Chapter 6

Spotting Usage Errors and Ripping Through Rhetorical Questions

In This Chapter

Recognizing English Test errors and learning how to correct them

Finding the best way to add, delete, or positon elements of paragraphs and passages

About half of the ACT English Test questions test what most people lump together in the general category they call English: punctuation, sentence structure, and basic grammar, including diction, subject/verb agreement, modifiers (adjectives and adverbs), and so on. That’s the stuff you probably forget (or intentionally purge from your brain) ten minutes after being tested on it. The other half cover rhetorical skills, which test general writing style and organization — in other words, the stuff you use every time you pick up a pen or turn on your word-processing program. Chapter 5 provides the foundation for the grammar and structure basics you need to know to do well on the English Test. In this chapter, we identify the errors and concepts that continually crop up on the ACT and show you exactly what to focus on to deal with them.

Spotting Mistakes: Commonly Tested Errors

The ACT tests a bunch of writing errors. This section highlights some of the usage errors that appear most frequently so that you’re prepared to spot ‘em without breaking a sweat.

Properly placing punctuation marks

A preponderance (or huge number) of English Test questions require you to evaluate the proper way to punctuate one sentence or more. This section reviews the types of punctuation errors the ACT tests the most and pinpoints the clues to look for when you're choosing the best mark for the job.

When you consider an underlined portion of an English passage, first look for a comma, semicolon, or other kind of punctuation. Chances are the underlined punctuation mark is the focus of the question, especially if you glance at the answer options and all contain similar words with different punctuation options. Choose the best answer based on your keen knowledge of the rules (see Chapter 5) rather than a subjective feeling.

Semicolons

Underlined semicolons are easy to evaluate. The primary job of a semicolon is to join independent clauses, so just perform these steps when you see an underlined semicolon or a semicolon in potential answer choice:

1. Read the words that come before the semicolon. If the group of words doesn't contain a subject and a verb or does but begins with a subordinating conjunction or relative pronoun, it isn't an independent clause and the semicolon can't be right. If the words have a subject and verb and don't begin with a subordinating conjunction, the clause is independent and the semicolon may be proper. Check Step 2.
2. Read the words after the semicolon. If they don't create an independent clause or if they begin with a coordinating conjunction such as and, but, or or, the semicolon doesn't work. If they do make an independent clause and don't begin with a conjunction, however, the semicolon is probably proper. But move on to Step 3 just to be sure.
3. Check the answer choices. If there is no option to change the semicolon to a period and create two separate sentences, the semicolon works. If there's an answer that sticks a period after the first clause and capitalizes the second, read the two independent clauses. They’re likely about two different topics and therefore are better separated by a period than grouped together in the same sentence with a semicolon. If that's not the case, the answer with the period may contain another error.

Try the steps on a sample sentence:

The pond dried up after the year-long drought; the wildlife that previously fed on the fish and insects had to find resources elsewhere.

(A)NO CHANGE

(B)The pond dried up after the year-long drought; and the wildlife that

(C)The pond dried up after the year-long drought. The wildlife who

(D)When the pond dried up after the year-long drought; the wildlife that

The underlined part contains a semicolon, so check first for punctuation. If the semicolon joins two independent clauses, the answer is likely Choice (A). The words to the left of the semicolon make up an independent clause. They contain a main subject pond and verb dried and don't begin with a subordinating conjunction. So far so good. The stuff that comes after the semicolon is also an independent clause. There's a main subject wildlife and verb had and no beginning subordinating conjunction. The semicolon seems proper, but check the other answers to be sure. (For more on how to approach English Test questions, see Chapter 4.)

Choice (B) places a conjunction after the semicolon and that makes the semicolon wrong. Choice (C) is punctuated properly, but it changes that to who. You don't use who to describe nonhumans such as wildlife. Choice (D) sticks the subordinating conjunction when ahead of the first clause, making it dependent instead of independent. You separate a beginning dependent clause with a comma instead of a semicolon. The sentence is right the way it is.

Colons

When the underlined part or possible answer choices contain a colon, concentrate on the words that come before the colon. If they create an independent clause, the colon is likely okay. If the beginning is a phrase or dependent clause, the colon can't be right.

Although the colon has to be preceded by an independent clause, any format (a list, phrase, or clause) can come after it as long as it elaborates on the information in the beginning independent clause before the colon.

Dashes

To figure out whether a dash is proper, determine whether it could be replaced by a colon or a comma. When you see two dashes in a sentence, ask yourself whether they could be exchanged with two commas designating nonessential information. If the answer is “yes” in either situation, the dash or dashes work just fine.

Commas

A comma in the underlined part of the sentence signals you to perform a little detective work. Don your tweed cape, Sherlock style, and answer these questions to solve the Case of the Perfectly Placed Comma:

• Does a single comma appear anywhere between the subject and verb? If the answer is “yes,” the comma isn't perfectly placed. So you know that the comma in this sentence doesn't work because it appears by itself between the subject pond and the verb provided: The pond that dried up last year, formally provided a viable habitat for local wildlife.
• Does a single comma come between the verb and the rest of the predicate? If so, the comma isn't placed perfectly. This comma is wrong because it separates the verb provided from its object what: The little pond provided, what many would consider to be a viable habitat for the local wildlife.
• Does a single comma separate a prepositional phrase from the noun it describes? If so, the comma isn't correct. This faulty comma comes between the prepositional phrase for the local wildlife and the noun it describes habitat: The pond provides a viable habitat, for the local wildlife.

• Does the comma separate two independent clauses without the help of a conjunction? If it does, the comma isn't correctly placed. Check the words that precede the comma to see whether they make up an independent clause (which has a main subject and verb and no beginning subordinating conjunction). Then check the words that come after the comma. If they also create an independent clause, the comma is wrong. The comma in this example is improper because it joins two independent clauses: The pond that dried up last year provided a viable habitat for local water fowl, now those birds must find another resource.

  The options to correct this comma splice vary. Here are some of the options the ACT may provide:

  • Add a coordinating conjunction: The pond that dried up last year provided a viable habitat for local water fowl, but now those birds must find another resource.
  • Replace with a semicolon: The pond that dried up last year provided a viable habitat for local water fowl; now those birds must find another resource.
  • Create two sentences: The pond that dried up last year provided a viable habitat for local water fowl. Now those birds must find another resource.
  • Change one of the clauses so that it's no longer independent: The pond that dried up last year provided a viable habitat for local water fowl, birds that now must find another resource.

Notice that the questions don't include “Does the sentence need a pause?” Pauses are subjective, so evaluate commas based on the rules rather than whether you think the sentence could use a break.

A pair of commas (or a comma paired with a period or the beginning of a sentence) work together to designate nonessential information, such as asides and descriptive clauses that begin with which. See Chapter 5 for the types of detail that aren't essential.

The ACT rarely requires you to determine whether a phrase or clause is essential. Usually, the question's primary concern is that you correctly punctuate both sides of the nonessential descriptor.

Picking up on pronoun errors

If you see a pronoun in the underlined part of a sentence, you’re likely being tested on issues with the pronoun reference (the noun the pronoun refers to) or using the proper form. Here are some tips on what to look for when you see a pronoun in the underlined part:

• An underlined this, that, which, these, those, it, or they, may indicate a faulty reference. Whenever you see a one of these pronouns in the underlined part, check the sentence or prior sentence for the noun the pronoun renames. If the noun is plural, the pronoun must be plural; if it’s singular, the pronoun must be singular.

  The pronoun reference in this sentence is faulty: You can determine the ripeness of citrus by handling them and noting their color. Citrus is a singular noun, so using a plural pronoun such as them to refer to it is wrong. To correct this sentence, change it to this: You can determine the ripeness of citrus by handling it and noting its color.

• An underlined this, that, which, these, those, it, or they, or other personal pronoun may indicate an unclear reference problem. If you can’t easily find the noun a pronoun renames (we mean actually be able to point your finger to it) the reference is unclear and must be clarified. Usually you correct these problems by replacing the pronoun with a specific noun. Look for a noun in the answer choices.

  This sentence contains an unclear reference: Smart growers make sure they supply the ripest fruits possible so they will buy again. The second they in the sentence has an ambiguous reference. The only nouns the pronoun could rename are growers and fruits. Neither of these would buy from growers again. To correct the problem, replace the second they with the actual noun that designates the buyer: Smart growers make sure they supply the ripest fruits possible so consumers will buy again.

• An underlined who or whom is likely testing proper form. You use who as a subject and whom as an object. So it’s “the man who gives the gift” and “the man to whom the gift is given.”

  To figure out whether who or whom is better, substitute he and him. If him works better, choose whom; if he is a better substitute, choose who: He gives the gift, but the gift is given to him.

  The next time your grammar teacher asks you to name two pronouns, you can be a smart aleck and shout out, “Who, me?”

• Evaluate whether an underlined reflexive pronoun is proper. The ACT hardly ever tests you on whether you use the subjective or objective forms of personal pronouns other than who, but it may test you on when the reflexive form is proper.

  Use reflexive pronouns only when the receiver and the doer of an action are the same. The sentence “Please return the forms to the secretary and myself” is wrong because you aren’t the doer of the action of returning the forms; you’re telling someone else to give the forms to you and your secretary. The correct version of this sentence is “Please return the forms to the secretary and me.” Note that a sentence such as “He came up with the idea all by himself” is accurate because the doer and the receiver of the action are the same person.

• An underlined its, it’s, they, or they’re usually indicates a question that tests you on the possessive form of personal pronouns. No personal pronoun uses an apostrophe to form the possessive, so it’s and they’re are contractions of “it is” and “they are” rather than the possessives of it and they. This sentence demonstrates the proper use of both forms: It’s an indication of happiness when a dog wags its tail.

  To test whether it’s or its is proper, replace the pronoun with “it is.” If “it is” sounds right, the proper form is it’s; if “it is” doesn’t work, the proper form is its.

  The form of its’ doesn’t exist in the English language, so an answer that includes its’ is never correct.

• Underlined relative pronouns may test whether you know what pronoun goes with what kinds of nouns. Use who to refer to people. On the ACT, which and that refer to animals and things. So it's better to say, “There’s the police officer who pulled me over yesterday” than “There’s the police officer that pulled me over yesterday.” Though we can't think of a time when we would be happy to make either statement!

Forming possessives

Whenever you see an underlined part that includes two nouns smack dab next to each other, you're likely dealing with the possessive form of the first noun, especially if the answer choices show you a variety of formats with apostrophes. These questions require you to determine whether possessive form is necessary and then if it is to apply it correctly. Here's an example question to show you how:

The parents made sure that their bags included several of the babies colorful toys to amuse them during the car trip.

(A)NO CHANGE

(B)babies' colorful toys

(C)baby's colorful toys

(D)babies fully-colored toys

To answer this question, first check the answers. Notice that two of the four contain apostrophes – a good clue that you’re dealing with possessive form. Check to see whether you have two nouns right next to each other. Almost always, seeing two nouns together indicates that the first should be in possessive form. The rule is true even when an adjective that describes the second noun comes between the two nouns. The noun babies precedes colorful, an adjective. But that adjective describes the noun toys right after it, so the simplified form would be “babies toys.” Because babies is a noun and toys is a noun, you must put babies in the proper possessive form.

You can double check by flipping the nouns and adding an “of the” like this “toys of the babies.” If the “of the” test works, you can be absolutely sure you’re dealing with possessive form.

So eliminate Choices (A) and (D) because neither is in possessive form. (The fully-colored is just there in Choice (D) to try to distract you from the real error.) The remaining two choices provide either the singular possessive or the plural possessive. Figuring out which is correct on the ACT is usually easy. Look for clues in the sentence. The toys are supposed to amuse them, and them is plural, so the correct answer is the plural possessive in Choice (B) where the apostrophe follows the ending s. For more on how to form possessives, check out Chapter 5. To review the possessive forms of personal pronouns, see “Picking up on pronoun errors” earlier in this chapter.

Evaluating verbs

When you see an underlined verb, check for two potential errors in this order:

1. Make sure the verb agrees in number (plural or singular) with its subject.

   Okay, so subjects and verbs don’t actually fight, but they do sometimes disagree. To bring peace to the situation, you must pair plural subjects with plural verbs and singular subjects with singular verbs. If you see a verb in the underlined portion of the English Test, find the subject it goes with and make sure they agree.

   When the subject isn’t simple or obvious, finding it may be difficult. Just take a look at this sentence: Terry’s continual quest to embellish his truck with a ton of amenities make it hard for him to stick to a budget. The subject is quest (a singular noun), but the interjection of “to embellish his truck with a ton of amenities” between the subject and verb may confuse you into thinking that amenities (a plural noun) is the subject. However, amenities can’t be the subject of the sentence because it’s the object of a preposition, and a noun can’t be an object and a subject at the same time.

   To spot subject/verb agreement errors in a complex sentence, focus on the main elements of the sentence by crossing out nouns that function as objects (especially those in prepositional phrases). Then check the subjects and verbs to make sure they agree. When you remove all the objective noun forms from the sentence “Terry’s continual quest to embellish his truck with a ton of amenities make it hard for him to stick to a budget,” you get “Terry’s quest make it hard.” Now the problem is obvious! The singular noun quest requires the singular verb makes.

   You don't need to check for subject/verb agreement when the verb in question is a past tense action verb. Action verbs in the past tense don’t have a plural and singular form.

2. Check for proper verb tense.

   After you've made sure that the verb agrees with the subject, check the tenses of underlined verbs. Verb forms must be in the proper tense for a sentence to make sense. Review the purpose for each verb tense in Chapter 5 to help you spot incorrect tenses. For example, you know that using future perfect tense in “Yesterday, I will have read 300 pages” is incorrect because yesterday is in the past, and you don’t use future tense to refer to past events.

   The other verbs in the same sentence and usually the same paragraph give you clues to what tense a particular verb should be in. Generally, all verbs in a sentence should be in the same tense. For example, the sentence “I had read 300 pages in the book when my friends invite me to see a movie” must be incorrect because had read is past perfect tense and invite is present tense. You can correct the sentence by changing invite from present tense to past tense (invited).

   In recent tests, the ACT has included at least one question that gives you the option to choose one of these tenses: must of, may of, might of, could of, should of, would of, and so on. These questions are easy to answer correctly because of isn't a verb. It's a preposition. The proper constructions are must have, may have, might have, could have, should have, and would have or their contractions, for example, would've. There will never ever be a time when one of these verb + of constructions will be the right answer. You just added a point to your raw score by reading this chapter!

Whenever you see a verb in a usage question, check subject/verb agreement first. The ACT will often throws a bunch of different tenses in the answer choice options to distract you from the real issue of subject/verb agreement.

Calling out sentence fragments

Sentence fragments are incomplete sentences. They usually show up on the ACT either as dependent clauses that pretend to convey complete thoughts or as a bunch of words with something that looks like a verb but doesn’t act like one.

Always keep the following in mind:

• Dependent clauses by themselves are fragments because they don’t provide complete thoughts. “Although the stairs are steep …” is far from a complete thought.
• Phrases that contain verb participles (one part of a verb phrase such as a word that ends in ing or ed) don't express complete thoughts even though the participles look like verbs. The ACT most commonly offends with the participle being. Being all by itself isn't a verb. So this phrase isn't a sentence: The project being quite complicated. To correct the problem, look for an answer choice that converts the ing word to its conjugated form. For the sample sentence, you'd look for an is or a was to replace being.

Whenever you see being in the underlined part or the answer choices, run from it like the plague. An answer that contains being is almost always wrong.

Identifying problems with parallelism

All phrases joined by conjunctions should be constructed in the same way. For example, the following sentence has a problem with parallelism: Ann spent the morning taking practice tests, studying word lists, and she read a chapter in a novel. Not all the elements joined by the and in this sentence are constructed in the same way. The first two elements are phrases that begin with a gerund (or ing form); the last element is a clause. Changing read to a gerund and dropping she solves the problem: Ann spent the morning taking practice tests, studying word lists, and reading a chapter in a novel.

When you see a sentence with a list of any sort, check for a lack of parallelism. Items in a series may be nouns, verbs, adjectives, or entire clauses. However, nonparallel verbs are the items that most commonly have errors. When a clause contains more than one verb, watch out for this particular error.

Recognizing misplaced modifiers

The ACT will surely test how well you can spot errors in modification. Modifier is a fancy term for words or phrases, such as adjectives and adverbs, that give more information about other words, usually nouns and verbs. Errors occur when modifiers are too far away from the words they modify and when what they’re modifying is unclear.

Keep the following guidelines in mind whenever you’re dealing with modifiers:

• Modifiers must be as close to the words they modify as possible. The sentence “Sam set down the speech he wrote on the desk” is incorrect because of a misplaced modifier. It sounds like Sam wrote the speech on the desk! The sentence “Sam set down his speech on the desk” is much better. The ACT tests adjectives and adverbs in two general ways:

  • The English Test may give you four constructions and ask you to pick the one that pairs the proper parts of speech. So you need to be able to recognize the best construction of paired words such as these:

    blind admiration

    blindly admiration

    blind admire

    blind admiringly

    The first pair is correct because it has an adjective blind describe a noun admiration. The other three are wrong because they incorrectly have an adverb blindly describe a noun admiration, an adjective blind describe a verb admire, and an adjective blind describe an adverb admiringly.

  • It may ask you to position an underlined part of speech – usually an adverb. Whenever a question asks you to position an underlined portion in a sentence, first determine the part of speech of the underlined part. Underlined adverbs or adverb phrases should be near a verb. Underlined adjectives or adjective phrases or clauses should go next to the noun they describe.

• Beginning participle phrases must have a clear reference. A beginning participle phrase in a sentence always modifies the subject of the sentence, so the sentence has to be constructed in a way that relates the phrase to the subject. If it doesn't, the sentence contains a dangling participle. For a definition of a participle, read “Calling out sentence fragments” earlier in this chapter.

  Consider this sentence: Driving down the road, a deer darted in front of me. If you read this sentence literally, you may believe the deer drove down the road because the beginning phrase “driving down the road” refers to the subject of the sentence, which is deer. To make it clear that the driver — not the deer — drove down the road, you need to change this phrase to a clause: As I was driving down the road, a deer darted in front of me. Alternatively, you may need to rewrite the sentence to change the subject: Driving down the road, I spotted a deer darting out in front of me.

  Because the test makers tend to focus on modification errors involving beginning phrases, be sure to check for this error every time you see a sentence with a beginning phrase.

• Place not only and but also in parallel positions within a sentence. People often place not only and but also incorrectly. Here’s an example of a wrong way to use these expressions: Angelique not only was exasperated but also frightened when she locked herself out of the house.

  See the problem? The phrase not only comes before the verb was, but the phrase but also comes before the adjective frightened. Correct it so that both elements come before adjectives: Angelique was not only exasperated but also frightened when she locked herself out of the house.

Checking for Sentence Clarity and Proper Organization

The other main type of English Test questions deals with rhetorical skills, which is a fancy way of saying they test the best way to structure a piece of writing. For these questions, you seek answers that reflect the clearest, most precise constructions. Most of the rhetorical questions change up the standard answer choice format by presenting you with actual questions about an underlined part or even the whole passage. Some — including those that test redundancy, proper transitions, and diction — stick to the customary underlined part with the NO CHANGE option and three other possible answers. For more about the question formats, see Chapter 4.

Eliminating superfluous words

Sentences that say the same idea twice or that use more words than necessary may be grammatically correct but still need fixing. The ACT wants you to notice and get rid of superfluous language. For example, saying “The custodian added an additional row of desks that were brown” is silly. The construction of “added an additional” is needlessly repetitive and the desks can be described more efficiently. The sentence reads better as “The custodian added a row of brown desks.”

The good news is that once you realize how much the ACT loves to test repetition and wordiness, you'll spot the problems easily. Here are some keys to recognizing these questions:

• Check the choices for a one-word answer. When you encounter an underlined portion containing several words and three of the answer choices are similar in length but one answer consists of just one word, you're likely dealing with a redundancy problem and the correct option is almost always the one word answer. The extra stuff in the other answer choices restates information that's already conveyed in the word's meaning. Here's an example of a redundant construction: The essay contains numerous redundancies that create lots of repetition. The definition of redundancy is that is create repetition, so you should eliminate the ending relative clause “that create lots of repetition.”

• Check the answers for an omit option. Often an option to omit the underlined portion signals redundant or otherwise unnecessary information. Check the sentence and surrounding sentences for whether the underlined part repeats an idea or is irrelevant. If it does or is, choose the answer that gets rid of the underlined part altogether.

  The omit option doesn't always mean redundancy, so make sure you evaluate the sentence carefully before you choose to omit an underlined portion.

• Check for adjectives and adverbs that have the same meaning as the words they describe or two or more describing words that mean the same. Describing someone as an “intelligent genius” or as a “smart, intelligent leader” doesn't add new information because geniuses are by their nature intelligent and smart and intelligent have pretty much the same meaning. Find the answer that eliminates the repetition.

• When the answer choices say roughly the same thing, choose the one that contains the fewest words. So “story's moral” is better than “the moral of the story” (sorry Aesop), and “flawed reasoning” is more succinct that “reasoning that is fallacious.”

  Usually the shortest answer choice for questions that test wordiness is the correct one as long as the short answer doesn't contain an additional error.

• If you're given a choice between active voice and passive voice, choose active voice. Passive voice isn't wrong, but it's weak and vague. It beats around the bush to make a point. The passive voice in the following sentence hides who’s doing the action: The speech was heard by most of the students. The sentence isn’t technically incorrect, but it’s better said this way: Most of the students heard the speech. Notice also that the sentence in active voice uses fewer words.

Completing the mission

We call questions that ask you for an answer that accomplishes a certain goal mission questions. The mission question gives you a task, and your job is to find the choice that best completes this task. Something like this: The author wishes to convey a high level of urgency in extricating the clown from the packed Volkswagen. Which of the following choices best accomplishes this goal?

The key to finding the correct answer to a mission question is to remember what you aren't looking for. You aren't evaluating whether the answer choices contain usage errors or sentence structure problems; you aren't choosing the best-constructed answer. Your only focus is on the answer that fulfills the mission.

Here are some tips for answering mission questions:

• Read the question carefully to find the one or two qualifications the correct answer must fulfill. In the clown car example, you're looking for great urgency and getting the clowns out.
• Circle the qualifications in the question so you can find them easily as you read through the answer choices.
• Eliminate answers that don't meet the qualifications.
• From the remaining, choose the most specific correct answer – the one that provides the most vivid images. So an answer such as “carnival workers rushed to wrench the terrified clowns from the flaming car” is better than “carnival workers urgently pulled the clowns out of the car.” The second option tries to entice you with its inclusion of urgently, but its language isn't as powerful as the words in the first.

Determining the function of a deletion

The ACT may underline or otherwise designate a word, phrase, or clause and then ask you what would happen to the text if the indicated part were deleted. These questions are easier to answer if you concentrate on the role the proposed deletion serves in the sentence before you look at the answer choices.

So you may be asked what this sentence would lose if its underlined part were deleted: “The floral arrangement contained a variety of blooms of vivid oranges, brilliant blues, and sunny yellows.” The underlined part gives you specific detail. Without it you wouldn't know the flowers' colors. You then check the answer choices for one that clarifies that the sentence would lose visual details.

Often a deletion question provides you with an answer option that suggests the underlined part contains irrelevant information. That answer is hardly ever correct. Although the ACT frequently tests you on whether details are necessary, it doesn’t usually use deletion questions for this task.

Pondering an addition

To test relevance (and sometimes redundancy), the ACT presents you with phrases and clauses and asks you whether they should be added to the paragraph. The overwhelming consideration is whether the information is relevant. Skim the entire paragraph that would contain the proposed addition to answer these two questions:

• What is the paragraph's topic? If the addition relates to that topic, it's likely relevant and should be included. If the addition's topic is unrelated, it shouldn't be inserted.
• Does the paragraph already state the information in the addition? Even if the proposed addition is relevant, it shouldn't be added if it repeats information that's already there.

Addition questions are usually formatted as “yes, yes, no, no.” (See Chapter 4 for details on this question format.) If the answer to the first question is yes and the second question is no, choose between the two yes answer options based on which provides the best justification for the yes. If the answer to the first question is no or the answer to the second question is no, choose between the two no options. Usually the two no options will give you a “no because it's irrelevant” or a “no because it's redundant.” Choose the one that fits.

Creating smooth transitions

There are two types of transition questions, one that asks you to choose the best transition word or phrase to introduce a clause and one that asks you for the best first or last sentence of a paragraph. In both cases, check for clues in the elements that precede and follow the transition.

Transition words

The first type looks like a regular usage question. The transition is underlined in the sentence, and your answers give you a NO CHANGE and three possible replacements. To figure out the best answer, examine the events in the sentence, or sentences, that comes before the transition and the sentence that contains the transition. Then choose the word or words that best relate the two events.

Transitions show three main relationships between events:

• Similarity – If the events are similar, choose transitions such as likewise, additionally, similarly, and so on or choose no transition at all.
• Contrast – If the events oppose each other, choose transitions such as however, in contrast, on the contrary, and so on.
• Cause and effect – If one event causes the other, choose transitions such as therefore, because, as a result, and so on.

Whenever you see two answer choices that provide the same transition type (for example, in contrast and on the other hand), you can eliminate both of them. They can't both be right, so they must both be wrong.

Transition sentences

Questions that seek the best transition sentences may resemble mission questions, something like: “Which of the following sentences would best conclude this paragraph and introduce the next one?” or “Which of the following sentences would best introduce the topic of this paragraph?” Or they may simply underline the first sentence of a paragraph and ask you to choose the best option. In all cases, you're looking for an answer that relates to the topic of the second paragraph to elements of the preceding paragraph. Attack them in two steps:

1. Eliminate answers that don't relate to the second paragraph – the one that comes after if you're dealing with a concluding sentence or the one that contains a first sentence. Read the entire paragraph to determine its main topic. If an answer doesn't somehow set up that topic, it's likely wrong.
2. From the remaining answers, choose that one that harkens back to an element in the first paragraph – the one that contains a concluding sentence or precedes an introductory sentence.

Transition questions can be tricky if you try to answer them too quickly. Take the time to carefully examine the stuff that precedes and follows the transition, and the correct answer will become clear.

Organizing and positioning elements

The ACT will ask you to position words, sentences, and even whole paragraphs. Questions that require placing words in a sentence are usage questions. We discuss these in an earlier section “Recognizing misplaced modifiers.” In this section, we cover what to do with the sentences and paragraphs. Positioning questions are easy to spot because the answer choices are usually just a list of numbers that refer to numbered sentences or paragraphs.

Some students get overwhelmed by positioning questions and the time it takes to answer them. Remember, though, the ACT must supply obvious clues to the correct position because it has to be able to justify its correct answers, so these questions really aren't that time-consuming. Here are some tips to help you spot the clues and become a star at perfectly proper placement:

• Before you examine the paragraphs and passages for clues, check the answer options. Put a pencil mark on your booklet to highlight for yourself the four possible placements. So if an answer gives you “before Sentence 3,” find Sentence 3 in the paragraph and put a pencil dot or check before it. Do the same for the other three choices. Then you don't have to keep checking the answer choices to see your options. And you won't waste time considering positions that aren't included in the answer choices.
• When you place sentences in paragraphs, look for pronouns in the sentence you're placing or in the paragraph it fits into. Almost always, there'll be one. Remember that pronouns refer back to the nouns they rename, so you'll position the sentence so the pronoun comes in after the noun it refers to.
• Check the paragraphs you position for key, but sometimes subtle, clues. For example, it's customary in essays and articles to introduce people by their first and last names and after that refer to them by just their last names. So don't put a paragraph that calls a person by last name before a paragraph that contains both the first and last name.
• When you place a sentence or paragraph, determine whether it contains mostly details or mostly general information. Details generally follow general information. Also, note the transition words that initiate sentences and paragraphs. They'll tip you off. For example, a sentence or paragraph that begins with finally will conclude others in a list.

Seeing the big picture

Questions that ask you about the passage as a whole come in several varieties. The most common are really just mission questions. They ask you whether the passage fulfills a particular goal. The answers are presented in “yes, yes, no, no” format. Often, the easiest way to determine the main purpose of a passage is to read its title. Compare the title to the answer choices; if you find a similarity, you've likely found the answer. If you're still not sure whether the answer is yes or no, read the reasons given by each answer choice. Usually, you can eliminate two choices because the reasons they give are so off base. Examine the remaining answers carefully to choose the most true and relevant reason.

Sticking to standard expressions

English speakers use certain words in certain ways for no particular reason other than because that’s the way it is. It's called proper diction. But sometimes even native English speakers fail to use idiomatic expressions correctly. It’s common to hear people use further instead of farther when they mean distance or less instead of fewer when they refer to the number of countable items. Memorizing all of the standard forms is impossible, but thankfully you'll be able to figure out the answers to most of the diction questions by using your ear. Check out Table 6-1 to see a few of the expressions that may be less obvious.

Table 6-1 Commonly Tested Words and Expressions

Word or Expression	Rule	Correct Use
among/between	Use among for comparing three or more things or persons and between for comparing two things or persons.	Between the two of us there are few problems, but among the four of us there is much discord.
amount/number	Use amount to describe singular nouns and number to describe plural nouns.	I can’t count the number of times I’ve miscalculated the amount of money I’ve spent on groceries.
as … as	When you use as in a comparison, use the construction as … as.	The dog is as wide as he is tall.
better/best worse/worst	Use better and worse to compare two things; use best and worst to compare more than two things.	Of the two products, the first is better known, but this product is the best known of all 20 on the market.
different from	Use different from rather than ­different than.	This plan is different from the one we implemented last year. (Not: This plan is different than last year’s.)
effect/affect	Generally, use effect as a noun and affect as a verb.	No one could know how the effect of the presentation would affect the client’s choice.
either/or neither/nor	Use or with either and nor with neither.	Neither Nellie nor Isaac wanted to go to either the party or the concert.
er/est	Use the er form (called the comparative form) to compare exactly two items; use the est form (called the superlative form) to compare more than two items.	I am taller than my brother Beau, but Darren is the tallest member of our family.
farther/further	Use farther to refer to distance and further to refer to time or quantity.	Carol walked farther today than she did yesterday, and she vows to further study the benefits of walking.
good/well	Good is an adjective that modifies a noun. Well is an adverb that usually answers the question how.	It’s a good thing that you’re feeling so well after your bout of the flu.
if/whether	If introduces a condition. Whether compares alternatives.	If I crack a book this summer, it will be to determine whether I need to study more math for the ACT.
imply/infer	To imply means to suggest indirectly. To infer means to conclude or deduce.	I didn’t mean to imply that your dress is ugly. You merely inferred that’s what I meant when I asked you whether you bought it at an upholstery store.
less/fewer	Use less to refer to quantity (things that can be counted) and fewer to refer to number (things that can’t be counted).	That office building is less noticeable because it has fewer floors. That glass has less water and fewer ice cubes.
less/least	Use less to compare two things and least to compare more than two things.	He is less educated than his brother is, but he isn’t the least educated of his entire family.
like/as	Use like before nouns and ­pronouns; use as before phrases and clauses.	Like Ruth, Steve wanted the school’s uniform policy to be just as it had always been.
many/much	Use many to refer to number and much to refer to quantity.	Many days I woke up feeling much anxiety, but I’m better now that I’m reading Catholic High School Entrance Exams For Dummies.
more/most	Use more to compare two things and most to compare more than two things.	Of the two girls, the older is more generous, and she is the most generous person in her family.

The ACT often contains diction questions that involve prepositions. When you see an underlined preposition in a question, make sure the preposition works with the elements it joins. For example, “we drove across the country” is correct, while “we drove on the country” is incorrect.

The ACT applies what we call the “least/not” format to test many diction questions. These questions ask for the “least appropriate” or “not appropriate” answer. Consider these to be a game of “one of these things is not like the other.” Here is how to approach these questions:

• Circle the LEAST or NOT in the question so you remember you're looking for the answer that doesn't work. The words will be capitalized, but you'd be surprised how many students still miss them.
• Compare each answer choice to another. Ask yourself whether the two have similar meanings. If they do, lightly cross out both answers with your pencil. Then compare one of the remaining two answers with the ones you just penciled through. If the answer has a similar meaning, cross it out too and choose the other.

Least/not questions almost always test word meanings, but every once in a while the ACT uses them to test usage errors. Generally, though, when you see this format, think diction.

The “least/not” format may become one of your favorites. Questions asked in this manner are easy to answer once you master the approach and remind yourself to pay attention to the capitalized words.