Cracking the English Test
Details
• 75 questions to answer in 45 minutes
• 5 passages, which are presented
differently from the Reading Test.
• Tests grammar, punctuation, sentence
structure, rhetorical skills
Details – Questions
• Punctuation (13% – 9 or 10 questions –
•
•
•
•
•
misleading stat)
Grammar and usage (16% - 12 questions)
Sentence structure (24% - 18 questions)
Rhetorical strategy (16% - 12 questions)
Rhetorical organization (15% - 11 or 12
questions)
Rhetorical style (16% - 12 questions)
General Hints
• Answer the questions in order (different strategy
•
•
from Reading Test)
Leave the tougher rhetorical questions for the
end. Skip troublesome questions until the end. A
later question may help you with an earlier one.
Use POE (Process of Elimination) to search the
answer choices for clues to determine the
error(s) being tested.
General Hints, cont’d
• HINT: Don’t assume that something is
wrong if it’s underlined. NO CHANGE is
correct a little less than 25% of the time.
If you can’t find anything wrong with the
underlined portion, it may be correct as
written.
Sentence Structure
Tests your knowledge of how sentences are put together
correctly.
• Fragment – e.g. Walking to the store. (Most of these
•
•
•
are just dependent clauses.)
Run-on – Two sentences fused together without
punctuation (Need either a period, semi-colon, or
comma + conjunction.) e.g. Aunt Sally swept up the
shards of glass she was furious. How to fix?
Comma Splice – Two sentences joined by a comma.
e.g. Aunt Sally swept up the shards of glass, she was
furious. How to fix?
HINT: Sentence structure questions can be
spotted by looking at the variations in the
answer choices.
Sentence Structure – Modifier
Problems
• Misplaced Modifiers – Word, phrase, or clause
that seems to modify the wrong word or phrase.
e.g. Walking to the pawnshop, Bob’s watch
dropped into the sewer. How to fix?
• Construction Shifts – Similar to above with
awkward placement of modifier. e.g. Stepping
to avoid the puddle, I carefully tripped and fell.
How to fix?
Sentence Structure – Parallelism
• Non-parallel construction (aka Parallelism)
• 1) Look for a series of words, phrases, or clauses.
2) Look for changes in verb tense.
– Verbs: e.g. Annie kissed him, hugged him, and
gives him his favorite dinner. How to ix?
– Nouns: e.g. 1) Fans praised the quarterback’s
speed, skill, and how agile he was. 2) Seeing the
beauty of a sunset in Venice is to experience
perfection. How to fix these?
Grammar and Usage
• If a pronoun is underlined, check for noun-
•
pronoun agreement (everybody with he/she),
pronoun-verb agreement (neither…is), and
pronoun case (subject or object).
If a verb is underlined, check for subject-verb
agreement (neither…is), verb tense errors (past,
present, future, etc mixed in a paragraph), and
verb parallelism (past mixed with present in a
series.)
Grammar and Usage – Pronoun
Agreement
• Pronoun Agreement: A pronoun must agree with
its antecedent (the noun or pronoun it renames).
Pronoun/Pronoun Agreement e.g. 1) Neither of the
two young girls expressed their feelings. 2) Anyone
going on the field trip needs to bring their lunch. 3)
Everybody stayed late at the dance because they
were enjoying themselves. How to fix these?
• HINTS: 1) If you see a pronoun underlined,
check to see if it agrees with the noun to
which it refers. 2) Words such as each,
either, somebody, anyone, everyone, either,
neither are singular.
Grammar and Usage – Pronoun Case
• Pronoun Case: Decide whether the pronoun is
used as a subject or object, e.g. 1) The students,
whom had been studying the space program, were
thrilled to witness the lunar landing. 2) Before the
moon landing, the TV announcer gave some
additional background on the astronauts, about who
we were all quite interested. How to fix?
• HINTS: 1) Remember the he/who, him/whom
rule. 2) Also note differences in punctuation
in all questions in case you see two answers
with the same pronouns.
Grammar and Usage
Subject-Verb Agreement / Pronoun-Verb Agreement
• Subject-Verb Agreement: Singular subject + singular
•
verb and plural subject + plural verb. e.g. Emily
Dickenson’s structure and verse has been analyzed and
praised by many critics. How to fil?
Pronoun-Verb Agreement: Same as above with S + S
and Pl + Pl. e.g. 1) Neither of my parents have trouble
using the metric system. 2) Everyone visiting Bob and
Lynn notice how well their children behave. 3) Each of
these moments have played in my mind again and
again. How to fix?
Grammar and Usage
Verb Tense Agreement / Verb Tense Construction
• Verb Tense Agreement – Past, present,
future, etc., e.g. Sam was walking down the
street when he finds a large suitcase. How to
fix?
• Verb Tense Construction: The verbs need to
work with each other, e.g. Sam has ate all the
cookies in the cookie jar. How to fix?
Grammar and Usage
Adjectives and Adverbs
• Adjectives and Adverbs: Be careful to
use the correct type of modifier for what is
being modified. e.g. 1) Sid behaves more
polite than Tom. 2) Between Jenny and
Jane, Jenny is the tallest. 3) He behaves
intelligent. How to fix?
Grammar and Usage - Idioms
• Idioms are expressions that require the
use of a specific preposition. e.g. My
sculpture is based after Rodin’s Thinker.
How to fix?
• If you know the correct idiom, great. If
not, just guess.
• Check answer choices.
Punctuation
• More than half of the punctuation
questions concern commas.
• Punctuation errors are often found along
with grammatical errors. Notice
differences in answer choices.
• Other punctuation marks to consider on
the test include semi-colons, colons,
dashes, and apostrophes. ACT has
avoided quotation marks in the past,
but…who knows.
Punctuation – Clauses and Phrases
• Commas Separating Clauses and Phrases:
– Two Independent Clauses: Mary wondered why
there was a bird in the classroom and she decided to
ask the teacher about it. How to fix?
– Independent Clause and Dependent Clause:
e.g. Before Mary could reach the teacher she saw the
woman offer the bird part of the bagel. How to fix?
– Independent Clause and Phrase: e.g. Hungry
and excited the bird snapped up the bagel.
HINT: If some of the answer choices insert a
comma and others don’t, that is reason enough
to check whether the sentence has two clauses
or a clause and a phrase.
Punctuation – Serial Commas
• Serial commas – Used to separate words,
phrases, or clauses in a series - e.g. When Mary
walked into the classroom, she saw a teacher, a
doctor, a woman eating a bagel and a bird. How
to fix?
• (HINT: ACT likes the last comma, even
though some folks say it’s not needed.)
Punctuation
Comma Splice or Run-on
• Comma splice: Two sentences combined, or
spliced, with a comma, e.g. Lightning speeds to
our eyes at 186,000miles per second, thunder
creeps to our ears at 1,087 feet per second.
How to fix?
• Run-On: Two sentences fused with no
punctuation, e.g. Lightning speeds to our eyes
at 186,000miles per second thunder creeps to
our ears at 1,087 feet per second. How to fix?
Punctuation – Essential Clause
• Essential Clause or Phrase (aka
Restrictive): Correct e.g. People who snore are
•
•
advised to sleep on their sides. (“Who snore” is
essential for us to know who is being discussed
so NO COMMAS.)
Another correct e.g. Only a person who is a little
peculiar would feed a bagel to a bird. (NO
COMMAS.)
HINT: Remember “I DON’T NEED commas
when I DO NEED the clause.
Punctuation - Non-essential Clause
• Non-essential (Nonrestrictive) Clause: Correct e.g.
•
•
My father, who snores loudly, always sleeps in his long
johns. (We know specifically who is being discussed, and
“who snores loudly” and just adds something akin to a
parenthetical thought. (NEED COMMAS.)
Another correct e.g. Mary, who by now was very
confused, stopped in front of the woman. (NEED
COMMAS.)
HINT: 1) Remember “I NEED commas when I
DON’T NEED the clause.” 2) Check answers for
differences in punctuation.
Punctuation – Semi-colons
• Semicolons connect two related yet
•
independent clauses. e.g. Sentence; sentence.
HINTS: 1) Although there are other uses
for semi-colons, ACT only applies them for
run-ons or comma splices. They are only
used if you have independent clauses
(sentences) on either side of it. 2) If a
semi-colon is correct, you will not see
period or comma with conjunction options.
3) If you see both a semi-colon and a
period, you will know neither answer is
correct.
Punctuation - Colons
• Colons – On the ACT, colons typically introduce a
list that follows an independent clause. e.g.
Sentence: list of some kind.
• ACT will try to trick you by having an incomplete
thought to introduce the list – e.g. I bought the
supplies, including: pencils, pens, and paper.
“Including” turns the independent clause into a
dependent clause. How to fix?
• Colons may also separate two independent clauses
if they follow this format: A sentence that is a
general thought: Sentence that explains or expands
the first thought, Correct e.g. I didn’t know what
to do: I could either go camping or stay home.
Punctuation - Dashes
• Dashes indicate a break in thought. Correct e.g. I tried
•
•
•
to thank him – not that words are adequate – but he
just nodded and walked away.
Dashes may be used to introduce an explanation.
Correct e.g. We heard the howling of wolves – a sound
that made our hair stand on end.
Dashes usually come in pairs unless the isolated group
of words is at the end of the sentence.
A dash cannot be combined with a comma. However,
commas do the same thing as dashes, so you won’t see
both as answer choices.
Punctuation - Apostrophes
• Apostrophes can either indicate possession or
•
•
•
•
contractions.
Singular Possession e.g. The boss’s limo; the girl’s
room.
Plural Possession e.g. The bosses’ limos; the girls’
room. (NOTE: Add “es” to words ending in “s” to make
plural, then add apostrophe.)
Contractions It’s can be used only to replace it is or it
has. Its is the possessive form of the word it. Its’ is not
a word. (NOTE: Act will have at least one of these on
test.)
Check answer choices for variations.
Rhetorical Skills
• Strategy, transitions, organization, style
• Reorder sentences or paragraphs
• Reword something
• Summarize the passage
• Evaluate whether the writer of a passage
has satisfied a particular assignment
• These questions vary more widely than
grammar or punctuation questions.
Rhetorical Skills, cont’d
• The official ACT book suggests you skim the entire
passage for content, but the Princeton Review folks say
it’s a waste of time because most of the questions can
be answered as you read, including some of the
rhetorical ones.
• Answer the questions in order. However, if you’re having
trouble with a particular question or if it seems to be
taking too much time, circle the question number, leave
it, and come back on your second pass. Often a later
question will help you with an early one.
Rhetorical Skills, cont’d
• Utilize POE to search the answer choices for
clues. Focus on the differences between the
answer choices, and use that information to
determine the error(s) being tested.
• HINT: Look for one error at a time. Eliminate all
answers that do not correct the first error you
spotted. Compare the remaining answers and
choose the most concise answer choice free of
any additional errors.
Rhetorical Skills, cont’d
• Remember that NO CHANGE is correct a little
•
less than a quarter of the time. If you can’t find
anything wrong with the underlined portion, it
may be correct as written.
Also remember to look very carefully at any
question with OMIT as an answer. If you can
OMIT and the passage/sentence is still correct,
then do so.
Rhetorical Skills - Strategy
• Transitions:
– Show contradiction – “BUT” WORDS: however,
quite the contrary, despite, rather, notwithstanding,
contrarily, on the other hand, although, nevertheless
– Show cause and effect – “THEREFORE” WORDS:
hence, and so, thus, consequently, because of, for
example, finally, in conclusion
– Show in addition – “ALSO” WORDS – in addition,
for example, furthermore, and, another, first, second,
moreover, by the same token, besides, similarly, so
too
• Choose the most appropriate connector.
• HINT: If you see two of the same type of
transition, neither answer will be correct.
Rhetorical Skills - Strategy
• Improving Rather than Fixing
– The wording in the question will provide clues.
– Be sure to look at what the question is specifically
asking.
– Choose answer based on the purpose of the passage
or the effect on the reader.
– The question might read something like this: Which of
the following sentences provides new, specific
information about… that would enhance the
passage?
Rhetorical Skills - Organization
• Three Kinds of Organization Questions
– Asks you to check the placement of an underlined
word or phrase and possibly relocate it, according
to what it should logically modify
– Asks you to reorder sentences within a paragraph
– Asks you to reorder paragraphs within the
passage as a whole.
NOTE: These will take time, so you might want to
skip them and come back to them later. If you
run out of time, use the letter of the day.
Rhetorical Skills - Organization
• HINTS to Organizing Paragraphs
– Trick to reordering sentences in a paragraph: Find
what should be the first sentence and look at answers
to see which have it listed as first. This will eliminate
some choices.
– If you can’t figure out which sentence comes first, try
to pair two sentences together and check answers to
see which have them listed together. Again,
eliminates choices.
– If that doesn’t work, look for a concluding sentence.
– When all else fails, pick your letter of the day.
Rhetorical Questions - Organization
• Hints to Organize Whole Paragraphs
– This will be the last question and it is challenging.
– Do not reread the whole passage. Skim it and scribble a minisummary by each paragraph.
– Try to find the first paragraph and look for that choice in the
answers. Do POE.
– If you can’t find the first paragraph, try to find two
paragraphs that have a close relationship and look for that
choice.
– If that doesn’t work, try to find a concluding paragraph.
– If you are spending too much time, pick your letter of the
day and move on.
Rhetorical Skills - Style
• Redundancy - Saying the same thing
twice. Most ACT style questions are about
redundancy.
e.g. 1) Cheap and inexpensive gifts can
be found here. 2) After birth, the
newborn babies are weighed. 3) The
Vietnam vets were recently memorialized
by a memorial in Washington. How to fix?
Rhetorical Skills – Style, cont’d
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Other style possibilities
Tone
Mood
Purpose
Misuse of figurative language, such as metaphors
Awkward wording (in answer choice)
Words that don’t exist (in answer choice)
Wordiness (in answer choice)
Just do your best with these