How to Read Each ACT Reading Passage Type
Different passage types reward different reading approaches. Treating them all the same costs you points.
Prose Fiction
Read for character motivation, mood, and narrative voice. Pay attention to who is speaking and what the narrator does and does not know. Questions tend to ask about inferred emotional states and the meaning of figurative language.
Social Science and Humanities
Read for the author's argument and evidence. These passages have a thesis you can identify in one sentence. Questions ask about that thesis, the evidence supporting it, and the author's tone toward the subject.
Natural Science
Read for structure: what is being explained, what is the hypothesis, what is the result. Vocabulary is usually defined in context; you do not need outside knowledge.
Paired Passages
Read each passage separately first. Then ask: where do they agree, where do they disagree, where does one say something the other does not address. The synthesis questions follow this structure.
What to do next
Drill the passage type you find hardest. The biggest score gains come from getting comfortable with one format at a time.
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