THE ACT READING

SECTION
A CRASH COURSE IN QUESTION TYPES
MS.RICHEY

WHATS THE READING SECTION?

4 passages with 10 questions each, 35 minutes
4 genres of literature, always in this order:
Prose fiction: short story or excerpt from a novel; may be a narrated series of events or a
progressive revelation of character.
Social studies: could be anything from anthropology and biography to psychology and
sociology; these passages present information gathered via rigorous research.
Humanities: passages draw on arts of any flavor, ethics and philosophy, or personal
reflections; focus is on describing and analyzing arts and ideas.
Natural science: rooted in any of the hard sciences; aim is to explore a significant
scientific topic.

Spend 2-3 minutes reading each passage, and that gives you 35 seconds per question

TYPES OF QUESTIONS
Detail
Main idea
Compare and contrast
Inference
Cause and effect
Vocabulary-in-context
Author intent and tone

DETAIL QUESTIONS:
Asks you to find information described in the passage

MAIN IDEA QUESTIONS:

Asks you to examine the passage globally to determine main ideas
Refers to the passage as a whole
The answer is never explicitly stated but derives from the sum of the
articles many parts.

COMPARE AND CONTRAST

QUESTIONS:
Is what it sounds like: compare and contrast information given in a single
long passage or two shorter paired passages.
You could be asked to identify similarities or differences.

INFERENCE QUESTIONS:
These are the trickiest type of reading questions: identify the logic
underlying a claim or extend the implication of a statement.

CAUSE AND EFFECT QUESTIONS:

Specific type of inference question that requires you to analyze cause and
effect and sequences of events
Asks you to understand what happened when and which event caused what

VOCABULARY-IN-CONTEXT
QUESTIONS:
Point you to a specific instance of a word or phrase within the text
Ask you to offer a rough definition based on its use in context

AUTHOR INTENT AND TONE

QUESTIONS:
Draw conclusions about the authors voice and method
Explain the authors view of and attitude towards the topics
Be able to identify why the author made certain salient choices