Episode 3

3 Reasons Why in English You Should Read the Passage as You Go

00:00:00
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00:20:20

February 27th, 2020

20 mins 20 secs

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About this Episode

3 reasons why in English you should read the passage as you go

2 Types of Questions:

Usage questions

General passage questions

Usage
Underline in a sentence
Grammatically correct?
Punctuated correctly?

1st choice is no change.

General passage questions do not have an underline part in a sentence. The first choice is usually something other than No Change.

These are questions more about the passage rather than just an underlined part in a sentence.

The first several ACT tests I took in high school, I didn’t read the passage.

Why? I was in a hurry. 75 questions in 45 mins.

When I ask students in my workshop how many skip, over half agree.

Many so called experts teach this.

I figured out quickly I had to read the passage as I tested; otherwise, I was having to go back and reread.

As you read from one underline to the next, remember this isn’t reading comprehension. You just need to think, “In general what is happening?”

“What’s the purpose of the passage?”
“What’s the author’s main point?”

3 Reasons why you should read as you go:

  1. Tough to summarize an essay you didn’t read.

  2. Context

Some was/were eaten.

For Cat’s first birthday her mother bought her 2 cakes.

Some were eaten. There were two cakes.

  1. Changing tense of the verbs.

If you read a sentence by itself, the present tense verb, for example, works great.

But if you read the paragraph, every other verb was past tense, and you’ll immediately make a change.

So read the passage as you go. That doesn’t mean read the entire essay, then go back and answer the questions. Just read to question one, then answer question one. Then read to question two, then answer question two.

If you do this, you’ll finish even faster with a higher score than not reading it.

Remember this is not reading comprehension. You don’t need to know all the details. Keep asking yourself as you are reading, “In general, what is happening here?”

Special thanks to Ms. Julie Garner for a great review of the podcast. Julie is an English teacher at Jim Ned HS is West Texas.

This is a great podcast for those of you who are looking for some helpful advice and tips on taking the ACT. Chad Cargill is a trusted source and is the guy that some of you may have gone to see last October in Anson. Whether you went then or not, you should check this out.
~Ms. Garner

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