{"id":5908,"date":"2016-03-10t09:23:25","date_gmt":"2016-03-10t17:23:25","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/?p=5908"},"modified":"2018-10-24t19:13:36","modified_gmt":"2018-10-25t02:13:36","slug":"act-english-multiple-choice-test-strategies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/act\/act-english-multiple-choice-test-strategies\/","title":{"rendered":"act english multiple choice test strategies"},"content":{"rendered":"
multiple choice test strategies on the act<\/a> boil down to two broad approaches: eliminating answers that create mistakes, and eliminating answers that aren\u2019t supported by the reading, infographic, or prompt.<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

strategy 1: eliminating answers that create mistakes<\/h2>\n

questions on the act english section<\/a> all involve detecting and correcting writing mistakes that are found either in the passage itself or in the answer prompts. so more often than not, you\u2019ll employ the first strategy: eliminating answers that create mistakes. here is one example from a typical act english question:<\/p>\n

the title of valedictorian is given to one person, those who have<\/u> the single best academic performance within a high school graduating class.<\/p>\n

select the answer that best corrects the underlined<\/u> portion of the passage.<\/em>
\na) no change
\nb) those who, have
\nc) the person with
\nd) a person that is having<\/p>\n

to eliminate incorrect answers that add new mistakes to the text, quickly scan for things you know can\u2019t be right. the first place to look is the text itself. there\u2019s an obvious mistake in the underlined phrase: \u201cthose\u201d is a plural word, but it refers to a clearly singular antecedent: \u201cone person.\u201d so right there, you can eliminate choice a <\/strong>(no change) as an answer. act english loves to present you with plural\/singular contradictions, so it\u2019s a good idea to look for other singular\/plural mistakes after finding the mistake in the text. you can see another mistake in plurals\/singulars and immediately rule out answer b<\/strong>, which also has \u201cthose.\u201d<\/p>\n

that brings you down to answers c<\/strong> and d<\/strong>. this is a little trickier. neither seem to violate any obvious grammar rules. here, it can help to read each choice out loud in context or at least picture each choice in context. which one sounds and looks right? most native english speakers would notice that c works better\u2014it \u201cflows\u201d more smoothly.<\/p>\n

if you\u2019re having trouble making this distinction, you can still notice that d seems more like a stylistic mistake because it\u2019s wordier. remember that more often than not, act english treats something with an unnecessary number of words as an error, sometimes describing overly wordy phrasing as \u201cawkward\u201d in its official practice materials.<\/p>\n

so, by detecting and ruling out writing mistakes one step at a time, you\u2019ve managed to get the correct answer choice c<\/strong> by process of elimination.<\/p>\n

strategy 2: eliminating answers not supported by the text<\/h2>\n

the second act multiple test choice strategy, eliminating answers that are not supported by the text, is less common in act english, but it can still happen in content-based questions such as this one (adapted from the minnesota dnr website<\/a>):<\/p>\n

we have no evidence that earthworms ever inhabited the area surrounding the north american great lakes before european settlement. even if they did, the glaciers killed any native north american earthworms in this region. for the last 11,000 years since the glaciers receded, the ecosystem in these portions of the united states and canada developed without earthworms, and the earthworms living in the present day region are imported species. this is not to say that north america as a whole is devoid of indigenous earthworms. in fact, there are over 100 varieties of native north american earthworms in unglaciated areas such as the southeastern u.s. and the pacific northwest.<\/p>\n

given that all of the following sentences are true, which one would most effectively conclude this paragraph?<\/em>
\na) no change
\nb) both glaciated and unglaciated regions have similar native species of mice.
\nc) sometimes even in modern times, the buildup of snow of snow in this region during winter can seem glacier-like.
\nd) both native and non-native species of earthworms in north america are used in recreational fishing.<\/p>\n

on this kind of question, you can use the second strategy: eliminating unsupported answers. to find the correct answer, look for the one that\u2019s supported by the passage and is a relevant, good \u201cfit\u201d for all the other information being presented. b <\/strong>definitely doesn\u2019t work, because it looks at a completely different animal than the one discussed in the rest of the passage. c<\/strong> also doesn\u2019t work since the passage isn\u2019t about modern weather patterns at all. the same goes for d<\/strong>\u2014the passage isn\u2019t concerned with fishing or the commercial sale of earthworms for fishing. this leaves us with a <\/strong>by process of elimination.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

multiple choice test strategies on the act english test boil down to two broad approaches: eliminating answers that create mistakes and eliminating answers that aren\u2019t supported by the passage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[90],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[24913],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nact english multiple choice test strategies<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"multiple choice strategies on the act english test boil down to two broad approaches: eliminating answers that create mistakes and eliminating answers that aren\u2019t supported.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/act\/act-english-multiple-choice-test-strategies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_us\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"act english multiple choice test strategies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"multiple choice strategies on the act english test boil down to two broad approaches: eliminating answers that create mistakes and eliminating answers that aren\u2019t supported.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/act\/act-english-multiple-choice-test-strategies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"magoosh blog | high school\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/magooshsat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/magooshenglishlearning\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-10t17:23:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-10-25t02:13:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"david recine\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@magooshsat_act\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@magooshsat_act\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"david recine\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"article\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/act\/act-english-multiple-choice-test-strategies\/#article\",\"ispartof\":{\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/act\/act-english-multiple-choice-test-strategies\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"david recine\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/#\/schema\/person\/fa2be5405a605e37f4199c90e2236768\"},\"headline\":\"act english multiple choice test strategies\",\"datepublished\":\"2016-03-10t17:23:25+00:00\",\"datemodified\":\"2018-10-25t02:13:36+00:00\",\"mainentityofpage\":{\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/act\/act-english-multiple-choice-test-strategies\/\"},\"wordcount\":742,\"commentcount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/#organization\"},\"articlesection\":[\"act\"],\"inlanguage\":\"en-us\",\"potentialaction\":[{\"@type\":\"commentaction\",\"name\":\"comment\",\"target\":[\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/act\/act-english-multiple-choice-test-strategies\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"webpage\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/act\/act-english-multiple-choice-test-strategies\/\",\"url\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/act\/act-english-multiple-choice-test-strategies\/\",\"name\":\"act english multiple choice test strategies\",\"ispartof\":{\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/#website\"},\"datepublished\":\"2016-03-10t17:23:25+00:00\",\"datemodified\":\"2018-10-25t02:13:36+00:00\",\"description\":\"multiple choice strategies on the act english test boil down to two broad approaches: eliminating answers that create mistakes and eliminating answers that aren\u2019t supported.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/act\/act-english-multiple-choice-test-strategies\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inlanguage\":\"en-us\",\"potentialaction\":[{\"@type\":\"readaction\",\"target\":[\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/act\/act-english-multiple-choice-test-strategies\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"breadcrumblist\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/act\/act-english-multiple-choice-test-strategies\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemlistelement\":[{\"@type\":\"listitem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"home\",\"item\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/\"},{\"@type\":\"listitem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"act english multiple choice test strategies\"}]},{\"@type\":\"website\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/#website\",\"url\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/\",\"name\":\"magoosh blog | high school\",\"description\":\"act, sat, college admissions, life\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/#organization\"},\"potentialaction\":[{\"@type\":\"searchaction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"entrypoint\",\"urltemplate\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inlanguage\":\"en-us\"},{\"@type\":\"organization\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/#organization\",\"name\":\"magoosh\",\"url\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"imageobject\",\"inlanguage\":\"en-us\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/files\/2019\/02\/magoosh-logo-purple-60h.png\",\"contenturl\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/files\/2019\/02\/magoosh-logo-purple-60h.png\",\"width\":265,\"height\":60,\"caption\":\"magoosh\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameas\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/magooshsat\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/magooshsat_act\"]},{\"@type\":\"person\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/#\/schema\/person\/fa2be5405a605e37f4199c90e2236768\",\"name\":\"david recine\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"imageobject\",\"inlanguage\":\"en-us\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/c25f47bb3a8328890274eea1ac8ba62f\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cb83f01789b236e00117edd9663c4568?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contenturl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cb83f01789b236e00117edd9663c4568?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"david recine\"},\"description\":\"david is a test prep expert for magoosh toefl and ielts. additionally, he's helped students with toeic, pet, fce, bulats, eiken, sat, act, gre, and gmat. david has a bs and ma from the university of wisconsin-eau claire and an ma from the university of wisconsin-river falls.\",\"sameas\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/magooshenglishlearning\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-recine\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/ucra3kqojlop7rywacyh2qew\"],\"knowsabout\":[\"toefl\",\"ielts\",\"toeic\",\"pet\",\"fce\",\"bulats\",\"eiken\",\"sat\",\"act\",\"gre\",\"gmat\"],\"knowslanguage\":[\"english\",\"italian\"],\"jobtitle\":\"content creator\",\"worksfor\":\"magoosh\",\"url\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/author\/davidr\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ yoast seo premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"act english multiple choice test strategies","description":"multiple choice strategies on the act english test boil down to two broad approaches: eliminating answers that create mistakes and eliminating answers that aren\u2019t supported.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/act\/act-english-multiple-choice-test-strategies\/","og_locale":"en_us","og_type":"article","og_title":"act english multiple choice test strategies","og_description":"multiple choice strategies on the act english test boil down to two broad approaches: eliminating answers that create mistakes and eliminating answers that aren\u2019t supported.","og_url":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/act\/act-english-multiple-choice-test-strategies\/","og_site_name":"magoosh blog | high school","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/magooshsat\/","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/magooshenglishlearning","article_published_time":"2016-03-10t17:23:25+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-10-25t02:13:36+00:00","author":"david recine","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@magooshsat_act","twitter_site":"@magooshsat_act","twitter_misc":{"written by":"david recine","est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"article","@id":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/act\/act-english-multiple-choice-test-strategies\/#article","ispartof":{"@id":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/act\/act-english-multiple-choice-test-strategies\/"},"author":{"name":"david recine","@id":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/#\/schema\/person\/fa2be5405a605e37f4199c90e2236768"},"headline":"act english multiple choice test strategies","datepublished":"2016-03-10t17:23:25+00:00","datemodified":"2018-10-25t02:13:36+00:00","mainentityofpage":{"@id":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/act\/act-english-multiple-choice-test-strategies\/"},"wordcount":742,"commentcount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/#organization"},"articlesection":["act"],"inlanguage":"en-us","potentialaction":[{"@type":"commentaction","name":"comment","target":["\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/act\/act-english-multiple-choice-test-strategies\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"webpage","@id":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/act\/act-english-multiple-choice-test-strategies\/","url":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/act\/act-english-multiple-choice-test-strategies\/","name":"act english multiple choice test strategies","ispartof":{"@id":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/#website"},"datepublished":"2016-03-10t17:23:25+00:00","datemodified":"2018-10-25t02:13:36+00:00","description":"multiple choice strategies on the act english test boil down to two broad approaches: eliminating answers that create mistakes and eliminating answers that aren\u2019t supported.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/act\/act-english-multiple-choice-test-strategies\/#breadcrumb"},"inlanguage":"en-us","potentialaction":[{"@type":"readaction","target":["\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/act\/act-english-multiple-choice-test-strategies\/"]}]},{"@type":"breadcrumblist","@id":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/act\/act-english-multiple-choice-test-strategies\/#breadcrumb","itemlistelement":[{"@type":"listitem","position":1,"name":"home","item":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/"},{"@type":"listitem","position":2,"name":"act english multiple choice test strategies"}]},{"@type":"website","@id":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/#website","url":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/","name":"magoosh blog | high school","description":"act, sat, college admissions, life","publisher":{"@id":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/#organization"},"potentialaction":[{"@type":"searchaction","target":{"@type":"entrypoint","urltemplate":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inlanguage":"en-us"},{"@type":"organization","@id":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/#organization","name":"magoosh","url":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/","logo":{"@type":"imageobject","inlanguage":"en-us","@id":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/files\/2019\/02\/magoosh-logo-purple-60h.png","contenturl":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/files\/2019\/02\/magoosh-logo-purple-60h.png","width":265,"height":60,"caption":"magoosh"},"image":{"@id":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameas":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/magooshsat\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/magooshsat_act"]},{"@type":"person","@id":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/#\/schema\/person\/fa2be5405a605e37f4199c90e2236768","name":"david recine","image":{"@type":"imageobject","inlanguage":"en-us","@id":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/c25f47bb3a8328890274eea1ac8ba62f","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cb83f01789b236e00117edd9663c4568?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contenturl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cb83f01789b236e00117edd9663c4568?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"david recine"},"description":"david is a test prep expert for magoosh toefl and ielts. additionally, he's helped students with toeic, pet, fce, bulats, eiken, sat, act, gre, and gmat. david has a bs and ma from the university of wisconsin-eau claire and an ma from the university of wisconsin-river falls.","sameas":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/magooshenglishlearning","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-recine\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/ucra3kqojlop7rywacyh2qew"],"knowsabout":["toefl","ielts","toeic","pet","fce","bulats","eiken","sat","act","gre","gmat"],"knowslanguage":["english","italian"],"jobtitle":"content creator","worksfor":"magoosh","url":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/author\/davidr\/"}]}},"authors":[{"term_id":24913,"user_id":80,"is_guest":0,"slug":"davidr","display_name":"david recine","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cb83f01789b236e00117edd9663c4568?s=96&d=mm&r=g","user_url":"","last_name":"recine","first_name":"david","description":"david is a test prep expert for magoosh toefl and ielts. additionally, he's helped students with toeic, pet, fce, bulats, eiken, sat, act, gre, and gmat.\r\n\r\ndavid has a bs from the university of wisconsin-eau claire and an ma from the university of wisconsin-river falls. his work at magoosh has been cited in<a href=\"https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2c50&q=recine+magoosh&btng=\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> many scholarly articles<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/minds.wisconsin.edu\/handle\/1793\/65479\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> his master's thesis<\/a> is featured on the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.readingwithpictures.org\/2013\/09\/research-highlight-teaching-english-language-learners-with-comics\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> reading with pictures<\/a> website, and he's presented at the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.witesol.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/2014-witesol-program-final-10-28-14.pdf\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> witesol (link to pdf)<\/a> and<a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/interoff\/docs\/nafsaregionv_2014conference\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> nafsa<\/a> conferences. david has taught k-12 esl in south korea as well as undergraduate english and mba-level business english at american universities. he has also trained english teachers in america, italy, and peru.\r\n\r\ncome join david and the magoosh team on<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/ucra3kqojlop7rywacyh2qew\"> youtube<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/magooshenglishlearning\"> facebook<\/a>, and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/magooshenglish\/?hl=en\"> instagram<\/a>, or connect with him via<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-recine\/\"> linkedin<\/a>!"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5908"}],"collection":[{"href":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/80"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5908\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5908"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=5908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}