ACT Preparation

1. ACT Preparation Fenger High School Session 1 February 2, 2009

2. Meet Your Instructors • Mr. Towns - Math • Ms. Long - English/ Reading • Ms. Hebeler - Science • Ms. Moroni - English/ Reading

3. Meet Your Classmates • Introduce yourself • Tell the class why you are taking this course • Tell the class one interesting thing about you

4. The Purpose of ACT Prep • Learn which areas of the test have the most questions, and can help get you most points • Learn to identify patterns question formats. Identify the type of question and understand which skill to use.

5. The Purpose of ACT Prep • Practice on the test puts you in control of the test – you understand what others don’t. • Gain confidence! There are lots of questions you know how to answer. Improve your score by tackling them with confidence.

6. General Approaches to the Test • Understand what you are being asked to do. • There is no penalty for guessing. NEVER leave a question blank. Guessing can gain you 1-scale point!

7. General Approaches to the Test • Double-mark your test. Circle your answer in the test book and on your answer sheet – this can save you from disaster if you get out of order. • There is no penalty for writing in the test booklet. Mark it up! It helps!

8. General Approaches to the Test • Read the passage as you take the test! You don’t have to read the whole passage first, but keep track of what is happening in the passage!

9. Concision Questions The KISS Rule: The simplest, correct answer is ALWAYS the right one! You can improve your score up to 5 points by mastering concision!

10. Concision Exercises Try #1 The answer is: C. a life of ease and luxury This answer is the simplest way of conveying the author’s idea.

11. Concision Exercises Try #2 The answer is: B. since What the author really wants us to know is that the novels have enchanted children since 1950. “Forever” is just another way of saying “for a long time”

12. Concision Exercises Try #3 The answer is: B. alone “By his lonesome” is a colloquial way of saying, “alone.” Alone is the most conventional choice.

13. Concision Exercises Try #4 The answer is: B. live Live and dwell are synonyms. Using both these words is redundant.

14. Concision Questions Try #5-12 all by your lone selves!

15. 5 – D 6 – D 7 – D 8 – B 9 – D 10 – D 11 – D 12 – D 13 – B Check Your Answers

16. How many did you get correct? • Which items would you like to review?

17. Try it on the test!

18. Go to Q. 18 • The answer is: J. To alter that Recognize this pattern – repetition of two similar words. Alter and change mean about the same thing.

19. Go to Q. 39 • The answer is: B. the equivalent of Same pattern as 18. “Equivalent of” has a similar meaning to “similar to.”

20. Go to Q. 67 • The answer is: • NO CHANGE Why is “A” the correct answer?

21. Go to Q. 37 • The answer is: D. supported. This question is more complex. The repetition here is between two different parts of the sentence! To “elect” someone is the same as to choose him to be mayor.

22. Go to Q. 53 • The answer is: C. work a long time. This question brings questions of style and diction to the table. The other options are too wordy and formal to suit the rest of the passage.

23. Go to Q. 58 • The answer is: J. would lead to it Always choose the simplest way to correctly answer the question.

24. Go to Q. 1 • The answer is: D. OMIT the underlined portion. Take apart the sentence? What is the verb? What is the subject? Is “the weight of” necessary to the meaning of the sentence?

25. Final Notes on Concision • In 20 tests surveyed, OMIT was the correct answer 92% of the time: When in doubt, leave it out! • You can expect from 8 – 12 concision questions on the test.

26. Apostrophe Questions • There are only a few rules you need to master on apostrophe questions. • Once you master these, you can get them right every time! • Mastery of apostrophes can get you between 1.5 and 3 scale points on your test!

27. Try it on the test first!

28. Go to Q. 10 • The answer is: H. its squeakier

29. Its/ it’s/ its’ • There are at least three questions of this type on every test. • Its is the possessive pronoun (like his) • It’s is the contraction it + is • There is no such thing as its!!!

30. Go to Q. 13 • The answer is: D. Families’ This is an irregular plural possessive. The plural of family is families To make families possessive, just add an apostrophe.

31. Go to Q. 28 • The answer is: H. patients’ needs First, decide if the noun is singular or plural. Then, add an apostrophe to make it possessive!

32. Go to Q. 34 • The answer is: H. bet’s terms How many bets are there? Are we talking about the terms of the bet?

33. Go to Q. 44 • The answer is: F. Its What is the antecedent for it? Is it singular or plural?

34. Go to Q. 47 • The answer is: C. Its What rule makes this answer correct?

35. Apostrophe Exercises Try #1 • NO CHANGE • children’s books • children’s book’s, • children’s book’s

36. Apostrophe Exercises • NO CHANGE • children’s books, • children’s book’s, • children’s book’s

37. Apostrophe Exercises Try #2 • NO CHANGE • one’s • ones’ • there

38. Apostrophe Exercises Try #2 • NO CHANGE • one’s • ones’ • there

39. Apostrophe Exercises Try #3 • NO CHANGE • still, other’s • Still others • Still others,

40. Apostrophe Exercises Try #3 • NO CHANGE • still, other’s • Still others • Still others,

41. Sentence combining The single most important skill for the ACT is knowing how to combine two sentences successfully.

42. Sentence Combining • There are usually 12-14 questions on the test related to this skill. • 6-7 scaled points can be earned by answering sentence combining questions correctly.

43. Sentence Combining Try it! Go to test question #59 The answer is: • NO CHANGE

44. #59 is the simplest combining question on the test. • Look at what is underlined. • They want you to combine the sentences, but ask yourself if it’s ok the way it is. • KISS works with this questions.

45. Sentence Combining Go to question #66 The answer is: G. sax. • This is another example of KISS. • Remember ACT loves clear, concise writing.

46. Sentence combining Go to question #45 The answer is: • NO CHANGE • Ask yourself if any of the conditional clauses work?

47. Sentence combining Go to #40 The answer is: F. brisk, townspeople

48. Sentence combining The 7 ways sentences can be combined: • Use a period. • Use a semi colon to take the place of a period. • A comma and a FANBOY • Make one sentence dependant on the other by use of a conditional clause (because, since, if, so, when, while, etc…) • Use a colon • Use a dash when adding dramatic statements • Use a compound verb

49. Sentence combining Go to #60 The answer is: H. agent, the

50. Sentence combining Go to # 54 The answer is: G. Clerk where