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ACT: English Test

ACT: English Test. Helpful Hints. I. Language of the ACT. The ACT likes clear, direct, concise sentences, not flowery language. I. Language of the ACT. Always select standard written English.

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ACT: English Test

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  1. ACT: English Test Helpful Hints

  2. I. Language of the ACT • The ACT likes clear, direct, concise sentences, not flowery language.

  3. I. Language of the ACT • Always select standard written English. After all, it happened so sudden, like one day she was a sweet, agreeable one year old, and the next she was a defiant, moody, terrible-two. • NO CHANGE • sudden: • suddenly: • suddenly, like Answer - C *Colons= “now let me explain” -ACT never uses a colon to introduce a list

  4. I. Language of the ACT • Slang words, idioms, and cliches are always wrong. You can imagine their shouts and laughter as if hyenas. • NO CHANGE • laughter like hyenas • laughter like a barrel of monkeys • laughter Answer - D

  5. I. Language of the ACT • Shorter answers are usually better (and correct) answers. By 3200 B.C., Sumerian society had become so increasingly in size and complexity that a means of keeping track of holdings became necessary. • NO CHANGE • so increased in size and complexity • become so excessively monolithic and circumfused by societal intricacies whose implications dictated • became so large and real hard to figure out Answer - B

  6. I. Language of the ACT • Avoid redundancy. It’s usually hard to determine who first uttered out loud a given word and almost as hard to know who first wrote it down. • NO CHANGE • spoke • said verbally • gave vocalization to Answer - B

  7. I. Language of the ACT • Eliminate wordy expressions. In the 1920s the YMCA sponsored a program in order to promote more enlightened public opinion on racial matters. • NO CHANGE • upon promoting • on promoting • to promote Answer - D

  8. I. Language of the ACT • Good diction means choosing the exact word. It’s a popular ACT question. We also find illusions of Shakespeare’s words in film. • NO CHANGE • illusions to • allusions of • allusions to Answer - D

  9. II. Basic Usage, Grammar, and Mechanics • If you have two answers that are both grammatically correct, then I choose the one that is closest to the original. They contributed more than $60 million to the project, which was completed in the winter of 1986. • NO CHANGE • project. Which was completed • project, it was completed • project. They were finished Answer - A

  10. II. Basic Usage, Grammar, and Mechanics • Always match the verb tense. Sometimes you may need to look at the sentence before or after. After two weeks’ effort, I would always set the harmonica aside and had went back to the baseball field. • NO CHANGE • would of gone • go • would of went Answer - C

  11. II. Basic Usage, Grammar, and Mechanics • Subjects and verbs must agree. Ignore any extra words between them. Rice seedlings, started in small hand-watered paddies soon after the wheat harvest, is planted in the now flooded fields. • NO CHANGE • harvest, is • harvest, are • harvest are Answer - C

  12. II. Basic Usage, Grammar, and Mechanics • Pronouns and antecedents must also agree. Ignore any extra words between them, too. Literary critics are often less interested in any particular book than one is in placing groups of books into categories. • NO CHANGE • they are • he is • he or she is Answer - B

  13. II. Basic Usage, Grammar, and Mechanics • Commas and dashes generally come in pairs. Our daughter, Clare recently celebrated her second birthday. • NO CHANGE • Our daughter Clare recently, • Our daughter, Clare, recently • Clare, our daughter recently, Answer - C

  14. II. Basic Usage, Grammar, and Mechanics • Having too many commas is just as bad as not enough commas. • Every comma must have a reason to be there. Hikers, typically, find, that the climbs takes at least three hours. • NO CHANGE • Hikers typically find • Hikers typically, find • Hikers, typically find Answer - B

  15. III. Sentence Errors • Can you fix fragments? Surrounded by a dense growth of trees with long, dangling vines and trunks that rose a hundred feet into the air. • NO CHANGE • Having been surrounded • My companion and I was surrounded • We were surrounded Answer - D

  16. III. Sentence Errors • Can you fix run-ons? A rickety fence barely separates the outfield from the wilderness, in right field a stream cuts away a corner of the field. • NO CHANGE • wilderness, then • wilderness, which • wilderness, and Answer - D

  17. III. Sentence Errors • Can you fix misplaced modifiers? Then we arrived at a meadow where youths promenaded their horses in riding pants and blazers. • NO CHANGE • Promenaded horses in their riding pants and blazers. • In riding pants and blazers promenaded their horses. • Promenaded in riding pants and blazers their horses. *Place the modifier as close to the word it modifies as possible Answer - C

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