AccelePrep for the ACT Test 2nd Edition Student Text

C HAPTER 10 | F AST T RACK TO S CIENCE M ECHANICS • 181

PACING PLAN FOR THE SCIENCE TEST

Š‡ ’ƒ••ƒ‰‡• †‘ ‘– ‰‡– ‘”‡ †‹ˆϐ‹…—Ž– ƒ• ›‘— ‘˜‡ –Š”‘—‰Š –Š‡…‹‡…‡ Test, so you should plan on spending approximately the same amount of time on each passage and corresponding question set. For a test with six passages, this is about 6 minutes per passage and question set; for a test with seven passages, it’s 5 minutes per passage and question set. The table below illustrates how this approach would work on a test with six passages. As you will learn later, you can customize the order in which you complete the passages, so the passage numbering below refers to the passages as you choose to address them, not necessarily their order on the test. PASSAGE AND CORRESPONDING QUESTIONS TIME TO SPEND TOTAL TIME SPENT I 5 minutes 5 minutes II 6 minutes 11 minutes III 6 minutes 17 minutes IV 6 minutes 23 minutes V 6 minutes 29 minutes VI 6 minutes 35 minutes However, passages can have 5 to 7 items and some have more text or more complex data, so some passages may require less time and others more. This table is helpful as a general guideline. ‹–Š‹ ƒ ‰”‘—’ ‘ˆ ‹–‡•ǡ –Š‡ ’”‘„Ž‡• †‘ –‡† –‘ ‰‡– ‘”‡ †‹ˆϐ‹…—Ž– ™‹–Š ‹…”‡ƒ•‹‰ ‹–‡ —„‡”Ǥ Š‡ ϐ‹”•– ‹–‡ ƒ› „‡ Œ—•– ƒ ”‡ƒ†‹‰ ˆ”‘ ƒ –ƒ„Ž‡Ǣ the second item may be a determination about a maximum or minimum value; the third item may be an interpolation; and the fourth item may be ƒ ‡š–”ƒ’‘Žƒ–‹‘Ǥ ‹ƒŽŽ›ǡ –Š‡ ϐ‹ˆ–Š ƒ† •‹š–Š ‹–‡• ‹‰Š– ”‡“—‹”‡ ƒ Š‹‰Š‡”Ǧ level synthesis of the material. So, if 5 or 6 minutes have passed, and you still haven’t gotten to the last ‹–‡ ‘” –™‘ ‹ ƒ •‡–ǡ ‘˜‡ ‘Ǥ Š‡ †‹ˆϐ‹…—Ž–› ‡–‡” ™‹ŽŽ ”‡•‡– ™‹–Š –Š‡ ‡š– group of items. You can miss the last question on each passage and still do well on the Science Test. Ultimately, pacing on the Science Tests requires balancing competing considerations such as the need for speed and desire for accuracy. The „‡•– ™ƒ› –‘ ϐ‹† –Š‡ ‘’–‹ƒŽ –”ƒ†‡Ǧ‘ˆˆ ‹• ’”ƒ…–‹…‡Ǥ

PACING TIP Allow yourself one minute to learn about the passage for each set of questions. Learn the main purpose of the data or experiments or the focus of the debate. Then you can ‡ƒ•‹Ž›…‘‡ „ƒ… ƒ† ϐ‹† –Š‡ information you need when you answer the questions.

STRATEGY ALERT Always guess. You have at least a 25% chance of guessing correctly, and your odds improve if you can eliminate one or two choices.