Transcript ACT - Central Cougars

ACT
English Practice
Day I
 First test of the day
 45 minutes
 75 questions
Areas Tested
 Conventions of standard written English
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Punctuation
Grammar and usage
Sentence structure
 Rhetorical (writing skills)
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Strategy (plan or method)
Organization
Style (selection and arrangement of words with clearness
and effectiveness in conveying a message)
Scoring
 # right out of 75—answer every question,
even if you have to guess at the end
 Subscore in Usage and Mechanics based on
40 questions
 Subscore in Rhetorical Skills based on 35
questions
Pacing Through Test
 Spend no more than 1 ½ minutes skimming
passage
 This leaves 30 s to answer each question
 If you have time remaining when you finish
the test, go back and review your work and
the questions most difficult for you.
Usage and Mechanics
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Punctuation is 13 % of test.
Internal and end of sentence punctuation
Period (.)
Semicolon (;)
Comma (,)
Dash (--)
Hyphen (-)
Apostrophe (‘)
Colon (:)
Quotation marks (“…”)
Period, Semicolon, Comma
 Period—stop sign; use at the end of complete sentences
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Even though Bob hates peas, he ate them to please Margaret. The
taste, which reminds him of dirty gym socks, made him cringe.
 Semicolon—separates related ideas
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The stop sign was missing from the intersection; it had been mowed
down by a student driver in the driver’s ed. car.
 Comma—used to set off independent clauses, items in a
series, parenthetical expressions, nonessential clauses,
appositives, and coordinate adjectives
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James loves math, but he found geometry to be rather difficult.
The mighty, muddy river flooded the city within minutes.
Carol, Billy, and I are wearing red today.
James, the man with the beard, always stops in for coffee at 7:30
a.m.
Dash, Hyphen, Apostrophe
 Dash—like parentheses—set off supplemental information in a
sentence or set or information that defines a term
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The student—in spite of his poor attendance—was able to attend the
field trip.
Crimping—crinkling one’s hair with a hot iron—was popular in the
80’s.
 Hyphen—separates syllables at the end of a line and links
words with other words or with prefixes
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John Grisham is a best-loved writer for his legal dramas.
Ninety-nine, three-eighths, ex-husband, self-motivated, all-inclusive
 Apostrophe—used to form the possessive, to form
contractions, to form plurals of letters or numbers
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Bailey’s hair is very long.
It’s hot in the classroom, so the kids don’t want to learn their ABC’s.
Colon and Quotation Marks
Colon—tells the reader that important information will follow,
such as a list or a quotation
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Please pick up the following from the store: paint, brushes, rags, and
masks.
Henry David Thoreau is known for the following famous aphorism:
“Goodness is the only investment that never fails.”
 Quotation Marks—use with direct quotes, unfamiliar or
emphasized words, titles of short stories, poems, or episodes
of t.v. shows
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He is very self-absorbed or “arrogant.”
Usage and Mechanics
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Grammar and Usage are 16% of test.
Subject-Verb agreement
Pronoun-Antecedent agreement
Agreement between modifiers and the word
modified
Verb formation
Pronoun case
Formation of comparative and superlative
adjectives and adverbs
Idiomatic usage (kick the bucket, keep tabs on)
Subject-Verb Agreement
 The subject of the sentence must always agree in number
with its verb.
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I am happy. They are happy. You are happy. He is happy.
The secrets of success are hard work and dedication.
The bowl of cherries is full.
Here are the books.
Dad and Sam are eating lunch.
Dad or Sam is back already.
Anybody is welcome.
All are invited
Most of the pie is gone. Most of the birds are awake.
Neither the broken lamp nor the pieces of glass have been cleaned
up yet. Neither the pieces of glass nor the broken lamp has been
cleaned up yet.
Pronoun-Antecedent
Agreement
 Antecedent—the word the pronoun replaces
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Mark is here. He looks happy.
The students want their books signed by the
author.
Every child should receive a stamp on his/her
hand to enter the building. All children should
receive stamps on their hands to enter the
building.
Modifiers
 Modifier—describes or limits a word or word
group, and should be placed as closely as
possible to the word or phrases they modify
to avoid confusing the reader
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Bill has on a green shirt. (adjective)
She speaks quickly. (adverb)
The cat that I found last week belongs to the
little girl. (adjective clause)
Dangling Modifiers
 Incorrect: Eating my soup too quickly, the spoon
fell out of my hand and stained my shirt.
 Correct: Eating my soup to quickly, I dropped my
spoon and stained my shirt.
 Incorrect: To keep me from lingering in the hall, a
detention was written by the teacher.
 Correct: To keep me from lingering in the hall, the
teacher wrote me a detention.
Verb Formation
 Regular verbs—all
conjugated the say way by
adding letters and helper
verbs
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I sing sang sung, you sing
sang sung, he, she, it sings
sang sung, we sing sang
sung, they sing sang sung
Tenses: present, past, future,
perfect, progressive, and
perfect progressive
 Irregular Verbs—
conjugated differently; two
of the most common are
“be” and “have”
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I am was, you are were, he,
she, it is was, we are were,
they are were
I have had, you have had, he,
she, it has had, we have had,
they have had
Verb Formation Examples
 Incorrect: The play had just began when I had to
get up to go to the restroom.
 Correct: The play had just begun when I had to get
up to go to the restroom.
 Incorrect: We was having the best time until the
rain began to pour.
 Correct: We were having the best time until the
rain began to pour.
Pronoun Case
 Subject Case: I, he, she, it, you, we, they
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Bill and I are brothers.
Did you know that you and I are cousins?
Here is where we are located on the map.
 Object Case: me, him, her, it, you, us, them
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The captain gave me the orders.
This is to be kept between you and me.
 Possessive Case: my, mine, his, hers, its, yours, your, our, ours,
their, theirs
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This is his book. Mine is over there.
 Reflexive/Intensive: myself, himself, herself, itself, yourself,
yourselves, ourselves, themselves
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I can do this by myself. (reflexive)
I myself am worried about the outcome. (intensive)
Comparative and Superlative
Adjectives and Adverbs
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Smart, smarter, smartest
Good, better, best
Bad, worse, worst
Quickly, more(less) quickly, most(least) quickly
Incorrect: This is the better cheese I’ve ever tasted.
Correct: This is the best cheese I’ve ever tasted.
Incorrect: Of the two, this is the most poorly sewn.
Correct: Of the two, this is the more poorly sewn.
Idiom
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1. an expression whose meaning is not predictable from the usual
meanings of its constituent elements, as kick the bucket or hang one's
head, or from the general grammatical rules of a language, as the table
round for the round table, and that is not a constituent of a larger
expression of like characteristics.
2. a language, dialect, or style of speaking peculiar to a people.
3. a construction or expression of one language whose parts correspond
to elements in another language but whose total structure or meaning is
not matched in the same way in the second language.(dictionary.com)
I almost croaked off when I saw my grade on the algebra test.
Usage and Mechanics
 Sentence structure is 24% of test.
 Relationships between and among clauses
 Placement of modifiers
 Shifts in construction
Subordinate (dependent) and
Independent Clauses
 Subordinate clauses—cannot stand alone; incomplete
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Because I left my homework at home, I had to call my dad to bring it to
school.
I ran out of the house in a hurry when I heard the siren outside.
 Run-on Sentences
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Incorrect: The dog escaped from the house it was lost for two hours.
Correct: The dog escaped from the house. It was lost for two hours.
Correct: When the dog escaped from the house, it was lost for two hours.
 Comma splices
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Incorrect: The dog was cold and wet, he shivered until we gave him a warm
bath.
Correct: The dog was cold and wet, and he shivered until we gave him a
bath.
Correct: The dog was cold and wet; he shivered until we gave him a bath.
Correct: Since the dog was cold and wet, he shivered until we gave him a
bath.
Sentence Fragments
 Incorrect: When he found a snake in his closet.
 Correct: Jake jumped on the bed and screamed for
help when he found a snake in his closet.
 Incorrect: Because I was sorry.
 Correct: Because I was sorry, I volunteered to take
out the trash for a month.
Misplaced Modifiers
 Incorrect: The essay was turned in late that
Jane had written.
 Correct: The essay that Jane had written was
turned in late.
Shifts in Construction
 Incorrect: We sat down to the table to eat, but
before we began, John says grace.
 Correct: We sat down to the table to eat, but before
we began, John said grace.
 Incorrect: Hamsters should work at the most
efficient pace one can.
 Correct: Hamsters should work at the most
efficient pace they can.
Sentence Structure and
Formation
 Consider how clauses and phrases are linked
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Consider punctuation or lack of
Consider various words that can be used to link
clauses and phrases: conjunctions like and, but,
because, and when, and pronouns like who,
whose, which, and that
Try the sample on the next slide
Sentence Structure and
Formation Example
 Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Roberto
Clemente—names like these will echo through time
that are trumpet calls to storied battles fought and
won in ages past.
 A. No change
 B. time like
 C. time in which
 D. time, which is like
Answer
 A: “Time are trumpet calls” does not make sense
 B: uses the preposition “like,” meaning “in the
manner of, similar to;” this makes sense logically
and from the stance of sentence structure.
…names will echo…like trumpet calls (creates a
simile)
 C: “in time trumpet calls to storied battles fought
and won in ages past” should sound like a sentence
but it doesn’t
 D. “Time is like trumpet calls to storied battles
fought and won in ages past” doesn’t make sense
Rhetorical Skills
 Strategy is 16 % of the test.
 How well you develop a topic by choosing
expressions appropriate to an essay’s audience and
purpose
 How well you judge the effect of adding, revising,
or deleting supporting material
 How well you judge the relevancy of statements in
context
Strategy Sample
 2. Some are very serious; running is a discipline for them. They run hard and
gracefully, easily passing the rest of us. Their clothing looks comfortable and
functional. I see them doing stretching exercises to warm up and cooling-down
exercises after they run.
 3. They wear expensive, fashionable outfits, perfectly fit and sleek, always newlooking. Neither these runners nor their clothes, ever look sweaty or messy.
One young man ran for two hours, and his sweatband was dry, his hair in place,
and his shoes unscuffed. Such runners don’t so much exercise as perform.
 The writer wishes to begin Paragraph 3 with a sentence that strengthens the
focus of the paragraph, while providing a transition from Paragraph 2. Which of
the following would be the best choice?
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A. Some runners run for health reasons.
B. Some runners run to be admired.
Runners come in a wide range of ages.
Some people like money and the things money can buy.
Answer
Best approach: 1st read through Paragraph 3 in order to
get a good idea of what the rest of the paragraph is
about.
A and C have very little in common with the content of
Paragraph 3 and may easily be ruled out.
D makes sense with the sentence that immediately
follows it but lacks a transition from Paragraph 2.
B works best because it adds new information and
ties together the details of the paragraph. Plus, it
offers a nice parallel to and comparison with the
opening sentence of the preceding paragraph.
Organization
 Organization is 15% of the test.
 Questions deal with issues of order,
coherence, and unity in an essay.
Organization Sample
 And when glints of the afternoon sun shone off Mickey
Mantle’s colossal bat, there will have to be seen for one
brief, stirring moment the glimmer of the jewels in King
Arthur’s own mighty sword, Excalibur.
 So there he stood, that learned professor of mine, lecturing
about the ideas, that have engaged people’s minds for
centuries.
 F. No change
 G. (Begin new paragraph) To summarize,
 H. (Do not begin new paragraph) So
 I. (Do not begin new paragraph) Yet
Answer
From reading the rest of the essay, you will have gained the understanding
that the writer is writing about a philosophy professor who would teach
the class and listen to the world series at the same time.
H and J may be ruled out because they call for no paragraph break, which is
necessary because the writer switches from a description of the game
back to his professor’s lecture.
F and G both propose the paragraph break, but G suggests adding the phrase
“To summarize.” It is not clear what the sentence is summarizing.
Therefore, F (No change) is the best answer because it helps to get
the essay back on track, suggesting “of all that I have said in the
preceding paragraph about the mythical quality of baseball, there
he stood, that learned professor of mine…”
Style
 Style is 16% of the test.
 Tests how well you choose precise and
appropriate words and images, maintain the
level of style and tone in an essay, manage
sentence elements for rhetorical
effectiveness, and avoid ambiguous pronoun
references, wordiness, and redundancy
Style Sample
 Although some look as though they were
once athletes, most seem to be grimly
performing to their doctor’s prescription.
 F. No change
 G. seem to be retired athletes, looking
 H. seemingly look to be
 J. look to be
Answer
 G and H are redundant and wordy and may
be eliminated immediately.
 J creates an awkward sentence. “Look to be
as though” sounds like something no one
would say or write. And “to be” adds nothing
to the sentence. Therefore, leave it as it is,
and F is the best choice, providing a
concise and fluent sentence.