Transcript ACT English Test

ACT English Test
Strategies and Skills
ACT English Test
75 questions, 45 minutes
Usage/Mechanics
53% of the test
Punctuation, Grammar & Usage
Sentence Structure
ACT Sentence Structure and Punctuation
The ACT English Test contains a number of questions that test sentence
structure and punctuation.
Learning ALL the rules of grammar and usage is a daunting task and not
necessary.
We can review the ones most frequently tested.
*** BONUS *** Understanding these basic rules will also help your writing! 
Complete and Incomplete Ideas
Correct structure and punctuation all depend on whether the ideas being
expressed are complete or incomplete.
A complete idea can stand on its own, whether it’s the entire sentence or just
one part.
1. Amanda throws strikes.
2. Go Wolves!
3. Who won the game?
4. The team celebrated after they won the game.
Complete and Incomplete Ideas cont’d
To be a complete idea there must be a subject and verb.
Subject
Verb
1
Amanda
throws
2
You
(understood)
Go
3
Who
won
4
team and they
celebrated and won
Complete and Incomplete Ideas continued
An incomplete idea can’t stand on its own. Look at the following examples:
1. The batter who hit second
2. Since you bought the hotdogs
3. To get a batter out
4. The team grabbed
An incomplete idea is always missing something, whether a subject and verb
(#3), the main idea (example #2), or the rest of an idea (examples #1 and #4).
Each of these would need to link up with another idea to make a sentence.
ACT tests heavily how to link ideas with punctuation and conjuctions.
STOP PUNCTUATION
Period (.)
Semicolon (;)
Question mark (?)
Exclamation mark (!)
Can ONLY come between to complete ideas.
Let’s Practice
After the thumping music started. The bird began to dance.
A.NO CHANGE
B.started, the bird began,
C.started; the bird began
D.started, the bird began
Commas
Use commas to slow ideas down, but not stop ideas. If you don’t need to stop or
slow down, don’t use any punctuation.
On the ACT, there are only four reasons to use a comma.
A comma alone can’t come between complete ideas, but it can when it’s paired
with what we call FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. A comma plus any of
these is the equivalent of STOP punctuation
Let’s Practice Again
I wondered how Snowball had learned to dance, and asked his trainer.
F. No Change
G. to dance and asked his trainer.
H. to dance; and asked his trainer.
J. to dance. And asked his trainer.
Comma Fun Continued
A comma can link an incomplete idea to a complete idea, in either order.
After Snowball stopped dancing, the trainer gave the bird another treat.
incomplete idea
complete idea
Snowball rocked out to Lady Gaga, oblivious to the growing crowd of fans.
complete idea
incomplete idea
Commas - The Final Frontier
Use commas to separate items on a list.
Snowball prefers songs with a regular, funky beat.
Snowball seems to like best the music of The Backstreet Boys, Lady Gaga, and
Queen.
Whenever you have three or more items on a list, always use a comma before
the “and” preceding the final item. This rule can be controversial, but on the ACT
the universally like the comma before the “and.”
Commas - Almost done
Use a pair of commas around unnecessary information.
Further research has shown that parrots, including cockatoos, can dance in
perfect sync to music.
If information is necessary in either means or structure, don’t use the commas. If
the meaning would be exactly the same but the additional information make the
sentence more interesting, use a pair of commas - or a pair of dashes - around
the information.
Lets try it, class!
Many people point to dog dancing competitions to argue that birds are not the
only animals that can dance.
A.NO CHANGE
B.argue, that birds are not the only animals,
C.argue, that birds are not the only animals
D.argue that birds are not the only animals,
Another practice
Scientists now believe that the ability to mimic, which requires complex circuitry,
for vocal learning, is necessary for an animal to keep a synchronized beat.
F. NO CHANGE
G. mimic, which requires complex circuitry
H. mimic, which, requires complex circuitry
J. mimic which requires complex circuitry
Colons and Single Dashes
Colons and single dashes are very specific pieces of punctuation, and they are very
flexible. They can link a complete idea to either an incomplete idea or another complete
idea. The complete idea must come first, and the second idea will be a definition,
explanation, or list.
Parrots don’t respond well to genres with at least noticeable upbeat; waltzes and salsa.
A. NO CHANGE
B. upbeat, waltzes, and salsa.
C. upbeat: waltzes, and salsa.
D. upbeat: waltzes and salsa.
Conjunctions
Punctuation isn’t the only way to link ideas. On some of the more difficult
questions on sentence structure, you have to change the ideas by adding or
deleting the conjunction.
Here are some of the more common conjunctions you may see.
although, as, because, if, since, that, until,
what, which, when, where, who, whom
(so these aren’t technically conjuctions, but it doesn’t matter because on the
ACT when you use these words, they act just like a conjunction.)
Let’s see how that works
The African grey parrot, which also mimics human speech and therefore can
dance.
A.NO CHANGE
B.parrot which
C.parrot that
D.parrot
Let’s try another...
The videos of Snowball dancing have sparked a serious area of study,
researchers admit they appreciate the sheer entertainment value.
F. NO CHANGE
G. Although the videos of Snowball
H. The videos appearing all over the Internet of Snowball
J. Since the videos of Snowball