AccelePrep for the ACT Test 2nd Edition Student Text

150 • S URGE TO S UCCESS ! R EADING T EST P REP

KEY IDEAS AND DETAILS

ƒ‹ †‡ƒ ‹–‡• ƒ• ƒ„‘—–…‡–”ƒŽ –Š‡‡•Ȅ™Šƒ– —‹ϐ‹‡• –Š‡ ’ƒ••ƒ‰‡ȋ•ȌǤ They’re usually pretty easy to identify, too, asking questions such as: • The primary purpose of the passage is to: • The author is primarily concerned with: • This passage is mainly about the relationship between: The questions may also ask about the main idea of a particular section or paragraph of the passage. The best answer for a Main Idea item will be one that fully summarizes the main points in the passage or section of the passage in question. “Fully” is an important word to remember here. The ACT test writers will try to trick you by giving you answer choices that mention parts of the main idea but will be either too narrow (they don’t mention all of the main points) or too broad (they refer to things that aren’t mentioned in the passage). 1. The primary purpose of Passage A is to: Ǥ…‘˜‹…‡ ”‡ƒ†‡”• –Šƒ– •…‹‡–‹ϐ‹…”‡•‡ƒ”…Š ’”‘˜‡• –Š‡ ‡‡† –‘ Ž‹‹– the use of neonicotinoids as pesticides. B. present evidence that honey bees are economically important to the agricultural sector of the economy. C. report on an experiment that seems to establish that neonicotinoids cause honey bee Colony Collapse Disorder. D. praise Dr. Lu for research that discovered the “smoking gun” that has caused the death of honey bee colonies. Key Ideas and Details includes four question types: Main Idea, Explicit Detail, Implied Idea, and Application. These questions focus on the content of the passage. Main Idea questions will ask you about the theme of a passage, while Explicit Detail and Implied Idea questions will ask about •’‡…‹ϐ‹…’‘‹–• –Šƒ– ƒ”‡ ‡š’Ž‹…‹–Ž› •–ƒ–‡† ‘”…ƒ „‡ ‹ˆ‡””‡†Ǥ ’’Ž‹…ƒ–‹‘ questions will challenge you to apply information to new situations. Let’s go through each type in more detail.

TEST SPECS One of the Reading assignments in each test will be a pair of passages. The pair together is roughly the same length as a single passage.

MAIN IDEA

POWER TIP We call this the Goldilocks Principle: the correct answer is neither too big nor too little, but just right.

Examples:

Explanations for the example questions are included later in the chapter. Circle your answers now. Later when you reach the explanations at the end of the section, come back and check to make sure you answered the questions correctly.