!!) Please help me T.T</p>
<p>And about science...
Graphs and data stuffs seem easy, but experimental section(?) seems that it can get very hard... i havent worked on many of them yet...
So should i use barrons or the real acts' practice tests to prepare for science?? (barrons looked ridiculously hard though) oh i have princeton review too.</p>
<p>Thank you so much CCers! </p>
<p>*btw, i am a non-native english speaker... if there are non-native ppl like me who prepare for act, what strategy do you guys use for reading and science??</p>
<p>I'm always in the same dang situation... on practice tests I can get 36's on math and english, but I get 28's on reading and science. It's def because I have to rush through. :(:(:(</p>
<p>I can't help with the science -I really hate that section- but for the reading DO NOT READ THE PASSAGES! There is not enough time, and it really doesn't help. Look at the questions first and you will see different types of questions. Some refering to more general information in the passage, and others asking about a specific meaning of a word (in the context of the essay/ sentence/paragraph). Always do the most specific questions first. They will require you to read the passage, but IN BITS AND PIECES. Once you have done the specific questions you should have a couple general ones left. Now do those. Although you may have to refer back to the passage to check your answer, you should have a good idea of how to answer them. Also, process of elimination is really helpful. Some answers will be just plain wrong. </p>
<p>I cant really say much for science i got a 28 :( But for reading I got a 34. </p>
<p>Im not 100% sure if this is a fact but im pretty sure when reviewing for my ACT, I read somewhere that all the passages are chronolgically in relationship with the questions. So what I did was read first paragraph, answer as many questions as possible, read second paragraph etc. Make sure even if you dont finish guess blindly because you dont lose points.</p>
<p>I got a 36 on my reading recently, what i found out is that it really depends on how fast you can comprehend the passage. I was able to answer 90% of the questions without even reading the entire passage. If you can, i say you just keep practicing being able to read faster and comprehend faster.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that the science section is NOT about science -- it's about reading comprehension. Everything you need to know to answer the questions is in the reading passage/table/graph. Read the question stem and answer choices FIRST. Then go back and skim the reading passage/table/graph to determine the correct answers. Remember that the questions on the ACT are not that difficult -- it's the time pressure that will kill you. You have to work quickly.</p>
<p>I have a 34 for both my reading and science sections. for the reading sections i read every passage all of the way through as quickly as i can. I then tackle the questions in order. I know this does not work for everyone, but it is the only way I can do it. The science section is the exact opposite for me. I do not read any passages unless the question specifically calls for it. The best thing you can do is learn to read a graph is five seconds. you should be able to look at it and be able to write an entire paragraph about it. Other than that, it is all about being confident and stress free.</p>
<p>Today I just got my ACT scores back from September (I was a rescheduled test taker).
I got a 36 S and 33 R so I think I qualify :P</p>
<p>For Science:
-do not read the passages. they are pointless
-look at the question, find the answer in the graphs
-I didn't read the disputing scientists either, just go in and find the answer.
-this helps you finish the test.
-if you do this, you should have at least 5 minutes to look over your test.</p>
<p>For Reading:
-read through the passages
-make little summaries (very important!)
-after you read, try NOT to go back to the passage
-the questions are simple, and you should be able to answer them.
-something to remember: the answer is always in the passage, usually convoluted within the text. so if you can't find something that specificlly substantiate it, then you should eliminate it!
-this should leave you around 5 minutes to check your answers.
:]</p>
<p>I got a 35 reading and I would seriously recommend convincing yourself that whatever they give you is amazing, phenomenal reading material that will help you solve some important crisis you are in. By that I mean to work the passage. Read FAST, Underline anything that seems to mean something to you and star by the lines that contain very important points.
After every paragraph write a 2-5 word summary. I do it in abbrieviation, e.g., Para.1: Jordan makes a mistake.<br>
Para.2: He realizes he made a mistake.</p>
<p>Then tackle the questions. You should know most of the inferation ones, but the line reference ones, go back to the exact line and quickly skim 2 sentences above and below it. If you have trouble, bubble in your most logical guess, put a check mark on the question and move on.
If you have time, check your checked questions. The most important thing to do is guess. Unlike the SAT, there is no guessing penalty, so take full advantage of that. You have an hour for 4 passages, time each passage for about 15 minutes. No more than that or else you will definitely run out of time.</p>
<p>Hope that helps. And to anhtimmy, thanks for the science tips. I have to get working on the timing of that section.</p>
<p>The test-takers I know who score the highest read the whole passage in all sections. They read a lot on their own outside of class, and that probably boosts their reading speed.</p>
<p>Science, well, it was really a crap shoot, the first time I took the ACT, I got like a 25 on Science, then I got a 33 on Science the next time??? I have no idea what changed in my head. The first time I was panicked heavily, and stressed out. I did some reading out of the official test book, and I guess it relieved some of the tension. Also, I think I got lucky on some of the questions. They were Chemistry questions about how freezing temp changes with addition of salt. I didn't even have the read the things to know the answer.</p>
<p>Read the questions first, and then look for the answers. Unless you have some photographic memory, you're going to end up glancing from question to material dozens of times anyways.</p>
<p>I have a 32 in reading, and I srongly suggest reading the passages. I usually read the questions first though, and while reading I underline things that relate to the questions. </p>
<p>As for science, I had a 24 when I never read anything and just used the graphs.
The last time I took it, I read or skimmed all the readings and got a 30. I know it's not a 32 plus, but it definitely improved.</p>
<p>I got a 34 on the reading both times I took it and a 32 on the science both times. For the reading, what people have been saying above is good advice. Skim the passages then go look at the questions and then refer back to the passage to answer them. For the science honestly I can't really tell you how I did so well. I just tried to work as quickly as possible and I have NEVER finished that section. For literally the entire last page (like 7 questions or so) I just randomly guessed but clearly you don't have to finish to do pretty well! I would say to just make sure you leave nothing blank and just try to process the information in a calm and efficient manner. Don't worry about finishing or else you won't be able to focus on getting the questions you can actually finish correct!</p>
<p>hawaiiboy15
princeton review-AKA PR (this is very good)
kaplan (purple colored book I believe and good for reading practice)
barrons...if you want to frustrate yourself</p>
<p>ACT for dummies if you just wanna have 2 extra practices, but I found it to be a bit unreliable because of the mistakes (so if you use it you have to be really sure of yourself =P)</p>
<p>never used, but heard mcgraw hill is really easy...so maybe not a good idea even if it does have 10 tests or so in it</p>