Speed Reading and the ACT
 

Yo, I'm gonna take the ACT next year. A person in our class got a 35 on the reading and I didn't know what to say. I need practice. I read a book on speed reading, but I just seem to have a limit.

Any tips on doing the reading part of the ACT? Is there a technique? Do people even read the excerts? or just look up the answers?
Post your scores too!

Joseph

I scored a 33 on the reading portion and all I did was read each excerpt, then answered the questions. If I was unsure about the answer for a question, I referred back to the text. If you just tried to go straight to the question without reading first, you may have difficulty with contextual questions {if they even have those, it was like 8 years ago when I took the ACT}. It was pretty easy.

Also, it would be a good idea for you to take the ACT multiple times, even if you do well the first time. This way you get a feel for how each section is and you can better prepare yourself for subsequent tries {if you choose to do any actual preparation. I did not. I just showed up on time and proceded to earn myself scholarships}.

I don't know if speed reading will help you. It's not so much how fast you can read but how well you can comprehend. I finished the sections on my SAT (I realize it's not the same as the ACT, but still) and didn't have to rush, I don't think that reading faster would have increased my score.

Honestly I don't like being scored on stuff like that since certain things can be open to interepretation.

WRONG. Everything can be quantified. Just ask College Board.

I just skim most of it and then go to the questions. I answer the questions I can and reread parts of the passage thoroughly in order to find the answer to more contextual questions.

My practice habits for the SAT were to read through the questions quickly to get a feel of what to look for. Then when you read the passage, some buzz words you remember may pop up and help you answer the question.

What you could also do is while you read, underline parts of the text that seem important. It helped me a lot in referring back while answering the questions

I'm not sure why you're asking this, speed reading has nothing to do with test taking. Unless you're some impossibly agonizingly slow reader, you should plenty of time because it's more about comprehension rather than how fast you can finish the passage.

One time I had while taking the SATs was read the questions first, then go back and read the passage. That way, you know what to look for when you're reading and what to focus on

Don't forget that this test isn't important. It's just going to decide what you'll do for the rest of your life.

First off, you really should read the passages. The only time I got away with completely skipping passages was on the graphical analysis questions in the the science portion of the test, but of course, that a different topic. ;)

When reading the passages, don't try to pick up each and every detail. If possible, try to read at a normal pace. By giving the passages a cursory glance, you'll miss a lot, but by staring down each and every word, you're just taking up more time than you really need to. As you're reading, you may find it helpful to underline important parts, but remember not to overdo it. You may also want to keep an eye out for the style and tone of the passage as well. If you quickly skimmed the questions, you might have a better idea of what you need to pay more attention to.

One of the things that really hurt me in past experiences was the fact that I spent too much time on the questions. It's best to move on and then go back and answer what you couldn't figure out earlier. That way, you can spend more time thinking without missing out on easier questions that you could have answered had you finished the test.

I never understood this whole "I am preparing for my ACT/SAT."

Of course, I didn't bother taking the goddamned test until I was well out of high school. I had to go BACK and take the thing to get into college about 5 years ago.

I scored well. I forget the exact scores, but I remember being impressed with myself, considering I had been out of school for a while.

Why can't you just approach these passages like you would any OTHER reading? If you put yourself under a lot of pressure to SPEED THROUGH, you're probably going to do a lot worse. Of course, this is only MY theory, and its how I try to approach most things.

These passages aren't like huge chapters of "how to install a stereo." It's pretty simple, mundane passages. Do you people REALLY feel the need to STUDY for that? =/

If I read through the passages and answer all the questions, I start the 3rd out of the 4 passages and boom, time's out. I hate reading slow! Sure, if I do happen to get those quesitons right that's only half! Any tips on the other parts?
Joseph

I learned that pretty early on, as I found out that I was actually wasting more time speeding through the passage. Yeah, I got through the passages, but I ended up having to go back to them and re-reading them over again anyways due to the fact that I barely picked up anything during my quick read.

If the ACT is anything like the SAT (New England....everyone does SAT) then there's no way around it, you have to read it.