bhs act reading test tips
TRANSCRIPT
The Structure
• Prose
– Events that show characters’ beliefs & motivations
– Asks for setting, plot, theme, tone, feelings
• Social sciences– Anthropology, archaeology,
business, economics, education, geography, history, political science, psychology, sociology
– Often presents opposing viewpoints
• Humanities – Architecture, art, culture,
dance, film, literature, music, philosophy, radio, television, theater
– Details, vocab, inferences, author’s POV, important contributions of the subject
• Natural sciences– Anatomy, astronomy,
biology, chemistry, ecology, geology, medicine, meteorology, microbiology, natural history, physics, technology
– Most specific of questions
The Nitty Gritty
• 8 ½ minutes per section
• All questions worth the same # of points
• No wrong points for guessing
• A score of 20 = must answer 20/40 correctly (2 sections!)
• A score of 25 = must answer 28/40 correctly (3 sections!)
• A score of 30 = answer 34/40 correctly (3 ½ sections!)
• Concentrate on the passages where you’re strong
• Take your time on the questions you’re most likely to get right
• Right answer isn’t always the “perfect” answer
Your #1 best tool… Annotations
• Write 1-word summaries in margins of most important ideas– Look for the TOPIC sentence (it’s not necessarily
the first sentence!)
• Underline things that seem important – Put “eg” or “ex” next to examples
– Circle shifters (although, despite, even though, nonetheless…)
• Mark “+” or “-” to indicate tone
• Number parts of an argument
Process of Elimination (POE)
• Avoid absolutes (“always” or “never”)
• Avoid extremes (“hateful” or “ecstatic”)
• The “bait and switch” answers – they use the exact wording of the passages, but have one small change that makes it wrong
– Right answers will be a paraphrase, NOT a quotation
• Be careful of “NOT” or “EXCEPT” questions!
Know your question types
Detail questions
Inferences
Point of view
Cause & effect
Main ideas
Vocabulary
Main idea questions
• Main idea of entire piece, or JUST a certain section
• Should be able to answer without going back to the passage
• If in doubt, go back and look at your annotations!
• Types of questions include:
• “The main idea is…”
• “One of the main ideas is…”
Detail questions
• Read around in the excerpt for context – Very common to have one potential answer that looks true in the section, but is later revealed to be incorrect
• Tend to be straightforward answers
• Types of questions include:
• “According to the passage…”
• “The passage indicates…”
Inference questions
• Ask for implied information; often difficult!
• Reread lines before & after for context
• Look for shifter words (although, nevertheless, however, but…) to break down the argument
• Types of questions include anything that uses the words:
• “Suggest,” “infer,” “imply,” “indicate”…
Point of view questions
• What does the WRITER think of the subject? – Look at your “+” & “-” annotations
– What is their tone? Negative? Sympathetic?
• The correct answer probably isn’t the perfect answer
• Types of questions include:
• “With which of the following statements would the author most likely agree? ”
Cause & effect questions
• FACT-BASED questions! Do not involve inferences
• Are you looking for the CAUSE, or the EFFECT?
• Types of questions include:
• “…because…”
• “Resulted in,” “led to,” “caused by…”
Vocab questions
• Find definition of word based on context
• Go back and reread the sentence – can you substitute a similar word?
– A word that looks like a “+” in the sentence will also have a “+”-sounding word as the answer
• Types of questions include:
• “As it is used in line ___, the word _________ most nearly means…”
Your overall strategy
• Go to the passages where you are strongest first – don’t be afraid to skip around – Do one WHOLE passage at a time
• 3 minutes to read • ANNOTATE!! • Know your question types – are you looking for
facts (in the text), or inferences (your best guess?)
• If no time left over, fill in every bubble!• With time left over, you MUST go back to a
passage you mostly guessed on