ACT 2022 For Dummies with Online Practice (8^th Ed.)

Get your ACT together with this smart study guide! 

For over 20 years, the fun-and-friendly Dummies ACT guides have helped college hopefuls like you crush it on test day and get into the schools of their dreams! ACT 2022 For Dummies makes it easy to pump up your English, math, science, and readings scores, and to write circles around the graders, if you choose to take the optional writing test. You’re about to launch into the rest of your life! With book’s straight-to-the-point explanations, practice questions, and full-length tests—and a side of laughter, courtesy of the teen-approved Dummies style—you can ace the ACT and start your college career with confidence. 

Forgot how to solve for x? Can’t tell your hyphens from your hypotheses? No worries! Review it all—or maybe figure it out for the first time—in no time with explanations that complement your teachers’ lessons—and are definitely funnier. Then, figure out what you’ll face on the ACT with practice exams, including explanations of every answer. By the time you make it to test day, you’ll be stress-free and ready to succeed! 

• Boost your chances of getting into the college of your dreams by earning higher scores on the ACT entrance exam 
• Hit the books, Dummies style, with clear explanations of what’s on the ACT and tips for smarter studying 
• Practice till you’re ready with flash cards, online practice tests, and drills on all the subject areas 
• Understand the college admissions process and make sure your application stands out 

Begin your post-high school journey on the right foot with ACT 2022 For Dummies! 

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Foolish Assumptions 2

Icons Used in This Book 3

Beyond the Book 3

Where to Go from Here 4

Figuring Out How Long All This Studying Will Take 5

Part 1: Coming to Terms with Reality: An Overview of the ACT 7

Chapter 1: Getting Your ACT Together: ACT 101 9

What to Take to the ACT 10

What Not to Take to the ACT 11

What to Do If You Have Special Circumstances 11

Guessing for Points to Maximize Your Score 12

Your Number’s Up: Scoring on the ACT 12

What the ACT Expects You to Know 13

Repeating the Test for a Better Score 14

Chapter 2: Succeeding on the ACT 17

Surviving the ACT with Four Stress-Busters 17

Inhaling deeply 17

Stretching a little 18

Thinking positive thoughts 18

Practicing POE 18

Avoiding a Few Dumb Mistakes That Can Mess Up Your ACT 18

Losing concentration 19

Panicking over time 19

Messing up on the answer grid 19

Rubbernecking 19

Cheating 20

Worrying about previous sections 20

Worrying about the hard problems 20

Forgetting to double-check 20

Chapter 3: Surviving the College Admissions Process 21

What’s the Main Thing Colleges Look For? 21

How Do Higher ACT Scores Increase My Scholarship Chances? 22

Do Schools Care Whether I Repeat the ACT? 22

What Classes Should I Take in High School? 22

How Helpful Are Sports and Charity? 23

What Should I Say on the College Essay? 23

What Will They Ask Me in the Interview and What Should I Say? 23

How Do I Decide Which School is Best for Me? 24

What’s the Biggest Mistake Most Students Make in College Planning? 24

How Do I Make My Final Decision? 25

Part 2: Serving Your “Sentence”: The English Test 27

Chapter 4: Mastering the English Test 29

Figuring Out What the English Questions Want You to Know 29

Seeing is Believing: The Test’s Format 30

The passages 30

The question types 30

Their Pain, Your Gain: Looking Out for Traps That Others Fall into 32

Chapter 5: Getting a Grip on Grammar and Usage 35

Reviewing the Parts of Speech 36

Getting in the action with verbs 36

Identifying the culprit with nouns 37

Avoiding repeating yourself with pronouns 37

Defining nouns with adjectives 37

Clarifying the questions with adverbs 38

Joining together with conjunctions and prepositions 38

Piecing Together the Parts of a Sentence 38

Subjects and predicates 38

Phrases and clauses 39

Keeping Track of Punctuation Rules for Every Occasion 39

Periods and question marks 39

Semicolons 40

Colons 40

Commas 40

Dashes 42

Apostrophes 43

Chapter 6: Spotting Usage Errors and Ripping through Rhetorical Questions 45

Spotting Questions That Test Standard English Conventions 45

Properly placing punctuation marks 45

Picking up on pronoun errors 48

Forming possessives 49

Evaluating verbs 50

Calling out sentence fragments 51

Identifying problems with parallelism 51

Recognizing misplaced modifiers 51

Checking for Proper Production of Writing 52

Eliminating superfluous words 53

Completing the mission 54

Determining the function of a deletion 54

Pondering an addition 54

Creating smooth transitions 55

Organizing and positioning elements 56

Seeing the big picture 56

Sticking to appropriate vocabulary and standard expressions 57

Chapter 7: It’s Not What You Say but How You Say It: English Practice Questions 59

Part 3: Don’t Count Yourself Out: The Math Test 65

Chapter 8: Number Nuts and Bolts 67

The Wonderful World of Numbers 67

Keeping it real: Types of numbers 68

Lining things up along the number line 69

Understanding absolute value 69

Getting familiar with prime numbers and factorization 69

Minor Surgery: Basic Math Operations 70

Adding and subtracting 70

Multiplying and dividing 70

Working with odds/evens and positives/negatives 71

Focusing on Fractions, Decimals, and Percentages 71

Converting fractions, decimals, and percentages 72

Working with fractions 72

Pondering percentages 74

Eyeing Ratios and Proportions 75

Ratios 75

Proportions 76

Covering Your Bases: Exponents 77

Smooth Operator: Order of Operations 78

Dealing with Average, Median, Mode, and More 78

Doing better than average on averages 78

Weighing in on weighted averages 79

Mastering medians 80

Managing modes 80

Getting ready for range 80

Abracadabra: Elementary Algebra 80

Variables 101 81

Solving simple equations 81

Adding and subtracting expressions 82

Multiplying and dividing expressions 83

Curses! FOILed again 83

Extracting by factoring 84

Solving a system of equations 86

Chapter 9: Getting into Shapes: Geometry and Trig Review 89

Toeing the Line 89

Analyzing Angles 90

Triangle Trauma 92

Classifying triangles 92

Sizing up triangles 93

Zeroing in on similar triangles 94

Figuring out area and perimeter 95

Taking the shortcut: Pythagorean triples and other common side ratios 95

Thanks 4 Nothing: A Quick Look at Quadrilaterals 98

Missing Parrots and Other Polly-Gones (Or Should We Say “Polygons”?) 100

Measuring up polygons 101

Solving for volume 101

Running Around in Circles 102

Trying Your Hand at Trigonometry 107

Introducing trigonometric functions 108

Circumventing the unit circle 110

Measuring in radians 111

Graphing trig functions on a coordinate plane 112

Applying the Law of Sines and Law of Cosines 114

Chapter 10: Algebra and Other Sleeping Aids 117

Suffering Inequalities 117

Using Your Imagination: Complex Numbers 118

Too Hip to Be Square: Roots and Radicals 119

Adding and subtracting radicals 120

Multiplying and dividing radicals 120

Working from the inside out 121

Thinking Exponentially: Logarithms 121

Log rules 122

Natural logarithms 122

Barely Functioning with Functions 122

Taking a Flight on the Coordinate Plane 123

Defining the coordinate plane 123

Knowing which formulas you need to guide your flight 124

Graphing more functions 126

Evaluating graphs of functions 130

Picking Your Way through Percent Increase, Probability, Permutations, and Combinations 132

Managing the ups and downs 132

Practicing probability 133

Calculating outcomes and orderings 135

Setting Up Sequences 138

Managing Matrices 138

Chapter 11: Numb and Number: Acing the Mathematics Test 141

What You See is What You Get: The Format and Breakdown of the Math Test 141

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder: What Isn’t on the Math Test 142

Getting into the Grind: The Approach 143

Translating English into Math 144

Time Flies When You’re Having Fun: Timing Tips 145

Skim for your favorite questions 145

Backsolve when the answers are actual values 146

Plug in values for variables 147

Kindly refrain from showing off everything you know 148

Put aside two minutes to fill in the remaining ovals 148

Do’s, Don’ts, and Darns: What to Do and Not Do on the Math Test 148

Do get the lead out 148

Don’t start working until you’ve read the entire problem 149

Do reread the problem with your answer inserted 149

Don’t strike out over a difficult question early on 149

Chapter 12: More Fun than a Root Canal: Mathematics Practice Questions 151

Part 4: Time to Read the Riot ACT: The Reading Test 159

Chapter 13: This, Too, Shall Pass(age): Sailing through the Reading Test 161

Facing 40 Questions: The Reading Test 161

Timing 162

Scoring 162

Getting Prepared: Reading Strategies 162

Preview the passages 162

Decide on an approach 163

Skim the passage effectively 163

Identifying Reading Question Types 164

Big picture questions 165

Direct statement questions 165

Inference questions 166

Figuring Out Reading Question Formats 166

Vocabulary in context 167

Most nearly means 167

Exception questions 167

Approaching Comparative Passages 168

Chapter 14: Where Are SparkNotes When You Need Them? Reading Practice Questions 171

Part 5: Studying Brain Defects in Laboratory Rats: The Science Test 177

Chapter 15: From Frankenstein to Einstein: Excelling on the Science Test 179

Examining the Science Test’s Format 180

Classifying Passage Format 180

Data-representation passages 180

Research summaries 181

Conflicting viewpoints 183

Analyzing Tables, Graphs, and Diagrams 184

Tackling tables 185

Grappling with graphs 185

Dissecting diagrams 186

Examining Experimental Procedures 187

Independent and dependent variables 187

The control 188

Immersing Yourself in Answer Choices 189

Considering Question Types 190

Questions about results 191

Questions about procedure 194

Questions about viewpoints 198

Chapter 16: Faking Atomic Ache Won’t Get You out of This: Science Practice Questions 201

Passage 201

Initial Analysis 202

Questions 203

Part 6: Writing Rightly: The Optional Writing Test 209

Chapter 17: Excelling on Your Essay: The Writing Test Review 211

What to Expect From the ACT Writing Test 211

Making the Grade: How the ACT Folks Score Your Essay 212

Examining the Prompt and Creating a Thesis 212

Putting Up Your Dukes: Defending Your Perspective 214

Throwing a Good First Punch: The Hook 214

The Proof is in the Pudding: Defending Yourself 215

Using specific examples 215

Mixing things up with a variety of examples 216

Forming logical arguments 216

Hamburger Writing: Organizing Your Essay 218

The top bun: Introduction 218

The three meats: Example paragraphs 218

The lettuce, tomato, and special sauce: Transitions 219

The bottom bun: Conclusion 220

Wielding the Red Pen: Editing and Proofing 220

Using the touch method to look for spelling mistakes and ghost words 220

Calling all action verbs: Be descriptive 220

Avoiding problems with punk-tu-a-tion: Punctuate properly 221

Handwriting check: Write legibly 221

Writing Don’ts 221

Writing before you think 221

Panicking about time 221

Referring to the perspectives by number 222

Sticking to the status quo 222

Using words you don’t know 222

Being overly critical of yourself 223

Writing like you speak 223

Repeating yourself over and over again 223

Failing to edit your essay 223

Reviewing Some Example Essays and Their Scores 223

1 — 1 is the loneliest number: How not to be a 1 224

2 — 2 little 2 late: Steering clear of coming in second 224

3 — Still finding yourself on the wrong side of the tracks 224

4 — Reaching 4 a better score 225

5 — Shining brightly: A 5-star winner 226

6 — Unlocking the code to a perfect score 227

Chapter 18: Practicing Promptly with Practice Prompts: Essay Practice Questions 229

Writing Prompt 1 229

Writing Prompt 2 231

Part 7: Putting It All Together with Three Full-Length Practice ACTs 233

Chapter 19: Practice Exam 1 235

Answer Sheet 236

English Test 238

Mathematics Test 249

Reading Test 259

Science Test 269

Writing Test 281

Chapter 20: Practice Exam 1: Answers and Explanations 283

English Test 283

Mathematics Test 293

Reading Test 306

Science Test 313

Writing Test 319

Sample response 319

Score One for Your Side: The Scoring Guide 320

Answer Key for Practice Exam 1 322

Chapter 21: Practice Exam 2 325

Answer Sheet 326

English Test 328

Mathematics Test 339

Reading Test 347

Science Test 356

Writing Test 366

Chapter 22: Practice Exam 2: Answers and Explanations 367

English Test 367

Mathematics Test 378

Reading Test 391

Science Test 398

Writing Test 407

Sample response 407

Answer Key for Practice Exam 2 409

Chapter 23: Practice Exam 3 411

Answer Sheet 412

English Test 414

Mathematics Test 425

Reading Test 435

Science Test 445

Writing Test 455

Chapter 24: Practice Exam 3: Answers and Explanations 457

English Test 457

Mathematics Test 467

Reading Test 486

Science Test 493

Writing Test 500

Sample response 500

Answer Key for Practice Exam 3 501

Part 8: The Part of Tens 503

Chapter 25: Ten Wrong Rumors about the ACT 505

You Can’t Study for the ACT 505

Different States Have Different ACTs 505

The ACT Has a Passing Score 506

The ACT Tests IQ 506

You Can’t Use a Calculator on the ACT 506

You Should Never Guess on the ACT 506

The ACT is Easier Than the SAT 507

Selective Colleges Prefer the SAT to the ACT 507

You Have to Write an Essay 507

You Shouldn’t Take Both the SAT and the ACT 507

Chapter 26: Attention, Parents! Ten Ways You Can Help Your Child Succeed on the ACT 509

Give Awesome Test-Prep Materials 509

Encourage Studying 509

Supply a Good Study Environment 510

Take Practice Tests Together 510

Model Good Grammar 510

Help Memorize Math Formulas 510

Encourage Reading 510

Explore Colleges Together 510

Arrive at the Test Site on Time 511

Help Keep a Proper Perspective 511

Index 513

Lisa Zimmer Hatch, MA, and Scott A. Hatch, JD, are test-prep gurus. They have been helping students excel on standardized tests and navigate the college admissions process since 1987. They have written curricula and taught students through live lectures, online forums, DVDs, and independent study, and have authored numerous test-prep texts.