ACT Reading: Section Overview
Everything you need to know about the structure, scoring, and strategy of the ACT Reading section.
Structure
The ACT Reading section is 40 multiple-choice questions in 35 minutes, divided into four passages of 10 questions each. The passages are always Prose Fiction, Social Science, Humanities, and Natural Science. One of the four is now a paired-passage set.
Top Strategy
Always go back to the passage. The wrong answers are written to sound like the passage but distort one specific phrase. The only way to catch the distortion is to re-read.
Predict an answer in your own words before reading the choices. Then match. Choosing without a prediction lets the wrong-answer writers anchor you.
Pacing
About 8.5 minutes per passage including reading. Most students gain time by getting faster at reading the passage, not by getting faster at answering questions.
What to do next
Drill the passage type you are weakest in. Reading score gains come from passage-type comfort more than from raw reading speed.
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