Transcript ACT Preparation

ACT Preparation
Nouns and Verbs
Nouns: person, place, thing, or idea
 Verbs: an action or a state of being

– ACTION: run, jog, jump, weep, crawl, sing,
dance, tremble, sweep, win
– STATE OF BEING: is, am, are, was, were, be,
being, been
– State of being verbs often can be replaced
with an equal sign. “I am a teacher.” /
“I = teacher”
Complete Sentence
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A complete sentence has a subject and a
predicate.
The subject’s main word is a noun.
The predicate’s main word is a verb.
An INDEPENDENT CLAUSE is a subject and a
predicate that can stand on their own.
A subject and a predicate with AN
ADDITIONAL WORD (or phrase) causing them to
not stand on their own is called a DEPENDENT
CLAUSE.
Dependent clauses (cont’d.)
Examples of dep. clauses (fragments):
When I hurt my leg.
Even though she scored better than he
did.
As the teacher jumped into one of his long
lectures.
Because the soccer season started earlier
this year.
Clauses
Independent vs. dependent clauses
 Independent clauses can be combined using a
semi-colon (;) or a comma and a conjunction
(, and).

– FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so (These are
coordinating conjunctions and need a comma if
between 2 ind. clauses.)
– These conjunctions/trans. words require a ; if
between 2 ind. clauses (however, thus, therefore,
etc.)
– I went to the store; I bought some new shoes.
Dependent Clauses Continued
Dependent clauses can’t stand alone.
 when, where, why, how, if, as, because,
although, while, despite, that, who, what
 If these words are used in a question, the result
is usually an independent clause.
– Where are my friends?

If these words are used in statements, they
usually indicate a dependent clause.
– Where my friends are, you will find laughter and junk
food.
Clauses Continued

Two types of sentence fragments will possibly
be on the ACT English test:
 A dependent clause that needs to be fixed
– As the children ran behind, shouting and
laughing.
 OR a dependent clause that needs to be added to
an independent clause
– Although it will always be associated with
Shakespeare’s famous literary character. The
character of Austen’s . . .
Agreement

A pronoun must always agree with the
noun to which it refers.
– Pronoun examples: he, she, it, they, him,
her, we, ours (a pronoun replaces a noun)
– INCORRECT: Any young boy who watched
the first moon landing probably spent the
next few years wishing that they could
become an astronaut.
– INCORRECT: Anyone who wants to attend
needs to turn their permission slip in today.
Singular pronouns (as well as nouns) need
singular agreement.
 See
http://keyvanv.persiangig.com/GMAT/Man
hattan_SC_2003ed.pdf (pgs. 19-23, PDF
numbering, for help) —link might not be
working anymore though

Case

If a pronoun is the subject of a sentence,
it must be expressed as a subject.
– The subject of a sentence does the
action in the sentence.
– The object of the sentence receives the
action.
– (An object must ALWAYS follow a
preposition.)
Subjective
Objective
I
Me
We
Us
2nd pers.
sing. & plural
You
You
3rd pers. sing.
He
She
It
Who
Whoever
Him
Her
It
Whom
Whomever
They
Them
1st pers. sing.
plural
(Who/whoever can be
singular or plural)
plural
Subjective
Needed
Objective
Needed
Subject
Predicate Noun
(also called
Predicate
Nominative or
Subjective
Complements)
Everything
Else:
Direct Object
Indirect Object
Object of the
Preposition
Subjective/Objective
Katherine and ____(I, me) went to the
store.
 Give the presents to Katherine and _____
(I, me).
 Don’t be deceived: subjects do not always
fall at the beginning of a sentence.
 To __________(who, whom) does this
belong?
 _______(Who, Whom) gets these flowers?
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She gave _________(he, him) the flowers for
______(she, her).
Q: Are these your papers? A: No, those are not
________(they, them).
Jasmine and _______(he, him) have been dating for a
month.
________(Who, Whom) is this note for?
Dacya kicked ____(he, him) when she found out
____(he, him) gave ______(I, me) the tickets instead of
_____(she, her).
The elected leader was _____(who, whom)?
Do Sam and _____ (he, him) want to go with ____(we,
us)?
Prepositions
An object must always follow a preposition.
 A preposition is a word showing the relationship
of a noun or pronoun to some other word in a
sentence. (about, above, across, after, against,
along, amid, among, for, in, to, etc.)
Prepositions are important in case questions:
objective pronouns must always follow a
preposition.

Preposition or Adverb
Some words can be used as adverbs or
prepositions (such as aboard, after, before,
etc.). If there is no object, they are functioning
as adverbs (telling where, when, how, etc.). If
there is an object, they are prepositions; and if
the object is a pronoun, it should be in
objective case.
For example:
I fell behind in the race.
I fell behind her in the race.
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Or Subordinating Conjunction
Some of these words can also function as
subordinating conjunctions. It all depends
on how they function in the sentence.
For example:
I’ve learned a lot since. (adverb)
I’ve learned a lot since that date. (prep. &
o.p)
I’ve learned a lot since I grew up. (sub./dep.
clause)

Another example:
I went to the store before she did.
I went to the store before her.
I have gone to that store before.
Be careful. In spoken/casual English, we don’t
always keep the prep. with its object. For
example:
Who is this award for? (incorrect)
For whom is this award? (correct)
Who are you running that coat to?
To whom are you running that coat?
Prepositions
Watch for “to,” “from,” “for,” and “with” in
questions. They are often at the end but
should be at the beginning. Put them at
the beginning with their object.
 In question form, the prepositions would
go with “whom.”
 To whom is that note addressed?
 For whom is that prize?
 In sentence form, it would be This prize is
for him.
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Subject / Verb Agreement
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The verb of a sentence must always agree with its subject.
– Singular subject – singular verb
– Plural subject – plural verb
 The best moment during a broadcast
filled with many great moments were
when the astronaut stepped out of the
lunar lander and bounced on the moon.
The subject of this sentence is “moment,” which is singular.
The girl with the dogs has/have sleek, healthy
hair.
 The team of tired rugby players is/are coming to
the restaurant to celebrate its/their win.
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Don’t forget that many indefinite
pronouns are singular. These are words
such as “each,” “either,” “somebody,”
“anyone,” “everyone,” and “neither.”
 Each ____ (is/are) allowed one cookie.
 Every student should raise _____
(his/her/their) hand.
 No one likes it when ______ (he/she/they)
_______ (is/are) wrong.
 All children like _____ (his/her/their)
privacy respected.
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Verb Tense
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Reminder: The ACT doesn’t care if you
know the names of the tenses (or even, in
most cases, if you can identify them) –
THE WRITERS want to see that you can
spot inconsistencies!
– Since the automobile was unsafe, the
designer withdraws the plan.
– About a hundred students live away from
home and attended school in Washington.
Adjectives vs. Adverbs
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Adjectives modify nouns. (tell which kind, how many,
which one)
– Stark, friendly, beautiful, fertile, green, bright, large, colorful,
fiery, tropical, strong, Japanese, lively, lovely, lonely
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Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.
(tell when, where, why, how, to what extent)
– Slowly, very, fortunately, immediately, there, unreasonably,
quite, happily, today, before
– Rather happy (modifying happy, an adjective)
He walked ______ real/really ________ slow/slowly.
She talked ________ fast/quickly.
 She was a ________ fast/quickly talker.
 Dr. Combs signed the note _________ warily/wary.
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Adj. & Adv. Cont’d: Comparative (2 things)
vs. Superlative (more than 2 things)
Note: Most 1-syllable words use “-er” and “-est” to form comparatives
& superlatives. Most 2 (&3)-syllable words, use “more” and “most” to
create comparative and superlative versions.
(Regular)
Comparative
Superlative
Good
Better
Best
Hard
Harder
Hardest
Pretty
Prettier
Prettiest
Peaceful
More peaceful
Most peaceful
Quietly
More quietly
Most quietly
Idiomatic Expressions
Idioms are expressions that require the use of a
specific preposition. You fortunately will be
familiar with most of the idioms on the test.
The best way to spot them is to look for
prepositions in the answer choices.
 An idiomatic expression is a group of words that
has a meaning different from the combined
meanings of the individual words.
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Idiomatic Expressions Continued
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What does each of the following idiomatic
expressions mean?
– A chip off the old block (like father, like son)
– With a grain of salt (be skeptical)
– By the skin of one’s teeth (barely)
– Spill the beans (tell a secret)
– On top of the world (very happy)
– A shot in the dark (guess)
Punctuation
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Commas are used to do the following:
Separate items in a series
– I went to the store and purchased Nikes, a Gortex jacket, and a fleece
pullover.
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Separate clauses and phrases
– Two independent clauses (a FANBOYS conjunction must be
added to the comma)
 I went to the store, and I bought a fleece pullover.
– An independent clause and a dependent clause (when the
dependent clause comes first).
 Even though I went to the store, I forgot to buy cheese.
 I forgot to buy cheese even though I went to the store.
– An independent clause and a modifying phrase
 Screaming like crazy, the crowd cheered for the quarterback.
– A nonrestrictive element (explained on next slide)
Nonrestrictive Elements
Nonrestrictive elements do not affect the
meaning of a sentence; therefore, they
must be separated by commas. (It’s like
an aside or a by-the-way piece of
info.)
 The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald,
amazed me.
 F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book The Great
Gatsby amazed me.

Examples of Restrictive & Nonrestrictive
If the information is necessary to the point,
commas should not be used, and it’s
called a restrictive piece of info.
My brother, Jared, is coming to dinner.
My brother Jared is coming to dinner.
Actors who don’t work won’t be paid.
Actors, who don’t work, don’t deserve to be paid
so much.
Punctuation Continued
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Semicolons
– Sometimes act as a heavy comma
– Sometimes act as a weak end-of-sentence
period separating two independent clauses
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Colons
– Usually are used after a complete sentence
to introduce a list of related details
– Are sometimes used to separate two
independent clauses where the second clause
is a thought developed out of the first
Semicolon in a Series
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The University of Pennsylvania School of
Dental Medicine has such famous
graduates as Doc Holliday, who became a
legend of the western frontier; Zane Grey,
who made the Old West famous in his
novels; and the dentist who personally
treated Adolf Hitler.
Colon Usage
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You can also use colons to introduce
formal quotes.
– An ancient remedy for bad breath was
suggested in the second book of Hippocrates:
“When a . . . mouth smells and . . . gums
are black and unhealthy, one burns,
separately, the head of a hare, and three
times . . . .”
Dash Usage
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Dash: Dashes separate a word or group of
words from the rest of the sentence. Dashes
are used either to indicate an abrupt break in
thought, or to introduce an explanation or
afterthought.
Examples:
Just as John printed his report—it had taken a month of
writing—he learned that he had missed the deadline.
“Easter weekend arrived, and our cherry trees—about
thirty of them—blossomed in unison.” (Peter Mayle qtd. in
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Trimble 122)
“Fashion is illusion, shimmer, magic, mirage—and money:
$62.3 billion a year.” (Shana Alexander qtd. In Trimble 121)
“I could never learn to like her—except on a raft at sea
with no other provisions in sight.” (Mark Twain qtd. In Trimble 121)
Apostrophe
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Apostrophe: Apostrophes indicate
possession
– Mark’s utility belt
– The Joneses’ station wagon
– The foxes’ den
– Taz’s truck

or mark missing letters in a word
– Its vs. it’s
– Mark’s a swell guy
Modifier Problems
A modifier is a word, phrase, or clause
that DESCRIBES other words, phrases, or
clauses.
 Modifiers should ALWAYS be placed next
to or as close as possible to what they
describe so that your reader will attach
the meaning where you intend it to be.

Modifier Problems Continued
Ambiguous placement is a situation where a
modifier can refer to two or more words in a
sentence. Wrong placement could result in
incorrect meaning in relation to the text as a
whole.
 Wrong placement is where a modifier is
misplaced in a sentence, thus garbling the
meaning.
 Awkward placement happens when a modifier
interrupts a thought, seriously breaking the flow
of a message and thereby distracting the reader
form understanding the material.
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Modifier Problems
Outlaw: A small book sat on the desk
that Sarah had read.
 The modifier: “that Sarah had read”
 The Problem: This modifier is
misplaced because it modifies the
desk. It sounds as if Sarah had read
the desk.
 Rehabilitated: A small book that Sarah
had read sat on the desk.

Modifier Problems
Outlaw: The professor posted the notes for
the students covered in class.
 The Problem: The modifier, “covered in
class,” appears to modify “the students.”
Because the students are not covered in
class, this is a misplaced modifier.
 Rehabilitated: The professor posted the
notes covered in class for the students.

Modifiers
Outlaw: Walking through the park, the
grass tickled my feet.
 Problem: “Walking through the park” seems
to modify the grass. However, The grass
cannot walk through the park. Therefore,
this is a misplaced modifier.
 Rehabilitated: The grass tickled my feet as I
walked through the park.
OR Walking through the park, I found that
the grass tickled my feet.
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Source
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Checkout the main grammar page from
this source:
http://ace.acadiau.ca/english/grammar
Redundancy
Redundancy occurs when successive words have
similar meaning.
 NOTE: Adverbs such as around, down, up, in,
and out sometimes appear with verbs in
repetitive or redundant combinations like these:

– Circle around, divide up, follow after, empty out,
descend down, connect up, enter in, help out, off of
– Although many of these combinations are widely used
in spoken English, adverbs that add no information to
the meaning of a verb should be avoided in formal
written English.
Redundancy Continued
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Look for carelessly repeated words that
can easily be cut:
– Most insulting is her view that the sport of
volleyball is a sport for non-athletes, without
rules, strategy, or teamwork.
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Be on the watch, too, for words that
repeat the same meaning (as in the
adverb examples):
– I personally feel that the Loch Ness monster
should be left alone by itself.
Review: Parallelism
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Parallel construction, or parallelism, means that a pair or
series of elements share the same grammatical form.
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Parallel construction helps the writer state comparable ideas
clearly and forcefully.

Use parallelism for pairs or for elements listed in a series and
joined by conjunctions, commas, or semicolons.
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Improve your use of parallelism by matching like elements-noun with noun, verb with verb, clauses and phrases with
others of the same type--and by repeating words that signal
parallelism, such as articles or determiners, prepositions, and
conjunctions.
Parallelism Continued
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Words in Parallel Form
– Incorrect: She likes to ski, camping, and hiking.
– Correct: She likes skiing, camping, and hiking.
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Phrases in Parallel Form
– Incorrect: To work hard and playing hard were Claire’s goals.
– Correct: To work hard and to play hard were Claire's goals.
– Incorrect: The senator was shaking hands with the mayor, waved to the
crowd, then was stepping back into the car.
– Correct: The senator shook hands with the mayor, waved to the crowd,
and stepped back into the car.

Clauses in Parallel Form
– Incorrect: When the battles are won, when we earn peace, when
humanity creates a justice-oriented society, then we will enjoy the fruits
of our struggle.
– When the battle is won, when the earth is at peace, when people are
equal under justice, then we will enjoy the fruits of our struggle.
ACT English Practice
Test
ACT-Produced Practice Tests
After the final performance of one last practice landing, the French instructor
nodded to the young African-American woman at the controls and jumped down to
the ground. Bessie Coleman was on
1.
A. NO CHANGE
B. one finally ultimate
C. one final
D. one last final
her own now. She lined up the nose of the open
 2.
F. NO CHANGE
G. off
H. along
J. OMIT the underlined portion.
cockpit biplane on the runway's center mark, she gave the engine full throttle, and
took off into history.
It was a long journey from the American
 3.
A. NO CHANGE
B. mark,
C. mark, Coleman
D. mark that
Question One

1. The best answer is C, which concisely conveys the
idea that the practice landing referred to was the last
one in a series. In contrast, the other choices are
redundant. Choice A belabors the point that "the final
performance" was indeed the "last" performance (and
confusingly suggests that there was more than one
performance of a single landing). Choice B pointlessly
repeats the notion of finality in the redundant phrase
"finally ultimate" (and confusingly suggests that all the
landings strove to be ultimate, but only the last landing
succeeded). Choice D is simply redundant because the
words last and final in the sentence are synonymous.
Question Two
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2. The best answer is F. It offers the only idiomatically
acceptable wording. The verb phrase line up is often
used to mean "align." Choices G and H are clearly wrong
here. We would never hear someone say that "she lined
off the nose of the . . . biplane on the runway's center
mark" or that "she lined along the nose of the . . .
biplane on the runway's center mark." Choice J, which
proposes deleting the underlined portion, also sounds
improbable: "She lined the nose of the . . . biplane on
the runway's center mark." This sentence suggests that
Bessie Coleman is doing something with the nose of the
plane, but whatever it is, it doesn't make sense in terms
of the rest of the information in the sentence.
Question Three
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3. The best answer is B. This sentence presents a
series of three verb phrases--three things that Bessie
Coleman did. The subject for all three of the verb
phrases is the pronoun She at the beginning of the
sentence. The third verb phrase in the series ("took off
into history") has no subject, so it would be inconsistent
and illogical to state the subject of the second verb
phrase in the series, as Choices A and C propose. Choice
D proposes that, rather than being the second in the
series of verb phrases, this should be a subordinate
adjective clause describing the preceding noun, but
there's no logical support for saying, "the runway's
center mark . . . gave the engine full throttle."
Practice Test Continued
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It was a long journey from the American Southwest she’d been
born in 1893, to these French skies.
4. F. NO CHANGE
G. Southwest that she'd been
H. Southwest, where she'd been
J. Southwest, she was
The year in which she was born about a century ago. There
hadn't been much of a future for her in Oklahoma then.
5. A. NO CHANGE
B. It is now just about a century since the year of her birth.
C. Just about a century has passed since the year of her birth.
D. OMIT the underlined portion.
Question Four
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4. The best answer is H. It provides the relative
pronoun and the punctuation that effectively relates this
subordinate adjective clause to the main clause of this
sentence. The main clause is as follows: "It was a long
journey from the American Southwest to these French
skies." The subordinate clause is describing or defining
the American Southwest: "where she'd been born in
1893." Since this clause occurs in the middle of the main
clause and is not essential or restrictive information, it
must be set off from the main clause. Choices F and G
fail to do so. Choice J does set the phrase off with
commas but fails to provide a pronoun that would
effectively relate this clause to the main clause.
Question Five

5. The best answer is D. The most
appropriate decision is to delete the information-presented in Choices A, B, and C in different
phrasings--that Bessie Coleman was born about
a century ago. This information is a mere
digression in terms of the focus or development
of this essay. It sidetracks the readers. Besides,
it provides information that readers could easily
infer on their own, since they are told in the
previous sentence that Coleman was born in
1893.
Practice Test Continued
After both semesters of the two-semester year at Langston Industrial
College, Coleman headed for Chicago to see what could be done to realize
a dream. Ever since she saw her first airplane when she was a little girl,
Coleman had known that someday, somehow, she would fly. Try as she
might, however, Coleman could not obtain flying lessons anywhere in the
city. Then
6.
F. NO CHANGE
G. a year
H. a year like two full semesters
J. one year filled with two semesters
she sought aid from Robert S. Abbott of the Chicago Weekly Defender.
The newspaperman got in touch with a flight school in France that was
willing to teach this determined young woman to fly.
 7.
A. NO CHANGE
B. Abbott:
C. Abbott, whose
D. Abbott;
Question Six

6. The best answer is G. It is the only
choice that doesn't propose irrelevant or
redundant information. Choices F, H, and
J all propose unnecessarily long-winded
and wordy ways of saying that Coleman
headed for Chicago after a year at
Langston Industrial College. It is just not
important for readers to know that a year
at Langston consisted of two semesters of
schooling.
Question Seven
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7. The best answer is A. No punctuation is
needed here between the noun ("Robert S.
Abbott") and the prepositional phrase describing
that noun ("of the Chicago Weekly Defender").
The use here of the colon (Choice B) or the
semicolon (Choice D) is not called for. Choice C
incorrectly proposes setting this prepositional
phrase off from the main clause and introducing
it with the relative pronoun that expresses
possession (whose).
Practice Test Continued


While they’re, she had as one of her instructors Anthony Fokker, the famous
aircraft designer. Bessie Coleman took a quick course in
8.
F. NO CHANGE
G. they're
H. there,
J. there, she had as
French, should she settle her affairs, and sailed for
9.
A. NO CHANGE
B. as if to settle
C. to settle
D. settled
Europe. Coping with a daily foreign language and flying in capricious, unstable
machines held together with baling wire was daunting, but Coleman
10. F. NO CHANGE
G. (Place after with)
H. (Place after flying)
J. (Place after in)
persevered.
Question Eight

8. The best answer is J. It proposes the
correct form of the adverb (there) and ensures
that the main clause is a complete sentence.
Choices F and G are both wrong because they
propose using the contracted form of they are.
Although they're sounds like there, it has a
different meaning, which would not make sense
in the context of this sentence. Choice H
proposes the correct adverb but also proposes
deleting "she had as," which would create a
sentence fragment: "While there, one of her
instructors Anthony Fokker, the famous aircraft
designer."
Question Nine

9. The best answer is D. It logically presents this
sentence as a series of three verb phrases, all in the
simple past tense. Choices A, B, and C all incorrectly
attempt to relate the second phrase in this series to the
first phrase. There is no information in this essay nor
any logic to support the idea that "Bessie Coleman took
a quick course in French, to settle her affairs" (Choice C)
or "took a quick course in French, as if to settle her
affairs" (Choice B). Likewise, the sense of probability or
expectation or futurity that might be expressed by
"should she settle her affairs" has no logical support in
the context of this essay.
Question Ten

10. The best answer is H. This question asks the test-taker to
decide the best placement of the word daily in the sentence. This
word has the flexibility to serve as either an adverb or an adjective.
Here, the most logical and appropriate place for this word would be
after the word flying. In this arrangement, the word daily serves as
an adverb modifying the verb preceding it: "Coping with a foreign
language and flying daily in capricious, unstable machines held
together with baling wire was daunting, but Coleman persevered."
None of the other proposed placements make sense in the context
of this sentence: Choice F would have daily functioning as an
adjective ("a daily foreign language"). Choice G would seem to have
the word functioning as an adverb, but it's hard to tell what the
adverb would be describing ("Coping with daily a foreign
language"). Choice J would have daily functioning as an adverb
defining an adjective ("in daily capricious, unstable machines").
Today’s English Test Concepts
Redundancy
 Parallel Construction
 Misplaced Modifiers
 Stylistic Choices
 Omit/Delete Option
