Try our sample ACT English questions.....

Strategies for the ACT English Test

• memorize the directions now, this will save a lot of time on the day of your test
• the format is the same for each question. Certain words and phrases are in parentheses and numbered. Alternatives for these sections are offered below the written passage. Choose the answer choice you think is best. There will also be a question about the section as a whole.
• skim-read the passage before looking at the question
• choose answers that match the style/formality of the passage
• watch for subject-verb and noun-pronoun agreement
• use fewer with countable nouns and less with uncountable nouns
• make sure the phrases in parentheses begin and end with the same punctuation
• watch out for run-on sentences
• know the difference between it’s and its

Question:
(1) People who smoke have ten times greater chance of getting cancer than people who do not smoke. Overall, smoking causes 30 percent of all cancer deaths. The risk of getting lung cancer from cigarettes increases with the number of cigarettes you smoke, how long you have been smoking, and how deeply you inhale. Smoking also has been linked to cancers of the larynx, esophagus, pancreas, bladder, kidney, and mouth.
(2) Although stopping is better, switching to low-tar, low-nicotine cigarettes may reduce somewhat your risk of developing lung cancer if you do not inhale more deeply, take more puffs, or smoke more cigarettes than you did before you switched.
(3) However, switching to low-tar, low nicotine cigarettes will not reduce your risks of developing other cancers and diseases, such as heart disease. Animal studies also have confirmed that basic by-products (tar) produced by smoking marijuana can cause cancers.
(4) Once you quit smoking, your risks begin to decrease at once. The only way to eliminate your cancer risks due to smoking is not to smoke at all.

1. The order that would be most sensible for this passage is:
(A) No Change
(B) 2, 1, 3, 4
(C) 2, 1, 4, 3
(D) 4, 3, 2, 1

2. The passage could best be strengthened by:
(A) providing personal examples
(B) citing statistics
(C) quoting a leading authority on cancer
(D) discussing other diseases

3. The use of the second person throughout the passage is beneficial because it:
(A) is grammatically correct
(B) conceptualizes what is being discussed
(C) renders the discussion effective
(D) personalizes the discussion

Answers:
1. A
2. C
3. D

Explanation:
1. The passage begins with a general statement about smoking and cancer. It gives one alternative and its risks, and ends by reiterating the thesis.
2. Paragraph 3 could contain a direct or indirect quotation to confirm the assertions.
3. By using the second person (you, your), the author directs and personalizes the discussion for the reader.

Question: [Direction. Each underlined word or phrase may or may not contain an error. If you think the underlined portion is correct, choose A. If you think it is incorrect, choose the answer choice that corrects the error.]

    The character of Frankenstein did not originate in Hollywood. Rather, the legendary mad scientist who sought to reanimate lifeless (1)bodies were the creation of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. Her Frankenstein or the modern Prometheus, published in (2)1818 - is considered one of the greatest horror tales of all time. Mary Shelley conceived of her nightmarish subject in response to a wager. (3)She, and her husband, along with Lord Byron and Byron’s physician, had a contest to see who could write the best (4)“ghost story” because it was begun in such a whimsical fashion, her tale became a serious examination of the fate of an individual who decides to overstep moral and social bounds.

Question 1:
(A) No Change
(B) bodies was
(C) bodies, was
(D) bodies’ is

Question 2:
(A) No Change
(B) 1818 was
(C) 1818, is
(D) 1818. It is

Question 3:
(A) No Change
(B) She and, her husband,
(C) She, her husband too
(D) She and her husband

Question 4:
(A) No Change
(B) story." If it begun
(C) story." although it was begun
(D) story." Although it was begun

Answers:
1. B
2. C
3. D
4. D

Explanations:
Question 1: The subject and the verb do not agree. The subject of this sentence is "scientist," not the closer noun, "bodies." The matching verb must be singular: "was." It should not be separated from the subject by a comma (as in C). In D the apostrophe turns "bodies" into the possessive form of the plural, when we just need the plural.
Question 2: The phrase "published in 1818" is set off by a comma on the left and a dash on the right. The comma is not underlined so we can only change the dash. Only C has a second comma to match the one before "published."
Question 3: Four people have a contest, but they are presented as a compound subject and a prepositional phrase. This phrase should be set off by commas, as it is in D.
Question 4: This is a run-on sentence that includes a non-sensical connecting word. "Because" signals a cause-and-effect relationship, but what the author wants to signal is really a contradiction: although it began as a joke, the book became a very serious project.

Try our sample ACT reading questions.

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