How to Get a 36 on the ACT Reading Section

At least the ACT only has 5 answer choices. Source: 

If you're planning on taking the ACT, you might be wondering how to get that elusive 36 on the reading section. It's tough, but if you find a strategy, pace yourself, and practice with official ACT reading tests, you'll rock it on test day! 

When it comes to the reading section, there's no one-size-fits-all strategy. When you practice, experiment with a few different methods 🧪 Here are 4 different strategies you can try out:

You can also mix and match to find the strategy that works best for you. Test out each one on a practice test and see which you feel the most comfortable with!

On the ACT reading section, you have 35 minutes to answer 40 questions. Considering that you also have to read the passage before you start answering questions, this section can be tough to finish in time! It's important to look at the clock and make sure you're answering questions at a good pace 🏃

There are 4 passages with 10 questions each, and the passages are around 750 words long. As a general rule, you should strive for 2-3 minutes reading the passage and 5-6 minutes answering questions. If you're struggling with a passage, move on and come back to it at the end. Try to spend no more than 9 minutes per passage. 

Depending on what strategy you're using, these numbers could vary. If you're annotating, you might spend longer reading, but you'll have more time to answer the questions. If you're skimming, you'll spend less time reading, but you'll have to spend more time hunting for answers. Find a reading/answering combo that works for you and stick to it!

you get a question wrong. Even if you think the correct answer is obvious in hindsight, make sure you know how to explain it to yourself in order to avoid that mistake in the future. 🔮

There are two things you should think about when identifying your weaknesses: the 

 on the test: prose fiction, social science, humanities, and natural science. When you practice, you might notice that you struggle with one section more than others. If so, spend more time practicing that specific type of passage.

don't fit into the same rigid categories, but you might find trends in the questions you're missing. Are you struggling with understanding the main idea? Making inferences? Whatever it is, try to practice these skills over the skills you're familiar with. 📚

As always, the best way to get a good score on a test is to practice! If you're taking a full-length practice test, try to mimic the test setting as much as possible. Do it in the morning, sit at an empty table, and minimize distractions.

Here's a list of free places to practice:

These are just some general tips and tricks, but there's still a lot more to cover. For more specific info on the ACT reading section, make sure to check out our study guide [TK]. And before you go, remember one last thing: don't stress too much—you'll do great 🎉

When you sit down to take the ACT exam, you will have 4-5 sections on the test, depending on whether you choose to take the essay section! 📃The sections are:

The ACT starts with the jam-packed English section. Don't worry! In this guide, you'll be prepared to conquer this section.

🔢 Logistics and Content of This Section

In this section, you answer 75 multiple-choice questions in 45 minutes. This section covers 5 passages that have a variety of rhetorical situations. The ACT breaks this section down into 3 categories:

You can use these simple tips on any passage you come across:

: There are 75 questions in this entire section. Becoming overwhelmed is normal. Therefore, it's crucial for you to take it line by line.

: Jot down notes in the margin, underline key terms and phrases, circle repetition, and put a question mark at confusing places. 

: You have 45 minutes to do 75 questions. That  is about 2 questions per minute.

: DO NOT leave any question unanswered. You do not get penalized for answering incorrectly. Keep moving along and don't spend too much time on one question.

: Struggling is normal during this section. When you do, do not continue reading. Stop yourself and breathe. 

: Mark questions where you need to re-read or come back to. 


Passages will be on one side while the questions will be on the other. Image from the 

Even though there are three categories for this section, they are extremely vague and don't provide concrete descriptions for the questions you can expect. However, there are two general types of questions in the English section:

Under this umbrella, 3 content types are tested: 

These questions constitute about 7-11 questions in the entire section. 

Separating transitional phrases from the rest of the sentence

Separating appositives and participal phrases

Commas act as pauses, notifying the reader to separate words, phrases, and ideas. However, if you use a comma to connect two independent clauses, you have just created a 

 replace any end of sentence punctuation or a semicolon.

This image includes a question about commas and within sentence punctuation. Image from the 

—That comma is signaling an appositive, which adds non-essential information to the passage. If anything would be changed, there would be an extra comma after "talkers," disrupting the flow of the passage and eliminating Choices G, H, & J.

—Here, there is a misunderstanding between a participle phrase and an appositive. The extra comma after "information" may signal an appositive; however, the purpose of the underlined portion is to signal a participial phrase. As a result, we need to remove the additional comma, eliminating Choices A, B, & D.



 have three uses: to form possessive nouns, to create contractions, and to indicate plurals of letters, numbers, and symbols.


—Earlier in the paragraph, we saw that there was a "bleacher section full of parents," signaling more than one adult. The underlined portion is referencing all of the adults' behavior. Therefore, the correct answer is Choice G. 

Punctuation questions are fast to answer correctly and incorrectly. Keep these things in mind the next time you face one:

: Each punctuation mark has a different function. It's imperative for you to recognize what is in question. 

: You are not a test taker; you're an editor. You must think of different ways to revise and edit one question. Which one would be the most elegant? 

By keeping these things in mind, you'll be able to tackle any punctuation question that comes your way. 

These questions constitute about 11-15 questions in the entire section. 

Questions involving pronouns tend to focus on the relationship of the pronoun and what it is taking the place of. If you can explicitly tell the antecedent of a pronoun, then use the pronoun. Otherwise, use the noun instead of the pronoun. 

This image includes a question about pronoun agreement. Image from the 

—If you only read up to the underlined portion, then you might believe that Choice H is correct. However, if you keep reading, it says "what they're," signaling that a plural noun is being replaced. However, it's unclear what that plural noun is. Therefore, Choice G is the only correct answer.

***SOS, the contractions picture WILL NOT upload, idk what is happening***

 describe nouns and pronouns. They typically answer questions such as "what" and "what kind?"

 describe adjectives, verbs, and even other adverbs. They typically answer questions such as "how" and "how much?"

 are used to compare one thing to another. 

Usually the word is followed by "than." One-syllable words have "-er" added to the end. 

ultimate guide to the act: grammar section

When you sit down to take the ACT exam 📚, you will have 4-5 sections on the test 👓 , depending on whether you choose to take the essay section! 

After the English 🤓 section of the test, you'll dive right in to the Math 🧮 section of the ACT! In this study guide, you will learn to MASTER 🤴🏼 the Math section and be on your way to an amazing score!

The Math section is the 2nd section of the ACT standardized test. You will answer 60 questions to answer in 60 minutes ⏰. 

This comes out to be 60 seconds 🕰  or 1 minute per question. It's safe to say that this section will be fast-paced 🏃‍♀️.

Since you're going to be taking the entirety of the ACT exam 📚, we thought it would be beneficial to go over some overall tips and advice for the exam. These tools 🛠 and strategies 👨‍🔬  have worked in the past and have been promoted by many teachers 👩‍🏫. Make sure you pay close attention to common mistakes ⚠️ student make and how you can use these strategies to get the score you want.

The ACT is written in a way that gives you barely enough time to finish every single question if you work with maximum efficiency and minimum distractions 🥵 . Many students say that the hardest aspect of ACT is how fast-paced the exam is. Many students struggle to finish the STEM sections of the ACT, particularly 🧮. So before you even take the test, be in the mindset that you cannot afford to zone out, even for a few minutes. 

There are many exercises like meditation 🧘‍♀️ , slow breathing and simply closing your eyes 👀  that can calm your nerves and help you get in the zone for the exam.

The best way to overcome the timing hurdle is to practice planning and pacing. Practice and plan 🤔 how much time you are going to take on the first half and the second half beforehand (you can divide it up any way you please) 🧠. 

Pacing is the most effective tool 🏃‍♀️ . After every 10 questions or so look up at the clock and see how you are doing time-wise ⏰. If you are going too slow, then pick up speed. If you are doing well on time, continue on with the same momentum. This strategy allows for adjustment 😃 so that you can make quick changes to your approach and attempt all questions, and maximize your score.

This strategy is relatively obvious: you need to work on your skills that need developing more often than ones you are already good at 💕. ACT covers a much bigger umbrella ☂ of math topics compared to SAT and many other standardized test exams. You need to know all math through and including trigonometry and pre-calculus, along with some basic understanding of statistics 🤯. 

Many students find trigonometry tough because they have not worked with it for a long time 😆. So make sure you review some basic trigonometry quantities and identities before the test. Many students also find the geometry section a bit tough because they haven’t worked with geometry for some time 🧠. If there is a chance your geometry skills might be a bit rusty, make sure you take some time to polish them up. 


💡To understand what you need to review, do a practice or diagnostic test, or look through the problems in this guide. Prioritize your review based on what you need help with the most so that you are not wasting time learning things you are already good at 🤔. If you get in a habit of practicing problems, finding your weakness, learning content, and repeating... nothing can stop you from your dream score. 😊 



This sounds so obvious, right? 😁 Why would I read a question incorrectly? Duh! 😄  This strategy does seem obvious. But you’d be surprised to know that when students get back their exams 📖  and they look over what they missed, they realize that they could’ve gotten many more questions right if they had read the question carefully 🔍 . It is natural to skim and look over important details that might be extremely helpful to answer the question. On the English 🤓 section, make sure to look out for words like not, worst, best, etc. For the Math section, 🧮 make sure you answer what the question asks for. Many times students solve for X, but the question wants to know Y, and the students get that question wrong because they did not read it carefully. 
💡So make sure you read 📚 what the question says because the question is the lock 🔒 and the correct answer is the key 🔑 , but you’d have a hard time finding the perfect key if you don't know much about the lock.

Let's get more specific and talk about the math section 🧮 . The tips and strategies discussed above can be applied to any section, including math. However, there are some extra strategies that can help you increase your math score 📈 even further. These strategies are tried and tested for overall test-taking and are especially helpful for the ACT Math section. So let's get started 💃!!

Imagine if you could eliminate possible answers without even solving the problem at all. If you're lucky, you can even find the answer before solving the problem. The close enough strategy is eliminating answers by looking at the problem and asking what type of solutions are the possible. Remembering that the absolute value or a square root of a number is always non-negative can be helpful. 

This strategy is all about logic and reason 🧠. Sometimes you don’t even need to solve the entire question to answer it. The close enough strategy can be a huge time saver and useful to do some challenging problems💡. Some problems cannot have a negative answer, some problems can't have a small answer and some problems can't have a huge answer. This strategy is not perfect, but neither is life or the ACT 😊 . This tool 🧰 can save your score when you get a tough question. The ACT covers such a broad spectrum of topics that you're bound to get a few curveballs ⚽️ . Whenever you get a problem that seems too hard, look at the answer choices and see if they give you a hint. 


💡Sometimes just plugging in random numbers and making up variables can really help give you a feel for what the answer should be. Then, the process of elimination can help you find the correct answer ✅.




All problems in this guide are borrowed from 

Try answering working this question on your own. Check here for answer 💕 


D. You can eliminate ❌A and B because we are taking the absolute value of the final number, 🔢which can never be negative. This automatically gives you a 50% chance at the right answer! Solving the inside we get 44﻿ and 66﻿. The absolute value of 4-64−6﻿ is 22﻿. 💯

This strategy is also told to students all the time 👩‍🎓. However, many students just don't follow it. For some reason, students tend to love 💕  answering questions in the order they are in and forget that they have the option of skipping hard questions.
💡 The key 🔑 to standardized exams is to gain as many points 💰 as you can on the questions you know or the questions you can handle without wasting too much time 🕰  and energy 🔋 on questions that are too challenging. 

One trick 🎩 some students use is to circle tougher questions when they skip them or guess on them so that they know to come back and visit them later. Not wasting all your time ⏰  on some insanely tough problem or on a question with a lot of repetitive arithmetic will allow you to save time and energy ✨ that you can spend on doing questions you feel better about. That being said, leave no questions blanks. 

On the ACT, you are not penalized for a wrong answer. So take your best educated guess 🤔, and if you have no clue just bubble in your letter of choice for the day.

Try answering working this question on your own. Check here for the answer! 💕


G. All you 🧒 have to do in this problem is plug it in 1/2 in for X and solve the expression. You end up getting 4-3 divided by 1/2 which comes out to 2. This is a relatively simple problems so when you're in rush 🏃 try to look for problems like this 😃 . 

On the ACT you are allowed to use a calculator for the entire math section. Unlike other exams, where calculator use is either banned or only permitted partially, you can use a four-function, a scientific or a graphing calculator for the entirety of the exam✅. A graphing calculator is ideal because you might be dealing with some tricky questions regarding trigonometry or precalculus, and your calculator might be able to help you out 🥵 . However, a scientific calculator is just fine for most of the problems. 

With that being said, you need to be extremely strategic with your calculator use. Many students don't prepare enough because they think they can rely on a calculator, but, keep in mind a calculator is a tool, not a magic wand. You still have around 1 minute to answer each question 🏃‍♀️. You will not have time to do each question by hand and check it with the calculator. Use your calculator as a strong and helpful tool. 
💡Questions that seem complex but can be made easier by graphing are perfect for a calculator 🧮. When trying to do several arithmetic steps at once, your calculator can save your life!



E. The formula 🧮  to find periods for sin, cos, sec and csc is $2 \pi /b$. For tan and cot it is $\pi/b$. $b$ is the coefficient in front of the $x$ in the parenthesis. So in this case $b = 4$. Our period is $2\pi/4$ which simplifies to $\pi/2$ 🤯.

Let's say you were to forget how to do that. You could simply plug this equation into a graphing calculator and see how wide a full wave is. 🖥

The ACT writers are testing you on your skills as well as the math content 🤓. Each question tests some aspect of your math ability 💯. Some questions target problem solving, while others want to test your ability to understand concepts. Below, we break down each skill anticipated to be tested on the exam 😃. 

You may notice that the percentages add up to more than 100%. That's not a mistake: the ACT has several questions that test more than one skill at once. Don't worry, this guide will prepare you for the exam and polish the skills you need to ace the ACT 💗.

1. Preparing for Higher Math (~60%)  👨‍🔬 

This section 📚 is related to the recent math you've learned 🧠. Algebra and solving and manipulating equations are at the heart of this skill. You'll be working with all types of functions, equations and expressions to solve problems ❓. This skill is divided into 5 basic topics: algebra, function, geometry, number and quantity, and statistics and probability. We will learn more about each of these 5 topics within this skill in much more detail later‼️


B. This problem might make you reminiscent of the exponents and log units 🥵. But it's not that complicated 😇. Since the bases are the same, for the equation to be true, 2x+7=15. Simplifying that equation gives us x=4 💃. 



This section is kind of a mixed bag of math skills 💼. You can expect to see anything from proportions 🍕 and percentages 🥧  to volume 📦  and surface area 🌍. A lot of the topics tested under this skill are those you've been learning since middle school. These are your fundamentals: the basics ✅. 

This skill doesn't test what you've learned in the last couple of months but rather the skill set you've built in your math career. Keep in mind 🧠 that just because this skill is meant to test the basics, the questions tested 📖 won't always be a walk in the park 🌳. You'll often be asked to apply topics to a complex situation or a problem and perform multiple steps and parts.


C. 8% of 60 is 4.8. To find what number 4.8 is 1/5 of, we multiply 4.8*5 to get 24. Problems like these may test more basic content, but notice how there are many things going on at once 😴. The best way to approach them is to break them down and peel one layer of the onion at a time 🧅.



This is a skill in its purest form 😇 . There isn't any particular content associated with modeling but you can be asked to model any situation 🤓 . These are some of the tougher real life 🌍 word problems. The best way to attack ✨ these problems is to break them down. You need to read each sentence and try to convert the English to math. You need to ask yourself if the sentence adds new information and what the point of the new information might be🕵️‍♀️ . 

Commonly, modeling is tested in conjunction with setting up equations. You could be asked to model anything from the price of X pizzas 🍕 to the population of Wakanda after T years. This is the section where you get to show off how you can apply your skills to solve even the toughest of real-life problems.

H. We set up two equations here. One for the cost of ABC Book Club 📖 and one for the cost of Easy Book Club 📚 .

If we want both costs to be the same (charges for both clubs to equal) we need to set both equations equal 😊 to each other and solve for x. Doing so gives us x=5.

Ultimate Guide to the ACT: Math Section

Welcome to the ACT reading guide! We'll break down the question types and give you some strategies to make sure you get an awesome score on the reading section! 🎉

After the math section of the test, you'll dive right in to the reading section of the ACT! 🤩 AKA THE BEST PART!

The reading is the 3rd section of the ACT standardized test. You will answer 

. This works out to be around 53 seconds per question, so this section is fast-paced! ⌚

The ACT reading test will contain 4 sections. 3 of the 4 sections will have 1 long prose passage, and 1 of the 4 sections will have a pair of shorter prose passages. There will be approximately 10 questions for each of the 4 sections. You will 

 need any outside knowledge about the topics presented in the passages to answer the multiple-choice questions.

The passages that you will be asked to analyze can be split up by subject:

Each of these will test different skills, which is what we will talk about next!

According to the ACT, there are 3 main categories that the test is assessing you on. Each of the categories also has some specific skills that you need to be aware of. Here they are:

Key Ideas and Details (55-60% — 22-24 questions)

Read texts closely to determine central ideas and themes. 

Summarize information and ideas accurately. 

Read closely to understand relationships and draw logical inferences and conclusions including understanding sequential, comparative, and cause-effect relationships.

Craft and Structure (25-30% — 10-12 questions)

Analyze an author’s word choice rhetorically.

Understand authorial purpose and perspective. 

Analyze the characters’ points of view. 

Interpret authorial decisions rhetorically and differentiate between various perspectives and sources of information.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas (13-18% — 5-7 questions)

Understand the authors’ claims, differentiate between facts and opinions, and use evidence to make connections between different texts that are related by topic. 

Some questions will require students to analyze how authors construct arguments, evaluating reasoning, and evidence from various sources.

Before we move into the specific kinds of questions, let's go through a few general tips and tricks that you can use on the ACT reading section:

As you're reading, make sure you are actively engaging with the text. Whether this involves circling important ideas or quotes, underlining words you don't know, or jotting down notes about the text in the margin, this will help you better comprehend the story and stay awake! 😴

As you're studying, you might want to use certain markings that indicate different types of annotations — for example, you might use a circle for all vocab words that you don't know. If you're consistent, this will help you on the exam! 🙂

As stated earlier, this section doesn't give you too much time! Therefore, it's important that you make use of every second given to you. As you read, try to take note 📝 of the main ideas and themes which could possibly help you when answering the questions.

Additionally, skim through the questions before you start reading the passage. Then, as you go through the passage, make notes of words 🔤 or sentences that might help you answer the questions. 

It's okay if you're not certain about every question! Do your best, and if you can't figure out a question, circle it, choose a random answer, and move on! Then, you can come back to the question at the end of the exam if you have time. You don't need to get every question correct to get a good score! 🙌

Types of Questions with Examples and Strategies ⁉

Let's go through each of the types of questions you'll see on the ACT reading section. There are 3 main types and we'll go through each of them!

With these questions, you are asked to either look at the passage as a whole OR look at a specific portion of the passage as a whole. The questions will ask you to determine either the main idea (generally for the literary narrative) or the main argument (for the other passages - humanities, social science, and science.)

Main Idea Questions - Tips and Strategies 🤓

Figuring out which questions are looking for the main idea should be pretty easy. They will have the terms "main idea," "purpose," "focus," in them, and could either refer to the entire passage or a specific paragraph.

: As you read, think about the following question: If you had to summarize the entire passage in ONE sentence, what would it be? This probably is going to get you to the main idea.

A variation of this type of question would be when you are asked about the 

 of a paragraph. In this case, you're looking at both the main idea of the paragraph AND the main idea of the passage. Then, you're looking to see 

 the paragraph fits into the passage and WHY it helps to support the main idea of the passage.

In many of the paired passages, you may be asked to identify differences in the tone between the two presented texts. Think about this as you are reading, and try to figure out how the author is trying to convey their attitude towards the sub


Let's look at a main idea question through a science (specifically natural science) passage:

It's clear when reading the question that it is asking for the main idea of the 

. This means you are NOT looking at a specific paragraph, but the entire selection.  📑

As you read through the passage, you might notice that the first and second paragraphs focus heavily on the shape of the 🌐 galaxy, with mentions of a plum-pizza structure and the warped disk of the galaxy. The third paragraph begins with a question: "Why does the Milky Way have such an odd-looking structure?" After this point, the passage presents an analysis done by Jeremy Bailin, which discusses the interaction between the Milky Way and the Sagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy. 🤔

Based on what we've read, you can see that almost the entire passage is devoted to A) discussing the shape of the galaxy and B) a detailed analysis of the evidence that explains why the warp in the Milky Way galaxy may be present. 💭

 📄 of the passage is best described by answer choice D — the evidence (Jeremy Bailin's study) suggests that the warp in the Milky Way's disk (mentioned in the first 2 paragraphs) results from the Milky Way's interaction with a small satellite galaxy (discussed throughout the rest of the passage). 💭

Additional Practice Question - Literary Narrative:

The narrator of the passage can best be described as a swimmer who primarily:


A. recalls the swim of his life and the factors that motivated him during that swim. 

B. remembers the events that inspired him to participate in a time trial at the Junior Nationals. 

C. contrasts the joy of winning competitions early in the season with his later struggles to succeed. 

D. chronicles his swimming career, from childhood through high school.

ultimate guide to the act: reading section

Welcome to the ACT science guide! We'll break down the question types and give you some strategies to make sure you get that 36 on the exam! 🎉

When you sit down to take the ACT exam, you will have 4-5 sections on the test, depending on whether you choose to take the essay section! 📃The ACT sections are:

After the reading section of the test, you'll dive right in to the science section of the ACT! 🤩

The science section is the 4th (and possibly last, if you're not taking the essay!) of the ACT standardized test. You will answer 

The ACT science section is actually a lot like the reading section! You will be presented with passages that are often accompanied by tables, charts, data points, etc. 📉 and will be asked to answer a variety of interpretation questions. 

5 data-based passages (with 6-7 questions each)

: These data-based passages will give you a textual description of a study or experiment that has been conducted. 📃 Along with the passage, visual representations of the data will be presented. 📈

1 conflicting viewpoints passage (with 7 questions)

: The conflicting viewpoints passage is a solely text-based passage. 📃 Often, visual representations of data are not present. Instead, details about a scientific phenomenon or study will be presented. Your job will be to analyze different viewpoints or perspectives on this topic! 🗃

About 3-5 of the questions you'll see on the ACT science exam may require some outside knowledge from your science classes. 🏫 However, the rest of the questions will 

Quick interpretation of data is very important, and as you practice more and more, you'll get better!

With AP exams, you often have a "course/exam description" that gives you all of the standards that'll be tested on the AP exam. ACT has a somewhat similar document that outlines the science standards tested on this section of the exam. The three standards are listed below:

📊 Evaluation of Models, Inferences, and Experimental Results (EMI)

You can see more about each of these standards 

. these standards are meant to align with college readiness standards, so they may be more helpful after you have received your score. These standards do provide a very rough outline of what you will be tested on, however!

Before we go any further, we need to address the scientific method! The scientific method is tested on every single question on the ACT science section, either directly or indirectly. Let's go through the steps in the scientific method!

: The scientific method begins with an observation being made about some sort of natural event or process. This observation leads to inquiry and further exploration.

: Scientists ask questions based on the observation they made. What factors influenced their observation? What other forces were in play? These questions help guide further research.

: The hypothesis is the scientist's explanation for what they saw. It's a prediction of what they think might have happened, and it can be tested. A lot of times, you'll see that hypotheses are written in an 'if-then' statement.

: In order to test the hypothesis, an experiment is conducted. The design of the experiment might have some words you should be familiar with.

: Once an experiment is conducted, data is analyzed and represented through tables, charts, and graphs. Most of the ACT science section tests this part of the scientific method!

: Once data is analyzed, scientists often either prove or disprove their hypothesis. A few of the questions may also test whether you can analyze the conclusions composed by different scientists.

Because you are limited in the amount of time you have to answer each question, it's important that you maximize the time that you do have! 

This means that reading the entire passage first is likely not wise. 🤔

The "look and find" strategy will allow you to effectively answer the questions on the ACT science test. 😍

 👀 for keywords in the question that will help you 

 🗺 to look for. They'll help you find WHERE in the text you can find more information:

tells you that the place where you can find more information about this question is in 

- tells you that the place where you can find more information about this question is in the 

- tells you that the place where you can find more information about this question is in 

tells you that the place where you can find more information about this question is in a specific 

to look for. They'll help you find WHAT TO DO once you get to the location in the text.

Before we even look at the passage, let's see if we can identify where the answer to this question might be. LOOKing 👀 for location keywords, you'll probably notice that the question starts with 

This tells you that you will be able to FIND 🔎 more information in Figure 1 of the results.

That was pretty easy, right? Now, let's see if we can figure out a task keyword✍ . You'll notice that "mass of cheese remaining at 4hr" is pretty important! That will guide us when we get to Figure 1.

Now that we've LOOKED 👀 for keywords, it's time to carry out the task and FIND 🔎 the information needed for the question. 

 is necessary on the ACT science section, especially since you may not have time to read the entire passage. 

If a question refers ONLY to Figure 1, then it's likely your answer is ONLY in Figure 1! 🙃 Don't waste time looking at Figures 2, 3, 4, etc. if there is a specific location keyword in the question!

Now, you need to be able to interpret and analyze graphs and tables correctly! That's what we'll cover next!

When interpreting tables, you should carry out 3 steps to make sure you're answering the question correctly. 🤔

Identify your location and task keywords in the question and in the answer choices. 💭

Make sure you identify the row and column that you should be looking at in the table. 

Trick answers will be on the test, and if you read the wrong row, you'll get the answer wrong! 

Once you're sure you are looking miat the correct row/column, pick the answer choice that goes with what the question is asking. 

Make sure you recognize that the table represents percentages and not whole numbers!

You know that 200 mg was put in for each food, and you're finding how many foods had 

than 100 mg water. 100 mg is 50% of 200 mg, and since the table displays percents, you're looking for values 

. That would yield cat food (66.2) and ham (57.1). Your answer is 

Interpreting Graphs (Level 1 Questions) 📉

Now, let's look at graphs! Graphs all have several similar components that you should pay attention to.

. All the graphs you'll see on the ACT science section will have 2 axes: the x-axis (horizontal) and y-axis (vertical). 📈

Most of the ACT science graphs will have a key or legend next to it. This will also serve as an important tool to match information from the question to the graph. 🔎

 are time (x) and mass of food remaining (y). The 

 are hours for time and milligrams for mass of food remaining. The 

Here are some tips specific to the type of graph you're looking at:

The line graph is one of the more common graphs on the ACT. There are several questions that you may be asked about the line graph that we'll go over below.

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2020 ACT Exam Prep

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