🎒ACT Review
How to Improve Your Score on the ACT Reading Section
How to Improve Your Score on the ACT Reading Section
ACT Reading Tips
At least the ACT only has 4 answer choices. Source: freepik
Overview
The ACT Reading section gives you 35 minutes to read four passages and answer 40 questions. That's a tight window, and most students find it to be one of the hardest sections to finish on time. The good news: with the right strategy, solid pacing, and targeted practice, you can make real improvements. This guide covers the main approaches you can use to raise your score.
👩💻 Find a Strategy
There's no single best way to tackle the reading section. Different approaches work for different people, so you'll want to experiment during practice and figure out what clicks for you. Here are four common strategies:
ACT Reading Strategies
| Strategy | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Read the questions first ❓ | - You know what to look for before reading the passage. - If a question references specific lines, you can mark those sections and pay close attention when you get there. | - It's hard to hold 10 questions in your head at once. - Hunting for specific answers can cause you to miss the big picture of the passage. |
| Skim the passage first 👀 | - You save time while picking up the general structure and main idea. - You have more time left for the questions. | - You'll almost certainly need to go back and reread parts, which can eat into your time if you're not careful. |
| Read the passage fully first 📚 | - You build a deeper understanding before seeing any questions. - Main idea and tone questions become much easier. | - You'll still need to reread for detail questions, and the upfront time investment is larger. |
| Read and annotate 📝 | - Quick notes in the margins (main idea of each paragraph, key names, shifts in argument) cut down on rereading later. | - Annotating takes practice to do efficiently. If you write too much, you'll lose time. |
| You can also mix and match. For example, some students glance at the questions first, then read and lightly annotate. Test each approach on a timed practice passage and track which one gives you the best combination of accuracy and speed. |
⏰ Keep Track of Time
With 35 minutes for 4 passages (10 questions each), you have roughly 8 minutes and 45 seconds per passage. That includes both reading and answering. Here's a general breakdown to aim for:
- Reading the passage: 2–3 minutes
- Answering the 10 questions: 5–6 minutes
These numbers will shift depending on your strategy. If you annotate, your reading time goes up but your question time should go down. If you skim, the opposite happens. The key is that you don't blow past 9 minutes on any single passage.
If you're stuck on a question, skip it and come back. If an entire passage is giving you trouble, move on to the next one and return with whatever time you have left. Leaving easy questions unanswered because you spent too long on a hard passage is one of the most common ways students lose points.
💪 Identify Your Weaknesses
As you practice, don't just check whether you got a question right or wrong. Figure out why you missed it. Even if the correct answer seems obvious in hindsight, understanding the mistake helps you avoid repeating it.
Focus on two things:
Type of passage. The ACT always presents four passage types in this order:
- Prose Fiction (or Literary Narrative)
- Social Science
- Humanities
- Natural Science
You might notice you consistently lose more points on one type. If natural science passages trip you up, spend extra practice time on those specifically.
Type of question. Question types aren't officially labeled, but common categories include main idea, detail/evidence, inference, vocabulary in context, and author's purpose/tone. Look for patterns in what you're missing. If you keep getting inference questions wrong, that tells you to practice reading between the lines rather than drilling questions you already handle well.
📝 Practice
The single most effective thing you can do is take timed practice tests using real ACT materials. When you do a full-length practice test, try to simulate actual test conditions: sit at a clear desk, start in the morning, put your phone away, and stick to the time limits.
Here are free places to practice:
- If you qualify for a fee waiver, you get free access to ACT Online Prep. 📇
- This sample ACT reading test from ACT's official site. 📕
- Official ACT practice tests from 2020–2021 and 2019–2020. 📖
- CrackACT has over 100 practice reading tests, some sorted by passage type. 📚
- Varsity Tutors offers practice tests organized by specific skills. 👩🏫
- Reading newspaper articles, magazine features, and journal excerpts on a regular basis builds the reading speed and comprehension that the ACT tests. 📰
💭 Closing Thoughts
These tips give you a solid starting point, but there's more to dig into. For deeper strategies, check out the Ultimate Guide to the ACT Reading Section and ACT Reading Practice: Craft and Structure. For a wider range of ACT prep resources, take a look at these websites compiled by Fiveable.
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