English
Math
Reading
Science
Strategies & Tips
100
Meanwhile, the runners continue to score. They score, that is, if they were not to be distracted by the grown-ups -- or the butterflies.
A. NO CHANGE
B. they would not have been
C. they're not
D. they're not to be
C. they're not
--Maintain consistency in the present tense
100
A car averages 27 miles per gallon. If gas costs $4.04 per gallon, which of the following is closest to how much the gas would cost for this car to travel 2,727 typical miles?
A. $44.44
B. $109.08
C. $118.80
D. $408.04
E. $444.40
D. $408.04
100
Line 63- 66 "The whole time I work I wait to see where the screw-up is going to come. I imagine what my colleagues will be saying about me in the hallways. Did you know that Bryant built his shelves so they tilt?"
The question “Did you know that Bryant built his shelves so they tilt?” (lines 65–66) helps establish that the narrator is anxious because:
F. his coworkers have discovered his incompetence and have made it the subject of office humor.
G. his coworkers resent his having a corner office and punish him with their biting humor.
H. he fears his incompetence is so glaring it will make him the object of ridicule among coworkers.
J. the tilting bookshelves remind him that,
H. he fears his incompetence is so glaring it will make him the object of ridicule among coworkers.
100
Scientist 1 The object was a comet, a body made of ices (such as frozen water or methane) and dust. Most of this cometary material is volatile (easily vaporized) and low in density. Friction in Earth’s atmosphere heated the comet to a temperature at which it exploded, high above the ground. The majority of the ices and dust were vaporized in the explosion, which explains why no crater was formed at the site and why no large, identifiable fragments of the object were found. An asteroid would not have been completely destroyed. Intact asteroid fragments that reached the ground would have created one or more craters upon impact and left behind recoverable pieces. Evidence shows that the object decelerated rapidly before it exploded. Because of their low density, comets are capable of such rapid deceleration, whereas high-density objects, such as asteroids, are not.
Scientist 1’s viewpoint indicates that when the materials that compose most of a comet are sufficiently heated, they change to:
F. solids.
G. gases.
H. liquids.
J. a vacuum.
G. gases.
(Vaporizes)
100
True or False: You should not take guesses when you have a few minutes remaining in order to answer all questions.
False -- You should answer all questions on the test even if you do not know the answer. There are no penalties for guessing!
200
Just yesterday I sat across the aisle with a woman who was composing music.
A. NO CHANGE
B. to
C. at
D. from
D. from
The right idiomatic expression is "sat across from."
200
When x = 3 and y = 5, by how much does the value of 3x^2 – 2y exceed the value of 2x^2 – 3y?
F. 4
G. 14
H. 16
I. 20
J. 50
G. 14
200
(Lines 9-13) "The Albany of my childhood was a festive place, closer in spirit to the nineteenth century than to the twenty-first. Italian pushcart grocers crowded southern city blocks, crafting tiered architectural wonders from fresh produce and pungent sausage."
The author uses the term “architectural wonders” (line 12) to describe:
A. nineteenth-century buildings.
B. German baked goods.
C. crowded city blocks with cobblestone streets.
D. arranged layers of fruits, vegetables, and sausages.
D. arranged layers of fruits, vegetables, and sausages.
200
In 1908, an object from outer space devastated 2,000 km2 of forest in Siberia. The object was between 10 m and 100 m in diameter and traveled at a maximum speed of 15 km/sec. It exploded at an altitude of 8 km and released energy equivalent to 20 million tons of TNT. Two scientists discuss whether this object was a comet or an asteroid.
Scientist 2: The object was a stony asteroid. As it entered Earth’s atmosphere, its high speed created a large air pressure difference between the area just in front of the asteroid and the area just behind the asteroid. The large pressure difference eventually exceeded the structural strength of the asteroid. The asteroid flattened, decelerated rapidly due to the dramatic increase in its surface area, and fragmented before reaching the ground. This fragmentation would have appeared like an explosion. Calculations show that a comet between 10 m and 100 m in diameter would explode at an altitude much higher than 8 km, but a stony asteroid of that size would fragment at or near an altitude of 8 km. Recovery of large asteroid fragments is difficult due to the area’s boggy soil; however, small, glassy fragments were recovered and are believed to be melted and resolidified pieces of the asteroid.
According to Scientist 2’s viewpoint, compared to the altitude at which a stony asteroid would have exploded in Earth’s atmosphere, a comet of similar size would most likely have exploded at:
A. the same altitude.
B. a higher altitude.
C. a slightly lower altitude.
D. a much lower altitude
B. a higher altitude.
200
True or false: do not read the entire reading passage before answering the questions.
True -- you should skim the questions first.
300
One college class chose Díaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao as (3) their favorite book of the semester.
A. NO CHANGE
B. it’s favorite book
C. they’re favorite book
D. its favorite book
D. its favorite book
Only the pronoun changes, so the question is testing pronouns. Their is a plural pronoun, but class is singular. Cross off choices (A) and (C)—choice (C) isn’t even the right type of pronoun, plural or not. Since we need a possessive pronoun, cross off choice (B) as well. Choice (D) is the correct answer.
300
What is the greatest common factor of 42, 126, and 120?
F. 2
G. 6
H. 14
I. 21
J. 42
J. 42
42 = 2 × 3 × 7; 126 = 2 × 3 x 3 × 7; and 210 = 2 × 3 × 5 × 7. So the greatest common factor is 2 × 3 × 7 = 42.
300
(Lines 17-25) Those same fifteen degrees of longitude also correspond to a distance traveled. At the Equator, where the girth of the Earth is greatest, fifteen degrees stretch fully one thousand miles. North or south of that line, however, the mileage value of each degree decreases. One degree of longitude equals four minutes of time the world over, but in terms of distance, one degree shrinks from sixty-eight miles at the Equator to virtually nothing at the poles.
Information in the second paragraph (lines 17–25) establishes that one degree of longitude translates into a distance of:
A. sixty-eight miles at Earth’s equator but less on either side of Earth’s equator.
B. sixty-eight miles at Earth’s equator but more on either side of Earth’s equator.
C. one thousand miles the world over.
D. virtually nothing at Earth’s equator, increasing to a maximum of sixty-eight miles at the poles.
A. sixty-eight miles at Earth’s equator but less on either side of Earth’s equator.
300
A biologist wanted to do an experiment involving two species of large cat (species A and species B) around a potential new food source.
He isolated the populations of each cat in a location that closely approximated their natural environment, except this potential new food source was the only food source available to them.
Experiment 1:
When species A was left alone with the new food source, their numbers decreased rapidly until none were left.
Experiment 2:
When species B was left alone with the new food source, their numbers increased and the species flourished.
Experiment 3:
When an equal number of species A and B were placed with the new food source, both species maintained relatively constant numbers.
The experiment is repeated with a new species of cat, species C. When left alone with the new food source, their numbers decreased rapidly until none were left. What conclusion can we draw?
A. Species C is completely unrelated to either species A or B
B. Species C and species B must share a close genetic link
C. Species C and species A must have similar coloring
D. The potential food source is not a possible food source for species C
D. The potential food source is not a possible food source for species C
Explanation: We need more info for conclusions about genetic relationships. The potential food source is not a possible food source for species C. We can determine this based on the fact that species C dies quickly when left alone with the food source.
300
How many minutes should you spend on each reading passage?
About 8.5 minutes
400
Troy walked all the way down the mountain. After that, he was too tired to stay awake through the movie.
F. NO CHANGE
G. After this,
H. After walking so far,
J. So that
H. After walking so far,
400
A typical high school student consumes 67.5 pounds of sugar per year. As part of a new nutrition plan, each member of the football team plans to lower the sugar he consumes by at least 20% for the coming year. Assuming each track member had consumed sugar at the level of a typical high school student and will adhere to this plan for the coming year, what is the maximum number of pounds of sugar to be consumed by each football team member in the coming year?
A. 14
B. 44
C. 48
D. 54
E. 66
D. 54
54 is the correct answer. For each member of the team to consume 20% less sugar, the track member will consume 100% – 20% = 80% of the level of a typical high school student. 80% of 67.5 = 0.80(67.5) = 54
400
(paragraph one) To learn one’s longitude at sea, one needs to know what time it is aboard ship and also the time at the home port or another place of known longitude—at that very same moment. The two clock times enable the navigator to convert the hour difference into a geographical separation. Since the Earth takes twenty-four hours to complete one full revolution of three hundred sixty degrees, one hour marks one twenty-fourth of a spin, or fifteen degrees. And so each hour’s time difference between the ship and the starting point marks a progress of fifteen degrees of longitude to the east or west. Every day at sea, when the navigator resets the ship’s clock to local noon when the sun reaches its highest point in the sky, and then consults the homeport clock, every hour’s discrepancy between them translates into another fifteen degrees of longitude.
The function of the first paragraph in relation to the passage as a whole is to:
A. orient the reader to the subject of longitude by explaining how longitude is determined at sea.
B. explain the political significance of developing an accurate way of determining longitude.
C. establish that longitude calculations are necessary to determine time in two different places at once.
D. introduce a discussion of how knowledge of Earth’s position relative to the Sun was gained in the process of advances in time keeping.
A. orient the reader to the subject of longitude by explaining how longitude is determined at sea.
400
A. 10%
B. 50%
C. 80%
D. 100%
B. 50%
400
True or False: the math test includes higher-level questions in the beginning and lower-level questions towards the end.
False -- The lower level questions are at the beginning. It is very important to focus on the first half of the test for the more basic math.
500
The first train took twenty-six minutes to complete the route, which ran from City Hall to West 145th Street in under a half an hour.
A. NO CHANGE
B. in the completion of its route.
C. in twenty-six minutes.
D. DELETE (OMIT) the underlined portion and end the sentence with a period.
D. DELETE (OMIT) the underlined portion and end the sentence with a period.
--reduce redundancy
500
Jimmy is twice as old as his brother Kent, who is five times as old as their cat Lance. In 10 years, Jimmy will be four times as old as Lance will be then. How old is Kent?
A. 25
B. 27
C. 30
D. 33
E. 35
A. 25
500
(Lines 36-46) I say, simply, that they are too big. I am not ungrateful, not trying to be hateful, not in my opinion being overly fastidious. I am simply describing a characteristic of the hoops. But my grandfather’s feelings are damaged. (Line 40-->)No, they can’t be made smaller, and no, he’s not interested in helping me with the backboards now or with any other part of my plan. He’s sorry he got involved in the first place. This, too, is a corollary of “flawed competence.” We are sensitive, especially about our work, especially about the flawed part of our work.
It can most reasonably be inferred from the sixth paragraph (lines 36–46) that the statement that the basketball hoops “can’t be made smaller” (line 40) is:
F. a fact stated by the grandfather apologetically.
G. an opinion stated by the grandfather indignantly.
H. a claim the narrator makes to humiliate a relative.
J. a conclusion the narrator reaches after hard labor
G. an opinion stated by the grandfather indignantly.
500
A. No; according to Figure 2, conversion stops after 8 hours and does not reach 100%.
B. No; according to Figure 1, nearly 100% of the acid has been converted after 8 hours.
C. Yes; according to Figure 1, there is a significant increase in the conversion rate of 8 hours.
D. Yes; according to Figure 2, less than 50% of the acid has been converted after 8 hours.
A. No; according to Figure 2, conversion stops after 8 hours and does not reach 100%.
500
What is the best way to improve any & every score for the ACT section tests?
PRACTICE
-It is really important to figure out which tips and tricks work best for you.