Tip #1 to Get a Top ACT English Reading Science Score

Example Problems

There is something delightfully bizarre in the art of improvisational theater. Not only completely unexpected and full of anxious excitement, but oftentimes, the material that emerges is utterly ridiculous.

For me, improve hard at first. And scary. I in organized productions since I was seven and had since then conquered stage fright. However, before my first improv performances, my heart would race as it did when I seven.

The nervousness that came from not knowing what I resulted in me groping about wildly. This, I learned, will not earn you the laughter of the audience. What will work, however, disregarding any preconception you have about having to be funny all the time, and letting yourself actually to those around you.

1.  
   1. NO CHANGE
   2. being
   3. is it
   4. it
2.  
   6. NO CHANGE
   7. were
   8. began to be
   10. had being
3.  
   1. NO CHANGE
   2. had been
   3. will have been
   4. was
4.  
   6. NO CHANGE
   7. would have been
   8. have been
   10. was
5.  
   1. NO CHANGE
   2. said
   3. would have said
   4. would have been saying
6.  
   6. NO CHANGE
   7. being
   8. is
   10. has been
7.  
   1. NO CHANGE
   2. listen and react
   3. listens and reacts
   4. listen and be reacting

Answers

1. C   Trust your ear. "Being it" sounds terrible. Try the choices. "Is it" is the only choice that sounds good. Choice B sounds very awkward, especially when you read the whole sentence. Choice D sounds weird because it's missing a verb.
2. F   No change. The underlined verb "was" sounds fine in the sentence. It makes sense for the verb to be past tense. To be certain, try the choices. All the choices sound worse than "was."
3. B   "I been in organized productions since I was

   Neither … nor

   " sounds very slangy. Try the choices. "I had been in organized productions since

   Neither … nor

   " sounds great. Choices C and D don't make sense in the context of the sentence. Your ear can hear this: "I will have been in organized productions since I was

   Neither … nor

   " doesn't sound right because it doesn't make sense; it starts in the future and ends in the past. These drills train your ear, so you can trust it.
4. J   "When I were" sounds weird because it doesn't match. It should be "when I was."
5. A   No change. "What I would say" sounds great. To be certain, try the choices, and trust your ear. Choices B, C, and D sound awkward, since they are past tense which does not fit in for the underlined words.
6. H   "What will work

   Neither … nor

   are" sounds weird; "are" is for a group, while "what" is usually one thing. "What will work

   Neither … nor

   is" sounds great. Choice J, "What will work

   Neither … nor

   has been," sounds okay at first, but not with the rest of the sentence; it's talking about something that used to happen in the past, while the sentence is talking about what works all the time.
7. B   The two underlined verbs must match. "Be listening and react" sounds weird because the two verbs don't match. The verbs in choices B and C match, but only choice B sounds smooth in the sentence.

Go to: Tip #2