Strategies for Finishing ACT Reading Comprehension Faster

The most common issue that students have on ACT Reading is time. Granted the timing is tight: 35 minutes for four passages and 40 questions, or precisely 8 minutes and 45 seconds per passage/ten question set. The timing, however, is not the whole story.

In reality, what presents itself as a time issue is often something else entirely. Most people assume that they have problems on ACT Reading because they can't read fast enough when the real problem is that they don't know how to read effectively enough to locate the requisite information in time. Yes, it is true that many ACT Reading questions are detailed-based and require the identification of a particular fact buried in the middle of a paragraph, but what many test-takers overlook is the fact that there are many strategies they can employ to quickly locate the necessary information -- even if they have no recollection whatsoever of where it is. 

In a roundabout way, the ACT can actually be more of a reasoning test than the SAT, and if you really want to improve your score dramatically, you need to treat it like one. Simply reading each passage fully, trying to absorb all of the information, and then going through the questions in order will have little to no long-term effect on your score. 

The bottom line is that if you want to get through all four passages in time and obtain a high score, you must be willing to be flexible and shift your strategy to fit the question. That includes doing the following: 

1) Skip around 

If a question looks hard or time-consuming, skip it upfront and come back to it if you have time. Figure out a marking system so that you don't forget do so. Your goal is to get as many questions right as you possibly can as fast as you can; don't sacrifice questions you can get right for questions you can't. If you know that "main point" questions are always a problem, for example, just skip them and answer everything else first. 

2) Learn to distinguish between "detail" passages and "argument" passages and treat them accordingly 

For passages that focus more on details or descriptions without a real point, you can ignore this process; it won't really get you anywhere. 

For the passages that do focus on a single argument, however, you need to take the time to both determine and write down the main point and the tone. Keeping those things in mind when you answer the questions can save you unbelievable amounts of time. 

3) Learn what information you can skip initially

This is another strategy that comes primarily into play when you're dealing with a straightforward "argument" passage. Whenever you encounter a topic sentence that clearly indicates that the rest of the paragraph will just offer supporting details, you can skip the rest of the paragraph. If a question asks specifically about those lines, you can go back and read them closely, but remember: the topic sentence has already told you why those details were important, and there's a decent chance that's what the ACT will ask about. 

4) Think logically about where information is most likely to be located 

This may sound obvious, but very often when asked to locate a piece of information that they don't recall, people begin re-reading the passage from the beginning. Don't. If the passage discusses a movement chronologically and the question asks about an event that clearly must have happened toward the end of the movement, focus on the end of the passage. 

In addition, when you're trying to locate information that you simply don't remember reading, just focus on the topic sentences to help you figure out where the topic is discussed. If you try to skim through the interiors of paragraphs, you'll most likely just end up lost. 

5) Circle major transitions and important information...

and don't forget to consult those spots when you look back. That's where the information that gets asked about will probably be. It's a waste of time to make notes if you just end up ignoring them and skimming through random sections. 

6) Take shortcuts 

The ACT can be exactly like the SAT here, in the sense that there's often a "back door" that will let you quickly answer what appears to be a complicated question.

For example: if a question asks about the order of a series of events and the answers list four different combinations, each with a different event first, you just have to figure out the first event. By default, only the answer that lists that event first can be right. 

7) Learn when to look at the answers first and when to look at the passage (or your notes) first 

Again, this requires that you be willing to shift your strategy to fit the question. If it's a main point of passage question, you need to consult your notes about the main point. If it's a main point of paragraph question, you need to read the topic sentence of the paragraph in question. If it's an "all of the following EXCEPT' question, you need to look at the answer choices first. You just have to do whatever will get you the answer fastest. 

And yes, all of this requires you to do some serious thinking on your feet. You can't just sit back and expect it to happen. But if you're willing to change the way you look at the test, you might just be surprised at the results.