McGraw-Hill's ACT with CD-ROM, 2008 Edition (Mcgraw Hill's Act (Book & CD Rom))

653 Pages·2007·6.78 MB·English

by  Steven Dulan

McGraw-Hill’sACT
This page intentionally left blank
McGraw-Hill’sACT
Steven W. Dulan
and the faculty of
Advantage Education
McGraw-Hill
New York Chicago SanFrancisco Lisbon London Madrid Mexico City
Milan New Delhi San Juan Seoul Singapore Sydney Toronto
Copyright © 2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the United States of America. Except as permitted under
the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a data-
base or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
0-07-151107-5
The material in this eBook also appears in the print version of this title: 0-07-149386-7.
All trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners. Rather than put a trademark symbol after every occurrence of a trademarked name, we use
names in an editorial fashion only, and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark. Where such
designations appear in this book, they have been printed with initial caps.
McGraw-Hill eBooks are available at special quantity discounts to use as premiums and sales promotions, or for use in corporate training programs. For
more information, please contact George Hoare, Special Sales, at [email protected] or [phone].
TERMS OF USE
This is a copyrighted work and The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (“McGraw-Hill”) and its licensors reserve all rights in and to the work. Use of this
work is subject to these terms. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976 and the right to store and retrieve one copy of the work, you may
not decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer, reproduce, modify, create derivative works based upon, transmit, distribute, disseminate, sell, publish or
sublicense the work or any part of it without McGraw-Hill’s prior consent. You may use the work for your own noncommercial and personal use; any
other use of the work is strictly prohibited. Your right to use the work may be terminated if you fail to comply with these terms.
THE WORK IS PROVIDED “AS IS.” McGRAW-HILL AND ITS LICENSORS MAKE NO GUARANTEES OR WARRANTIES AS TO THE
ACCURACY, ADEQUACY OR COMPLETENESS OF OR RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED FROM USING THE WORK, INCLUDING ANY
INFORMATION THAT CAN BE ACCESSED THROUGH THE WORK VIA HYPERLINK OR OTHERWISE, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY
WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS
FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. McGraw-Hill and its licensors do not warrant or guarantee that the functions contained in the work will meet your
requirements or that its operation will be uninterrupted or error free. Neither McGraw-Hill nor its licensors shall be liable to you or anyone else for any
inaccuracy, error or omission, regardless of cause, in the work or for any damages resulting therefrom. McGraw-Hill has no responsibility for the
content of any information accessed through the work. Under no circumstances shall McGraw-Hill and/or its licensors be liable for any indirect,
incidental, special, punitive, consequential or similar damages that result from the use of or inability to use the work, even if any of them has been advised
of the possibility of such damages. This limitation of liability shall apply to any claim or cause whatsoever whether such claim or cause arises in
contract, tort or otherwise.
DOI: 10.1036/0071493867
For more information about this title, click here
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
About the Author xi
Introduction: Using This Book xiii
How to Use the Practice Tests xiii
A Note on Scoring the Practice Tests xiv
PART I GETTING STARTED 1
Chapter 1 Understanding the ACT 3
What Is the ACT? 3
Structure of the ACT? 3
Who Writes the ACT? 5
Registering for the ACT 5
Why Do ACT Exams Exist? 5
ACT Scores 5
Bias on the ACT 6
Disabilities and the ACT 6
Testing Irregularities 7
SAT Differences and Similarities 7
PART II ACT DIAGNOSTIC ASSESSMENT 9
ACT Diagnostic Assessment Test 11
Answer Key 65
Scoring Guide 69
Answers and Explanations 73
PART III STRATEGIES AND REVIEW 95
Chapter 2 Strategies to Get Your Best Score 97
The Psychology of Testing 97
Strategic Thinking 99
Relax to Succeed 99
Getting Ready to Take the Test 102
Taking the Test 103
Guessing on the Test 105
After the Test 105
Chapter 3 ACT English Test: Strategies and Concept Review 107
General Strategies and Techniques 107
Usage and Mechanics 109
Rhetorical Skills 122
ACT English Skills Exercises 125
vi CONTENTS
ACT English Exercises: Answers and Explanations 134
Practice Questions 142
Answers and Explanations 147
Commonly Misused Words 149
Chapter 4 ACT Mathematics Test: Strategies and
Concept Review 155
General Strategies and Techniques 155
Mathematics Concept Review 160
ACT Mathematics Skills Exercises 176
Answers and Explanations 188
Practice Questions 208
Answers and Explanations 213
Chapter 5 ACT Reading Test: Strategies and Concept Review 217
Timing 217
General Strategies and Techniques 218
Question Types 222
Strategies for Specific Question Types 223
ACT Reading Skills Exercises 224
Answers and Explanations 234
Practice Questions 238
Answers and Explanations 242
Chapter 6 ACT Science Reasoning Test: Strategies and
Concept Review 245
General Strategies and Techniques 245
The Scientific Method 246
ACT Science Reasoning Test Exercises 248
Answers and Explanations 253
Practice Questions 255
Answers and Explanations 259
Chapter 7 ACT Writing Test: Strategies and Review 261
How to Prepare 262
The Essay Prompt 262
Essay Writing Techniques 263
Common Mistakes 265
Essay Scoring 268
Simplified Essay Scoring Rubric 269
Sample Student Responses 270
ACT Writing Skills Exercises 275
Improving Paragraphs 276
Answers and Explanations 280
PART IV FOUR PRACTICE TESTS 283
ACT Practice Test 1 287
Answer Key 337
Scoring Guide 341
Answers and Explanations 345
CONTENTS vii
ACT Practice Test 2 367
Answer Key 417
Scoring Guide 421
Answers and Explanations 425
Act Practice Test 3 447
Answer Key 495
Scoring Guide 499
Answers and Explanations 503
ACT Practice Test 4 525
Answer Key 575
Scoring Guide 579
Answers and Explanations 583
PART V APPENDIXES 605
Appendix 1 What’s Next? 607
Choosing the Best College or University for You 607
Applying to College 610
Suggested High School Courses 612
Appendix 2 ACT Vocabulary List 615
This page intentionally left blank
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author would like to acknowledge the contribution of the faculty and staff
of Advantage Education. You are not only the smartest, but also the best.
Special thanks to Aishah Ali, Pamela Chamberlain, Jennifer Gensterblum,
MattMathison,RyanParticka,AndrewSanford,SashaSavinov,KyleSweeney,
and Amanda Thompson. All of you put in extra effort to make this book
a success.
Mostimportantly,Iwouldliketoacknowledgethesinglebiggestcontributor
to this work: my wife, colleague, co-author, editor, typist, employee, boss, and
friend: Amy Dulan. None of this would have been possible without your hard
work and dedication. Thanks for stickin’ with me.
Copyright © 2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Click here for terms of use.