← Reading syllabus

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Paired Passages and Pacing

5 dot points across 5 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

What should you do in the last minute or two of the ACT Reading section to lock in every available point?

Final-minute strategy: using the closing minute or two to bubble every unanswered question with a best guess, prioritizing quick detail questions over slow ones, double-checking the answer grid, and never leaving a blank, since there is no penalty for a wrong answer.
What to do in the last minute or two of ACT Reading: bubble every unanswered question with a best guess, prioritize quick detail questions, double-check the answer grid, and never leave a blank since there is no penalty.
9 min answer →

What do you do when an ACT passage is confusing or dense, so it does not derail your timing or your score on the rest of the section?

Managing hard passages: keeping a confusing or dense passage from derailing the section by reading for the gist rather than every detail, answering the questions you can, marking the rest with a best guess, and not letting one tough part overrun its time.
What to do when an ACT passage is confusing or dense: read for the gist rather than every detail, answer the questions you can, mark the rest with a best guess, and keep one tough part from overrunning its time.
10 min answer →

In what order should you do the parts and questions on ACT Reading to bank the most points, given the section is not adaptive?

Order of attack: choosing which parts and questions to do first, starting with the passage types you read fastest, banking easy detail questions before slow inference ones, and skipping and returning rather than stalling, since the section is not adaptive and every question is worth one point.
How to order the parts and questions on ACT Reading: start with the passage types you read fastest, bank easy detail questions before slow inference ones, and skip and return rather than stalling, since the section is not adaptive.
10 min answer →

How do you pace the ACT Reading section to finish about 36 questions in 40 minutes, budgeting time by part?

Pacing the section: budgeting about 40 minutes across the parts of the enhanced Reading section, spending roughly nine minutes per part including reading, banking checkpoints, and protecting time so no part is left unread or unbubbled.
How to pace the ACT Reading section: budget about 40 minutes across the parts, spend roughly nine minutes per part including reading, use time checkpoints, and protect time so no part is left unread or unbubbled.
10 min answer →

How do you work the paired-passage part of the ACT efficiently, reading two passages and answering single-passage and comparison questions in the right order?

Paired passages: the routine for the two-passage part, reading Passage A and answering its questions, then Passage B and its questions, then the comparison questions last, keeping each author's view attributed and using both texts for the relationship items.
How to work the ACT paired-passage part efficiently: read Passage A and answer its questions, then Passage B and its questions, then the comparison questions last, keeping each author's view attributed and using both texts for relationship items.
10 min answer →