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 🎉

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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! 🎉

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:

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.

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