Your ACT Roadmap

Four subjects: English, Math, Reading, and SciThe Test

ence, plus an optional essay. You should sit for the essay in case one of your schools requires it. One test per subject, each with its own time limit: English: 75 questions in 45 minutes Math: 60 questions in 60 minutes Reading: 40 questions in 35 minutes Science: 40 questions in 35 minutes Writing (optional): 1 question in 30 minutes Takes about four hours total. Calculators are allowed only on the Math Test. The most challenging aspect of the ACT is timMaximize the effectiveness of your ACT prep: ingyou have to be fast to finish all the questions. You need to register for the ACT about a month in advance. You can do it online at act.org.

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Your essay is scored on a 1-6 scale by two graders.

lation depends on the specific test.

Basics

Scoring You get a score between 1 and 36 in each subject.

These are averaged to produce a total, also between 1 and 36. Higher is better. Your test is scored automatically, not by hand, so make sure you mark your answer sheet as instructed. There is no penalty for wrong answers. Your scaled score (1-36) is proportional to how many questions you get right, but the exact calcugrammar is to read good writing on your own.

The scores are added for a total between 2 and 12, which is factored into your English/Writing score. As your score gets higher, it gets harder to improve: going from a 34 to a 36 takes more work than going from a 20 to a 22.

Test Day Tips Bring a calculator, two pencils, and a snack. Get plenty of sleep the night before. Have a little caffeine, but not too much. Since theres no guessing penalty, dont leave any
questions blank. once you go back to normal, itll seem easy.

Studying

Live the strategic life. We give you strategies for the ACT, but use them elsewhere too. Be APT when you read the Internet. Notice grammatical errors in conversations. Use UnWrAP in your math class. Et cetera. Its great practice for the test, and the strategies will help with your other work. Heed: read! To help on the Reading and English sections, read high-quality material on your own. Choose articles that interest you from wellwritten publications like The Economist, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal, and read them with your strategies. The best way to learn reading and
On each ACT Reading Test, there are ten questions about each of four passages, one passage each on Prose Fiction, Social Science, Humanities, and Natural Science. Heres a sample passage: It was early in the fall of 1988, and the spirits of the just-graduated class hadnt quite left Newell and everyone was wondering how the heck wed be any good that year. I was fresh from my sophomore year on the third boat, and somewhat unsure of my future on the team: I thought I might have it in me to be good, but hadnt yet shown it in any significant way. The ghosts of the greats still haunted the boathouse in ways metaphysical and physical (several still trained daily, unable to give up the sport cold turkey) and we juniors, as whole, were a group of young saplings being exposed to our first direct sunlight, having spent the previous year in the shadow of the towering oaks and elms. I felt particularly alienated, having languished for much of the previous spring with a rib injury. I recall one day in particular when Coach, after a lackluster practice on the water, had the crews do an additional 20-minute stint on the rowing machines at a moderate-to-hard intensity. Through no planning of my ownI suspect that machine space was limited because of the pesky freshmen, but cant quite rememberI ended up doing the work on a machine next to Oswalds. Oswald, who was well-known to be part-man, part-cheetah, partmonster, completed the distance at a pace I would have found utterly exhausting, and I recall clearly that he wasnt even breathing hard at the end. I also wasnt breathing very hard, but only because I did not go very hard. Afterward Oswald told me, You have to get better. And he was rightI did need to get better. The greats were gone and it was up to the mere mortals to carry the team, and I for the first time realized that I played a direct role in the teams success or failure; that through my efforts, others could be inspired or discouraged; that, in a strange lookingthrough-the-wrong-end-of-a-telescope way, I was the team. We had Oswald, yes, and that counted

Deed before speed. There are two things you have to be able to do on the ACT: answer the questions correctly and answer them quickly. As you study, make sure youre getting the questions right before you worry about going fast. If you learn to answer the questions correctly, its easy to get faster. If you try to go fast before you understand everything, youll end up confused.
terial, speed up by taking sections in less than the allotted time. Try a 35-minute section in 30 minutes, or even 25. Its like running with ankle weights on: for a lot, but he could not carry us all the way to the finish line. I did get better. The rest of the season is history now, and I have often since suspected that without the sometimes not-so-gentle prodding from Oswald, we would not have reached the heights we did that year. Oswald went on to his own success, as we all know, but forget the astounding rowing machine scores, the unbeaten college record, the international success, the Olympic championship: what I most admire about Oswald is his utter dedication to the sport and how that dedication inspires those around him. It certainly inspired me. Normally this passage would have ten corresponding questions, but as an example, heres one: The author sees Oswald as: A. Selfish but inspiring. B. Harsh but helpful. C. Lazy but accomplished. D. Stern but good-humored. Before you look at the questions, read the whole passage. As you go, Annotate the passage with notes (one or two words each) to help you remember whats being talked about where. Pay special attention to the authors Point of view. In the example, what are the authors feelings toward Oswald? Toward the freshmen? Toward rowing? When youre done, take a second to give the passage your own Title that captures the passages main idea and attitude. A good title for the example might be Inspiration from Oswald. Learn to read passages thoroughly before you worry about reading them fast or answering the questions.

Keep it real. Also when youre practicing, use the most authentic conditions possible. Youll be taking the real test at 9 am on a Saturday, so why not practice then too? For all practice, find a quiet, welllit place with a good writing surface, and if youre timing yourself be strict about it. Dont take breaks during sections or let in any distractions. Fear no test! One of the biggest mistakes students make on the ACT is thinking its harder than it is. The questions are designed for high schoolers, so you can do all of them! Dont ever assume a problem is too hard for you before you try it.
dote in the second paragraph. This is common: ACT passages often start out boring to make it harder for you to focus. But losing interest, even for a few seconds, will make you miss information youll need later.

Pick up the pace. Once you master the ma-

Reading

Be a hater. Eliminate answers that are too extreme (using words like always, never, none, etc.), too specific (referring to details not in the passage or not relevant to the question), or erroneous. Remember: all the answer choices are designed to sound right if youre not paying attention to details, but these questions arent subjective: every answer except the right one is objectively wrong, so look for wrong answersthey often stand out more than right ones. In the example, we can easily eliminate choice C because Oswald is not lazy (what I admire most about Oswald is his utter dedication) and choice D because the passage says nothing about Oswald being good-humored. Read, dont think. Many students run into trouble on Reading questions because they allow themselves to think about the plausibility of each answer choice. This is bad! All of the answer choices are designed to sound plausible; what you need is an answer choice that is backed up by words in the passage. Use only the information in the passage and nothing else. Dont jump to conclusions; dont make connections; dont bring in any background knowledge. For the duration of the Reading test, your world has to shrink to the size of the passage. In the example, A sounds like it could work: Oswald is definitely inspiring, and given his brusque attitude and personal success, he could well be selfish. However, theres no evidence in the passage that hes selfishwed have to infer it. Therefore, its wrong. That leaves B as our only choice and indeed, Oswald is harsh (You have to get better) and helpful (withoutOswald, we would not have reached the heights we did). B is correct.
Authors: Morgan Henderson, Jack Byers, Ross Blankenship | Designer: Jack Byers

Be APT.

Fake it till you make it. Students do much better on passages theyre interested in, so try your best to make yourself interested in each passage. When youre not interested, its harder to pay attention, and youll miss the details you need to answer the questions. In the sample passage, the first paragraph is boring background info, and its easy to zone out until the author moves to a specific anec-

There are 60 Math questions on the ACT, but its not as hard as you think. It only goes up to Algebra II, and its a lot like the Math youve done in school. Heres an example: Meg and Tom live on the same street. They both leave their houses at 5:10 and walk due north up the street. Meg is walking 40 meters per minute and Tom is walking 30 meters per minute. If Toms house is 400 meters north of Megs, at what time will Meg pass Tom? A. 5:45 B. 5:50 C. 5:55 D. 6:00 E. 6:05 All you need to do is break questions that seem hard into smaller chunks and use those chunks to build yourself an answer. Heres how:

Overview

5:50. So the answer is (B). These strategies apply to all ACT Math problems, which come in the following three categories: This includes things like percentages, fractions, sequences, combinations, averages, probability, and basic Algebra. Heres an example: In the first six games of the basketball season, Jeremy has scored 10 points once, 20 points twice, and 22 points three times. What is the MINIMUM number of points he must score in the seventh game to average at least 20 points per game for the season? A. 10 B. 14 C. 15 Lets UnWrAP it: D. 20 E. 24

Pre-Algebra & Algebra I

(7 - 5) (0 - 4) -1 SlopeB = SlopeA SlopeA = Plug in and solve: Weve got everything we need, so lets plug it in: (7 - 5) = (0 - 4) -1 SlopeB = = SlopeA SlopeA = The answer is E. 2 = - 1/2 -4 -1 - 1/2 = 2

Dont Be a Hero. The ACT lets you have a calculator on the Math Test. Use it! You can probably solve most of the problems without it, but why make things harder on yourself? Calculators are faster and more accurate than human brains. Even yours. UnWrAP. This is a four-step process that will take you through any math problem, especially if you dont now how to get started.
Step 1: Underline the prompt. Whats the question actually asking for? In our problem, we would underline at what time will Meg pass Tom? Step 2: Write out relevant formulas. If you already know how to do the problem, go for it. If youre having trouble getting started, think of it this way: in Math problems, the test gives you some information and asks for other information. Sometimes finding this other information is straightforward, but not always. If youre stuck, start writing out everything you know about the problem and look for how it might fit together to give you the information you underlined. For the example, we could write out distance time SpeedMeg = 40 SpeedTom = 30 DistanceToms house to Megs = 400 Speed = Step 3: Assemble equations. Once youve written out everything you know, think about what might fit together to give you the thing you dont know, and then assemble it accordingly. In our case, theres no formula for time Meg will pass Tom, but lets think about it: when they pass each other the distance between them will be 0. We know when they start, the distance between them is 400, and we know how fast theyre each going, so we should be able to come up with a formula for the distance between them. Using Megs house as the starting point, it should be easy to come up with formulas for their positions at any time t minutes past 5:10: DistanceMeg from Megs house = 40t DistanceTom from Megs house = 400 + 30t Now to find the distance between them, we can just subtract the equations: DistanceTom from Megs house - DistanceMeg from Megs house = DistanceMeg to Tom = 400 + 30t - 40t = 400 - 10t Step 4: Plug in and solve. Now that we have our plan of attack, we can plug in the relevant numbers and solve. For the example, we just need to plug in 0 for DistanceMeg to Tom and solve for t: DMT = 0 = 400 - 10t subtract 400 from both sides -10t = -400 divide both sides by -10 t = 40 Remember, t is minutes past 5:10, so to get our answer, we need to add 40 minutes to 5:10, giving us

Underline: MINIMUM number of points he must score in the seventh game to average at least 20 points per game for the season. Write out relevant formulas: Lets write out the formula for an average, plus Jeremys scores so far: sum of numbers number of numbers Jeremys scores so far: 10, 20, 20, 22, 22, 22 Average = Assemble equations: Now we put everything together so we can solve, but lets remember what were solving for: we dont need his current average; we need to know what he needs in the seventh game for his average to be 20: Average7 games = 10 + 20 + 20 + 22 +22 +22 + x 7

These questions are about shapes or measuring space and include trigonometry, but dont worry: only 4 of the 60 problems on any given ACT Math Test involve trig. Heres an example: D 5 E B

Geometry & Trigonometry

C 10 In the figure above, lengths are given in inches. Point B is the intersection of lines AE and CD, and DC has length of approximately 24 inches. What is the approximate length, in inches, of AB? A. 16.76 B. 17 C. 17.51 D. 18 E. 18.87

58

Note that we could simplify the numerator: 10 + 20 + 20 + 22 + 22 + 22 = 10 + 2 (20) + 3 (22) In this example, writing everything out was just as easy, but if we were working with more data it would make more sense to use multiplication. Plug in and solve: Now we just plug in 20 as the average and solve for x: 10 + 20 + 20 + 22 +22 +22 + x 20 = 7 multiply both sides by 7 140 = 10 + 20 + 20 + 22 + 22 + 22 + x use a calculator to combine terms 140 = 126 + x subtract 126 from both sides x = 24 So the correct answer is E.

Lets get UnWrAPin: Underline: approximate length, in inches, of AB. Write out relevant formulas: Theres a lot that could be helpful here. Lets write it all out and see what fits together: A = 58, LengthAC = 10, LengthDE = 5, LengthDC = 24 cos x = LengthAdjacent Side LengthHypotenuse

Math

Pythagorean Theorem: a2 + b2 = c2 a b c Similar Triangles: 1 = 1 = 1 a2 b2 c2 Opposite angles at the intersection of two lines are congruent. Triangles with two congruent angles are similar. Assemble equations: With all this information, there are actually two ways to do this problem: one that involves trigonometry, and one that doesnt. Lets do the trig-free method first: right away, we can see that because CD is a straight line intersected by AE, DBE = ABC, and since ACB = 90 = BDE , the triangles have two congruent angles, meaning theyre similar. So: AB BC AC 10 = = = =2 BE BD DE 5 BC / 2 = BD

Strangely enough, this includes problems about graphing and intermediate level algebra: factoring, exponents, roots, quadratics, coordinate geometry, domain & range, and so on. Heres an example: Line A contains the point (4, 5) on a standard (x, y) coordinate plane and has a y-intercept of 7. If Line B is perpendicular to A, what is Bs slope? A. -3/5 B. -1/2 C. 1/2 D. 5/3 E. 2

Graphing & Algebra II

Time to UnWrAP: Underline: Bs slope. Write out relevant formulas: y1 - y2 x1 - x2 Perpendicular lines slopes are negative reciprocals. Slope = Point of y-intercept = (0, y-intercept) y-interceptA = 7 Known point on A: (4, 5) Assemble equations: Now we should have two points on A, which will give us its slope, which we can use to find Bs slope: Point of y-interceptA = (0, 7)

Also keep in mind CD = BC + BD And well need AB, so note that AB2 = BC2 + AC2 AB = BC2 + AC2 = BC2 + 102 = BC2 + 100 Plug in and solve: So to find AB, we need BC. Lets use our knowledge of CD: CD = 24 = BC + BD = BC + BC / 2 24 = 3 (BC) / 2 48 = 3 (BC) combine terms BC = 16

AB = BC2 + 100 = 162 + 100 = 256 + 100 = 356 = 18.87 Using trig, we could have taken a shortcut: Since we know BAC = 58 and the adjacent side AC = 10, we have cos (58) = 10 / AB AB (cos (58)) = 10 AB = 10 / (cos (58)) = 18.87 (Use a calculator and make sure its in degree mode!) Either way, the answer is E.

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The ACT English Test contains 5 essays that need editing and 75 questions about them. In one common format, part of a passage is underlined and youre given 4 choices for what should go in the underlined portion. Heres part of a sample passage: The author, and essayist David Foster Wallace popularized a new use for endnotes with his book Infinite Jest. Wallace put in the extensive endnotes to force readers to flip back and forth constantly between what they were reading and the notes. He meant to interrupt the reading experience to make a point about the constant interruptions in our lives. The ACT English Test has questions in the following two categories (but dont waste time trying to categorize each question during the test): These questions ask about the rules of written English, focusing on things like grammar, word choice, and punctuation. They usually ask about only a small part of a single sentence. Heres an example: 1. A. NO CHANGE B. author and essayist C. author, who was also an essayist D. author, and the essayist
2 2 1

Overview

Foster Wallace popularized .... This has exactly the same problem as the original, and can therefore be eliminated. When we put B in context, we get The author and essayist David Foster Wallace popularized .... This fixes the original problem and sounds perfectly natural. B is correct. These questions test effectiveness of writing, especially how best to order things. Heres an example: 2. Given that all choices are true, which one best ties together the rest of the paragraph? F. NO CHANGE G. even though he knew it would make the book harder to sell. H. unlike earlier essayists who became authors.

J. very selectively, keeping only those he felt were absolutely necessary.

Rhetorical Skills

Usage & Mechanics

See no evil; hear the evil. Whether you know it or not, you have the rules of English grammar in your head. Maybe you cant explain the difference between a participle and a preterite verb, but you can hear when one is used incorrectly. Try to hear each sentence in your head; dont just scan for mistakes. Use your ears, not your eyes. In Example 1, nothing looks particularly wrong, but read it aloudit sounds wrong, doesnt it? The pause created by the comma after author is unnatural. It makes it sound like there are two distinct people: the author and essayist David Foster Wallace. Keep it in context. Most of the answer choices are designed to look good on their own; you need more context to figure out which one is correct. Re-read the whole sentence with each choice in context, and hear each one in your head. If youre still unsure, re-read the whole paragraph. In Example 1, weve already eliminated A, but the other choices, by themselves, all look like they might fix the error. If we read the whole sentence, though, we can make some eliminations: in C we have The author, who was also an essayist David Foster Wallace popularized .... This fixes the original error but sounds like it should have a comma after essayistits almost impossible to read the sentence without pausing there. D reads The author, and the essayist David
The ACT includes an optional essay. You get 30 minutes to write up to four pages. Heres an example: Some school districts have switched from having one long summer break to year-round school with many shorter breaks of a few weeks each. Some educators say this system keeps academic material fresher for students as they dont have long breaks to forget what theyve learned. Others argue that a more traditional summer break provides an opportunity for students to relax and embark on longterm projects outside school, such as research or career exploration. In your opinion, should schools have short breaks throughout the year, or should they have one long break over the summer? In your essay, take a position on this question. You may write about either one of the two points of view given, or you may present a different point of view on this question. Use specific reasons and examples to support your position.

The same errors come up year after year on the ACT. Watch out for these ten: Pithy Title Example Explanation The numbers Als group of friends play Als group of friends, though it includes many people, is one dont add up. soccer. thing, so the verb should be plays. Verbs must match subjects and pronouns must match nouns. What you Al, along with his team- Every sentence needs a subject with a verb. Here, Al is the thinking? mates, who are playing subject, but theres no verb modifying Al, only dependent soccer. clauses. If the sentence is about Al, he had better do something. Dont tread Our friends invited Al This should be Al and me. A simple trick to test for this: on I. and I to play soccer. when a pronoun is part of a list, take out the rest of the list to see if its the right pronoun: youd never say they invited I to play soccer, so you cant say they invited Al and I. Whos on Al knows Dan has a game Whose calendarAls or Dans? If a sentence could be interfirst? today because its on his preted more than one way, its ambiguous and needs to be calendar. edited. Does your Al is injured, but he cant But should be so. Conjunctions need to reflect the attitude conjunction play soccer today. of the sentence. Here, the first part is the cause and the second function? part is the effect, so so is better than but. Commas and Als soccer skills, are sure The first comma should be deleted because its between the semicolons to catch all the scouts subject (Als soccer skills) and verb (are), where commas and apostro- eyes, he has tons of po- shouldnt be. Scouts eyes should be scouts eyes, because phes, oh my! tential. there is more than one scout, so the apostrophe must come after the s. The second comma needs to be a semicolon, because it has complete sentences on both sides. All three of these are common errors on the ACT. Now misOn his way to the match, Tricky one: when the first half of the sentence refers to a specifplaced, you a bus nearly hit Al. ic word (in this case, Al), the second half needs to begin with will never that word. Since Al is the thing on his way to the match, find your Al needs to be the first word after the comma: On his way modifier. to the match, Al nearly got hit by a bus. Be good; do Al handles the ball very Skillful should be skillfully. Adverbs (usually ending in well. skillful. -ly) modify verbs and adjectives; adjectives modify nouns. Brevity is the Al is fast and swift with Swift should be deleted because it means the same thing as soul of wit. the ball at his feet. fast and is therefore unnecessary. Shorter is better. Youve got Als soccer skills are Expanding should be improving. His skills arent getting the wrong expanding every day. bigger (expanding); theyre getting better (improving). word. Mind the exact definitions of words on the ACT. a question, and theres no right or wrong answer, but you must pick a side. Be clear about your position, but dont restate the question. For the example, try something like Though it may make it difficult for students to retain everything theyve learned in school, a traditional summer break provides an invaluable opportunity for learning outside the classroom. 2 or 3 specific examples that support your answer. ACT essay questions are abstract and general, but your essay shouldnt be. Consider: I learned more about the world at my job last summer than in many of my classes last year. Down-to-Earth but pretty convincing, right? Keep your examples simple and be sure to connect them back to your answer: Having a long summer break allowed me to learn life lessons far more important than the academic details I may have forgotten. 1 conclusion. Restate your thesis , mention your examples, rephrase everything. Its that easy. notes and always know what youre going to say next. Heres one for the example: Intro. Ex. 1 Ex. 2 Long breaks allow more learning. Summer job. My friends summer in Europe made her a better artist and was more helpful than art class. Academic camps let students learn about subjects not offered in schools. Long break is an opportunity for learning beyond whats possible in school.

Top Ten Errors to Watch for on the ACT Writing Section

Flow like Flo-Rida. A lot of these questions are about how sentences work together, so focus on making them flow well. The meaning and tone of a sentence should be related to the meaning and tone of surrounding sentences. In Example 2, the preceeding sentence is about endnotes and the following one is about an interrupted reading experience, so our sentence needs to connect endnotes to an interrupted reading experience. Answers G, H, and J fail to do this, but the original succeeds: flipping back and forth constantly seems like quite an interruption. Dont be afraid to pick NO CHANGE; its often correct. The answer is F.

Writing

English

Ex. 3 Concl.

Follow the recipe. Heres the recipe to bake yourself a delicious, nutritious, high-scoring essay: 1 Answer, rephrased. The essay prompt always has

Assemble the ingredients first. You get 30 minutes for the essay. Take the first 5 to choose an answer and make an outline. It doesnt have to be beautiful, just enough that you understand your

Add some flavor. Three more quick tips to increase your score easily: Throw in fancy vocabulary words. Use transitions to make the last and first sentences of each paragraph flow well. Vary your sentence structure and length.

Make it a meal. Write as much as you can. Longer ACT essays get higher grades.

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The ACT Science Test consists of seven passages: three Data Interpretation passages, three Research Summaries, and one Conflicting Viewpoints passage. Everything you need to know to answer the questions is in the passages; you dont need any prior knowledge. Heres a sample passage: The following experiments were performed to investigate the expansion of gasoline additives when subject to different levels of heat. The additives tetraethyl lead (TL), methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), and ethyl propylaniline (EP) in various concentrations were all tested. Experiment 1 A student heated solutions of fuel additives in varying volumes for varying lengths of time. The solutions consisted of 16.9% additive and 83.1% gasoline. Gas vapors from the solutions were piped through a length of tubing into a vulcanized rubber orb, and the change in diameter of the orb was then measured. The results are shown in Table 1. Table 1
Additive Volume (cc) Time Heated (s) Change in Diameter (mm) Change in Diameter (%)

Overview

can see quickly, then skip straight to the questions. Youll come back to the passage later.

TL TL MTBE MTBE EP EP

60 80 60 80 60 80

120 240 120 240 120 240

8.42 x 10-7 1.73 x 10-6 6.32 x 10-8 9.34 x 10-7 2.47 x 10-6 3.23 x 10-6

.16 .20 .04 .29 .72 .76

Science

Experiment 2 A student heated 100 cc solutions of fuel with different concentrations of additives in a Buchner flask over a Bunsen burner, and the resulting gas vapor was piped through a length of tubing into a vulcanized rubber orb after 4 minutes of heating. The change in diameter was subsequently measured, and the results are shown in Table 2. Table 2
Additive % Added

TL MTBE EP TL MTBE EP

16.9 16.9 16.9 33.8 33.8 33.8

Change in Diameter (mm)

2.31 x 10-6 2.86 x 10-6 3.35 x 10-6 2.45 x 10-4 2.76 x 10-4 3.35 x 10-4

Change in Diameter (%)

Drop BILLs. The first step on ACT Science is to Believe in yourself. The passages are very complicated and at least a few of them are probably about subjects youve never studied (like fuel additives, perhaps). Thats okay. All the information you need is in the passage. And theres even more good news: even though the passages have tons of information, you dont need to understand all of it. There will be a bunch of data you dont need, and you should Ignore the extra stuff. So how do you know whats extra? First, Locate keywords in the question, then Look for the keywords in the passage. The passages may be confusing, but theyre very well-labeled, and you dont need to understand exactly what the question means to answer it correctly. Just figure out what keywords the question is asking about and find them in the passage. In the example, it looks like the keywords are change (in mm) in diameter, 100 cc solution, 25% TL additive, and 4 minutes. The 100 cc solution and 4 minutes should point us to Experiment 2, change (in mm) in diameter indicates were looking at the third column, and TL additive places us in the first column. In the percentage column, we have 16.9 and 33.8, but no 25. However, since 25 is about halfway between 16.9 and 33.8, we should probably look for an answer between those two. The answer choices were given look like they belong in the third column (which we already noted wed need), so look at the third column values for 16.9% TL and 33.8% TL. Theyre 2.31 x 10-6 and 2.45 x 10-4, respectively, so lets see which of the answer choices fall between those. Since all the answer choices have 2.3 x 10[something], all we need to look at is that exponent. Were looking for something between -4 and -6, so -5 (in answer C) makes sense. And its that simple! The answer is C. Note that to get this, we didnt need to know what TL or vulcanized rubber or a Bunsen burner was. In fact, if we had tried to figure those things out, it only would have slowed us down.
These passages describe one or more experiments and present the results. The questions can be about reading the results (just like Data Interpretation questions), or about the design of the experiments. Heres an example based on the passage: 2. Based on the results of the experiments, which is the best conclusion about the result of increasing the volume of fuel additive solutions heated? F. Increasing the volume of the solution increases change in diameter of the orb. G. Increasing the volume of the solution decreases change in diameter of the orb. H. Increasing the volume of the solution has no effect on change in diameter of the orb. J. No conclusion can be drawn.

In these passages, two or more scientists express differing opinions about a topic. Heres an example: Caloric restriction (CR) is a type of diet where an organism consumes significantly fewer calories than is normal. In many studies of a wide variety of species of fungi and animals, caloric restriction has shown a tendency to improve age-related health and increase life expectancy. Two scientists explain the findings: Scientist 1 The positive effects of CR diets are an example of hormesis, a known biological phenomenon where exposure to a small dose of a toxin elicits a defensive response that overcompensates and actually leads to an improvement in overall health of the organism. In this case, low blood glucose levels caused by CR puts an oxidative stress on the organism, allowing agents called free radicals to damage cells. The increased abundance of free radicals is detected as a threat, and the organism responds with enough defense not only to compensate for the increased free radicals, but to preserve cells so well as to slow the entire aging process. Scientist 2 Organisms apparently positive response to CR is an evolved response to famine. When an organism is exposed to famine, it stops allocating biological resources to reproduction and instead upregulates its protective mechanisms. This is an attempt to wait out the famine so the organism will be fit for reproduction later, when there is enough food to nurture new offspring. 1. Which of the following potential findings would support Scientist 2s view but not Scientist 1s? A. CR causes an increase in temporary infertility in fruit fly populations. B. CR causes a decrease in temporary infertility in fruit fly populations. C. Famine causes an increase in free radicals in the blood of mice. D. Famine causes a decrease in free radicals in the blood of mice.

Conflicting Viewpoints

.21 .33 .78 2.58 3.01 2.44

Research Summaries

This is a Research Summary passage, but well use it to look at two question types: These passages are a lot like the one above, but they focus more on data than experiments. They are meant to test your ability to read tables, graphs, charts, and scatterplots. Heres a Data Interpretation question based on the sample passage: 1. Based on the results of the experiments, which of the following could one expect to be the change (in mm) in diameter of the orb for a 100 cc solution of 25% TL additive heated for 4 minutes? A. 2.3 x 10-3 B. 2.3 x 10-4 C. 2.3 x 10-5 D. 2.3 x 10-6

Data Interpretation

Look, then leap. Dont read these passages in depth without looking at the questionsthe passages are too dense for you to understand everything at once. Just look things over to get an idea of whats going on, and when you look at the data, focus on spotting patterns. In Table 1 of our passage, it looks like the second number for each additive is higher than the first, in every column. That would indicate the variables are increasing together: as one goes up, so do the others. In Table 2, the pattern is similar, even though the additives are listed out of order: for each element, the higher percentage yields higher Change in Diameter (and percentage change). Dont spend forever on this, because you dont know what youll need later. Note what you

Declare your independents. As you may know from your school science class, science experiments are defined by their variables: the independent variable (cause) and the dependent variable (effect). An independent variable is the thing the experimenter is changing in order to see how the dependent variable is affected. If you understand the variables, you understand the experiment. To answer the sample question, we need to look at Experiment 1 (Experiment 2 holds volume constant at 100 cc, so its useless in figuring out the effects of changing volume). We know that Change in Diameter is increasing in Experiment 1 (so thats the dependent variable, or effect), but whats the cause (independent variable)? It could be Volume, which is increasing, but it could also be Time Heated, which is increasing. Since the experimenter is changing two different things in every test, its impossible to know which is causing the Change in Diameter. With more than one independent variable, we cant draw any conclusions. The answer is J.

Use your Reading strategies. Conflicting Viewpoints passages are like a blend of the Science and Reading tests, so use strategies from both. Read the passages APTly, and then eliminate answers one-by-one if you can find anything wrong with them. In the example, its easy to see (after an APT reading) that Scientist 1 thinks famine causes an increase in free radicals, to which the body responds with defense mechanisms that cause positive effects. That means we can eliminate C, because it talks about an increase in free radicals and would therefore support Scientist 1s view (the question asks which choice would not support Scientist 1s view). Likewise, Scientist 2 believes CR causes a decrease in reproduction, so we can eliminate B, which talks about a decrease in infertility. Compare, contrast, conjecture. Most of the questions ask about similarities or differences between the viewpoints. As you read the passage, prepare yourself for these questions by noticing explicit points of agreement and disagreement. But dont stop there! Also note areas where the viewpoints could agree, even if they dont say it outright. In the example, the Scientists dont actually disagree about free radicals: Scientist 2 never mentions them at all. Its quite possible he agrees that CR causes an increase in free radicals. Therefore, D doesnt necessarily support his view; it just contradicts Scientist 1s. A, however, explicitly supports Scientist 2s view because he thinks CR shuts down reproduction, and it doesnt support Scientist 1 at all (since he says nothing about reproduction). A is correct.

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