Ace the ACT Reading: Proven Strategies for Score Improvement

Struggling to improve your ACT Reading score? Are you stuck in the 14-24 range? You're not alone. Many students find this section challenging. This article provides actionable strategies to boost your score, especially if you're aiming for a 26 or higher.

Why a Strong ACT Reading Score Matters

A good ACT Reading score is crucial, especially for humanities majors. Even if you excel in math and plan to study science, colleges need to know you can handle complex texts. Improving your score is worth the effort.

Understanding the ACT Reading Test

The ACT Reading test has four sections: Humanities, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, and Prose/Literary Fiction. These sections assess your ability to understand what is directly stated and what is implied in the text. The passages reflect the reading material encountered by a first-year college student.

The Fundamental Rule: Evidence-Based Reading

The fundamental rule of ACT Reading is "The answer is on the page". The name of the game on ACT Reading is EVIDENCE-BASED READING. This means learning to spot the difference between what the answer choices say and what the text of the ACT Reading passage ACTUALLY says. It is the fundamental skill upon which all of the other skills tested by the various question-types are based. Mastery of this one skill will do more for your ACT Reading score than an entire 3-month ACT course ever will.

The ACT Reading section focuses on your reading skills, not on content knowledge or any understanding that exists outside of the passage. All of the information you need is in the passage.

Debunking Myths: Reading and Speed-Reading

While reading more literature is beneficial, it's not enough to improve your ACT Reading score. Speed-reading should be avoided, as it leads to careless mistakes.

Time Management: Practice Makes Perfect

The best way to deal with the time limits is to give yourself several weeks to practice with the RIGHT TECHNIQUE - one that focuses on Evidence-based reading in the most efficient manner possible - until it becomes second nature to you, so that speed will be a natural byproduct of your fluency with the technique. You will also want to make sure that you are practicing with NOTHING BUT official ACT Reading passages, as using anything else will produce very mixed results.

You have 8:45 per passage. That's about 2-3 minutes to read the passage and 5-6 minutes to answer questions.

The ACT Mindset: One Right Answer

Normally, in your school's English class, your teacher tells you that all interpretations of a text are valid. You can write an essay about anything you want, and English teachers aren't usually allowed to tell you that your opinion is wrong. But the ACT has an entirely different problem. As a result, the test needs to be rock solid. There's only ever one correct answer. The ACT always disguises the fact that there's only one unambiguous answer.

Relax. You can get a perfect score. It is possible. A 36 is a tall order, but it is attainable. We’ve been trained in school to look at reading and interpretation as subjective, but the reality of the ACT® is that there is always a correct answer to the question. Formal education has taught us that there is never just one answer to a complicated question. When you look at ACT® questions, there is one right answer supported by specific evidence from the passage. The test will seek to fool you, but there is only one answer choice supported by evidence.

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Strategic Passage Reading: Skim First, Then Question

The most common one I see is that students are reading the passages in far more detail than they actually need to be. Skim the passage on the first read-through. Don't try to understand every single line or write notes predicting what the questions will be. Just get a general understanding of the passage. Next, go to the questions. If you can't answer a question within 30 seconds, skip it. Reading questions ask about far fewer lines than the passage actually contains. Some students take this strategy to the extreme by reading the questions before the passage. If a question refers to any specific line or lines, they mark those in the passage. Different strategies work for different students. You need to try out different ones so you can see which one gives you the best results.

When you read the passage, map it - underline things like transition words, punctuation beyond periods and commas, names, dates, facts, and make notes next to each paragraph - 2-3 words on the topic/main idea of the paragraph. For the passage, write 5ish words on the Main Idea /Purpose, Author Perspective. You then use this map to find answers. Use your map to find answers in the passage; use keywords; use line references when they're given.

Passage Selection: Know Your Strengths

Know the passage types. You don't have to work them in order. Track, in practice tests, which passage types are easiest for you - work that type first. Track which types are hardest - work those last. If you like one of the four subjects best, or if one passage looks the most interesting to you, start there. Getting points early with easier passages helps you build momentum throughout the section.

Eliminating Wrong Answers: Spotting the Traps

You're not doing a good enough job of eliminating answer choices. Each of the answers from A-D has something seriously wrong with it. Each one is a classic example of a wrong answer type given by the ACT. This type of wrong answer focuses on a smaller detail in the passage. Wrong! Think to yourself: can this answer choice really describe the entire passage? This type of wrong answer has the opposite problem than the one above-it’s way too broad. This wrong answer choice can be tricky because it mentions all the right words. Here, the relationship is flipped. The passage is about how humans affected the environment-not the reverse. On the surface, each of the answer choices sounds possibly correct. But possibly isn't good enough. The right answer needs to be 100%, totally right.

Do not read answer choices before you anticipate an answer. Three are wrong. Only one choice is right. If you don't have an answer in mind, one that's based on the passage, the wrong choices will steer you into doom. They're designed to trick you. For example, one wrong answer trap ACT uses is something opposite of the correct answer. When you have your anticipated answer, evaluate answer choices only based on it - your anticipation came from the passage, not from possibly wrong answer choices.

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Question Types: Know What to Expect

ACT Reading passage questions might look similar, but they actually test very different skills. With ACT Reading, you need to figure out whether you have patterns in your mistakes. Are you consistently running out of time on reading passages? Having trouble with Inference questions? For every question you miss, you must identify what type of question it is.

The questions will ask you to focus on six specific parts of reading comprehension.

Vocabulary questions will often focus on the context or meaning of a word within a passage.
Detail Questions: What does this specific detail mean?
Inference Questions: What can you infer about the author or character based on the passage?
Tone is difficult for students to explain, but at the same time, very easy for them to understand because understanding tone relies on the feelings of the reader. Luckily, if that is your struggle, the test is going to give you a list of words as choices.
Finding the main idea will require looking at various parts of the text to gain a holistic view of the passage.
Diction, syntax, and construction questions: Why is the passage put together this way?

Targeted Practice: Plugging the Leaks

Studying effectively for the ACT isn't like painting a house. Studying effectively for the ACT is like plugging up holes in a leaky boat. You need to find the biggest hole and fill it. You then need to find the next biggest hole and fix that, too. You need to find the sub-skills you're weakest in and then drill those until you're no longer weak in them.

Metacognition, the skill of analyzing your thinking, is essential to practicing your reading skills correctly. A good habit to get into is tracking your responses to questions. As you take your practice exams or work through individual questions, keep track of the items you aren’t sure are correct. You can ask metacognitive questions like: How did I approach this question? Did I understand what the question was asking me to do? Why was my answer right?

The Power of Official Practice Tests

ACT Reading passages are very specific in how they work. The very best sources for ACT Reading passages are official ACT practice tests. One format is a printable practice ACT that you can download, print, and take with pencil and paper. There is also a computer-based version of the same ACT practice test that you can access through your MyACT account.

Time-Saving Techniques: Skip and Strategize

On the Reading section, you get 35 minutes to answer 40 questions. The average student will try to push through all the questions. Try each question but skip it if you're not getting anywhere after 30 seconds. Unlike math, the Reading passage questions aren't ordered in difficulty, so you can't tell right away which questions are harder or easier.

"EXCEPT" questions: These are specifically designed to waste your time. They'll ask something like, "The author mentions all of these details EXCEPT: … Inference questions that ask you what the author most likely meant.

Reviewing Mistakes: The Key to Improvement

Every mistake you make on a test happens for a reason. It sucks to stare your mistakes in the face. So the average student will skip reviewing their mistakes and instead focus on areas they're already comfortable with. You don't want to be like these students. When you grade your test or quiz, review every question you marked and every incorrect question. In a notebook, write down the gist of the question, why you missed it, and what you can do to avoid making this mistake in the future. It's not enough to just think about it and move on, or to just read the answer explanation. For Reading Passage questions, you must find a way to eliminate every incorrect answer.

Bubbling Strategy: Save Time, Avoid Errors

When I first started taking tests in high school, I did what many students do: after I finished one question, I went to the bubble sheet and filled it in. This approach actually wastes a lot of time. You're distracting yourself between two distinct tasks: solving questions and bubbling in answers. By saving just five seconds per question, you get back three minutes and 20 seconds on the Reading section. Be very careful, though, as you do not want to run out of time before you've bubbled in all your answers. Definitely make sure you bubble in your answers to that point with at least 10 minutes remaining.

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