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About ACT Exam
English Answer Key:
Question 1: Correct Answer C
The best
answer is C, which concisely conveys the idea that the practice landing
referred to was the last one in a series. In contrast, the other choices are
redundant. Choice A belabors the point that "the final performance"
was indeed the "last" performance (and confusingly suggests that
there was more than one performance of a single landing). Choice B pointlessly
repeats the notion of finality in the redundant phrase "finally ultimate"
(and confusingly suggests that all the landings strove to be ultimate, but only
the last landing succeeded). Choice D is simply redundant because the words last and final in the sentence are synonymous.
Question
2: Correct Answer F
The best
answer is F. It offers the only idiomatically acceptable wording. The verb
phrase line up is often used to mean "align." Choices G and H
are clearly wrong here. We would never hear someone say that "she lined
off the nose of the . . . biplane on the runway's center mark" or that
"she lined along the nose of the . . . biplane on the runway's center
mark." Choice J, which proposes deleting the underlined portion, also
sounds improbable: "She lined the nose of the . . . biplane on the
runway's center mark." This sentence suggests that Bessie Coleman is doing
something with the nose of the plane, but whatever it is, it doesn't make sense
in terms of the rest of the information in the sentence.
Question
3: Correct Answer B
The best
answer is B. This sentence presents a series of three verb phrases-three things
that Bessie Coleman did. The subject for all three of the verb phrases is the
pronoun She at the beginning of the sentence. The third verb phrase in
the series ("took off into history") has no subject, so it would be
inconsistent and illogical to state the subject of the second verb phrase in
the series, as Choices A and C propose. Choice D proposes that, rather than
being the second in the series of verb phrases, this should be a subordinate
adjective clause describing the preceding noun, but there's no logical support
for saying, "the runway's center mark . . . gave the engine full
throttle."
Question
4: Correct Answer H
The best
answer is H. It provides the relative pronoun and the punctuation that
effectively relates this subordinate adjective clause to the main clause of
this sentence. The main clause is as follows: "It was a long journey from
the American Southwest to these French skies." The subordinate clause is
describing or defining the American Southwest: "where she'd been born in
1893." Since this clause occurs in the middle of the main clause and is
not essential or restrictive information, it must be set off from the main
clause. Choices F and G fail to do so. Choice J does set the phrase off with
commas but fails to provide a pronoun that would effectively relate this clause
to the main clause.
Question
5: Correct Answer D
The best
answer is D. The most appropriate decision is to delete the
information-presented in Choices A, B, and C in different phrasings-that Bessie
Coleman was born about a century ago. This information is a mere digression in
terms of the focus or development of this essay. It sidetracks the readers.
Besides, it provides information that readers could easily infer on their own,
since they are told in the previous sentence that Coleman was born in 1893.
Question 6: Correct Answer G
The best
answer is G. It is the only choice that doesn't propose irrelevant or redundant
information. Choices F, H, and J all propose unnecessarily long-winded and
wordy ways of saying that Coleman headed for Chicago after a year at Langston
Industrial College. It is just not important for readers to know that a year at
Langston consisted of two semesters of schooling.
Question 7: Correct Answer A
The best
answer is A. No punctuation is needed here between the noun ("Robert S.
Abbott") and the prepositional phrase describing that noun ("of the Chicago
Weekly Defender"). The use here of the colon (Choice B) or the
semicolon (Choice D) is not called for. Choice C incorrectly proposes setting
this prepositional phrase off from the main clause and introducing it with the
relative pronoun that expresses possession (whose).
Question 8: Correct Answer J
The best
answer is J. It proposes the correct form of the adverb (there) and
ensures that the main clause is a complete sentence. Choices F and G are both
wrong because they propose using the contracted form of they are.
Although they're sounds like there, it has a different meaning,
which would not make sense in the context of this sentence. Choice H proposes
the correct adverb but also proposes deleting "she had as," which
would create a sentence fragment: "While there, one of her instructors
Anthony Fokker, the famous aircraft designer."
Question 9: Correct Answer D
The best
answer is D. It logically presents this sentence as a series of three verb
phrases, all in the simple past tense. Choices A, B, and C all incorrectly
attempt to relate the second phrase in this series to the first phrase. There
is no information in this essay nor any logic to support the idea that
"Bessie Coleman took a quick course in French, to settle her affairs"
(Choice C) or "took a quick course in French, as if to settle her
affairs" (Choice B). Likewise, the sense of probability or expectation or
futurity that might be expressed by "should she settle her affairs"
has no logical support in the context of this essay.
Question
10: Correct Answer H
The best
answer is H. This question asks the test-taker to decide the best placement of
the word daily in the sentence. This word has the flexibility to serve
as either an adverb or an adjective. Here, the most logical and appropriate
place for this word would be after the word flying. In this arrangement,
the word daily serves as an adverb modifying the verb preceding it:
"Coping with a foreign language and flying daily in capricious, unstable
machines held together with baling wire was daunting, but Coleman
persevered." None of the other proposed placements make sense in the
context of this sentence: Choice F would have daily functioning as an
adjective ("a daily foreign language"). Choice G would seem to have
the word functioning as an adverb, but it's hard to tell what the adverb would
be describing ("Coping with daily a foreign language"). Choice J would
have daily functioning as an adverb defining an adjective ("in
daily capricious, unstable machines").
Question 11: Correct Answer C
The best
answer is C. It is the only choice that places Sentence 2 as the first sentence
in the paragraph. Sentence 2 should logically precede Sentences 1 and 3
because, while Sentences 1 and 3 describe Bessie Coleman's experiences in
Europe, Sentence 2 tells readers that she sailed for Europe (and describes the
things she did prior to making the trip). Choices A and D are wrong because they
keep Sentence 2 in the second position, and Choice B is wrong because it puts
Sentence 2 in the final position.
Question
12: Correct Answer G
The best
answer is G. It offers the correct punctuation decisions for this sentence.
Choices F and H are incorrect because they propose putting a comma between the
subject ("Bessie Coleman") and the predicate or verb phrase
("earned an international pilot's license"). Choice J is incorrect
because it proposes putting a semicolon between the direct object noun ("an
international pilot's license") and the subordinate clause defining that
noun ("issued by the International Aeronautical Federation"). It
might help to realize that, between the words license and issued,
the words that were are not expressed but are understood or implied.
Question
13: Correct Answer C
The best
answer is C. This is a difficult question in a rather complex sentence. The
clause beginning with proof serves as an appositive, a phrase that
describes or defines a preceding noun. Appositives are set off from the main
clause with commas and, in most cases, immediately follow the noun they are
describing. Here, the appositive occurs at the end of the sentence but
describes the subject at the beginning of the sentence (She). "She
was ready for a triumphant return to the United States to barnstorm and
lecture, proof that . . . one's dream can be attained." The punctuation
decisions offered by Choices A and D would both produce an illogical phrasing
because they propose that proof should serve as the direct object of the
verb lecture ("She was ready . . . to barnstorm and lecture proof .
. ."). Choice B is equally illogical because it proposes that proof could function as a verb ("She was ready . . . to barnstorm and lecture
and proof that . . . one's dream can be attained.")
Question
14: Correct Answer J
The best answer is J. It effectively coordinates the various elements of this
noun clause, which is functioning as an appositive for the subject of the main
clause of this sentence. The entire noun clause should read: "proof that
if the will is strong enough, one's dream can be attained." You will see
that within this noun clause, which is already serving a secondary role in
terms of the main clause of the sentence, there is a main clause ("one's
dream can be attained") and a subordinate clause related to that main
clause by the conjunction if ("the will is strong enough"). Choice H
is wrong because it proposes an adverb (strongly) where a predicate
adjective is required. Choices F and G are both wrong because they coordinate
these clauses in ways that don't make sense and that make clause fragments:
"if the will is strong enough for one's dream can be attained"
(Choice F) and "if the will is stronger than one's dream can be attained"
(Choice G).
Question
15: Correct Answer B
The best
answer is B, which provides the intended comparison by placing the sentence in
the most logical location. Choice B underlines or emphasizes the challenges
Coleman faced by comparing her hopes and expectations with the reality she met
in Chicago. On the contrary, Choice A spoils the logical sequence that Choice B
establishes, because the end of the first sentence in Paragraph 2-"these
French skies"-does not support the intended comparison. Choices C and D
delay making the comparison until too late in the essay. In Choice C, the
comparison is weakened because, by the end of Paragraph 3, Coleman is already
on her way toward flight school. In Choice D, a comparison intended to
"underline the challenges" no longer is pertinent, because Coleman
has already met the challenges.
Math Details
In the Mathematics Test,
three subscores are based on six content areas: pre-algebra, elementary
algebra, intermediate algebra, coordinate geometry, plane geometry, and
trigonometry.
Pre-Algebra/Elementary Algebra
- Pre-Algebra
(23%). Questions in this content area are based on basic operations using whole
numbers, decimals, fractions, and integers; place value; square roots and
approximations; the concept of exponents; scientific notation; factors; ratio,
proportion, and percent; linear equations in one variable; absolute value
and ordering numbers by value; elementary counting techniques and simple
probability; data collection, representation, and interpretation; and
understanding simple descriptive statistics.
- Elementary
Algebra (17%). Questions in this content area are based on properties of exponents and
square roots, evaluation of algebraic expressions through substitution,
using variables to express functional relationships, understanding algebraic
operations, and the solution of quadratic equations by factoring.
Intermediate Algebra/Coordinate Geometry
- Intermediate
Algebra (15%). Questions in this content area are based on an understanding of the
quadratic formula, rational and radical expressions, absolute value
equations and inequalities, sequences and patterns, systems of equations,
quadratic inequalities, functions, modeling, matrices, roots of
polynomials, and complex numbers.
- Coordinate
Geometry (15%). Questions in this content area are based on graphing and the relations
between equations and graphs, including points, lines, polynomials,
circles, and other curves; graphing inequalities; slope; parallel and
perpendicular lines; distance; midpoints; and conics.
Plane Geometry/Trigonometry
- Plane
Geometry (23%). Questions in this content area are based on the properties and relations
of plane figures, including angles and relations among perpendicular and
parallel lines; properties of circles, triangles, rectangles,
parallelograms, and trapezoids; transformations; the concept of proof and
proof techniques; volume; and applications of geometry to three
dimensions.
- Trigonometry
(7%). Questions in this content area are based on understanding trigonometric
relations in right triangles; values and properties of trigonometric
functions; graphing trigonometric functions; modeling using trigonometric
functions; use of trigonometric identities; and solving trigonometric
equations.
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