Types Of Questions On The Act

There are five basic types of questions on the act in five main subjects, which include writing, science, reading, Math, and English. For the benefit of those who don’t know, the ACT is an entrance examination for gaining entry into colleges and universities in the United States. The ACT exam is mostly taken by students in grade 11 and grade 12 who are interested in securing admission into colleges. It forms part of their application process and is one of the prerequisites to be considered for admission.

There are different types of questions on the act which are all based on the five subject areas mentioned above. However, you may take only four subjects as writing, which is the fifth one, is considered optional. The total duration for the different types of questions on the act is 3 hrs 25 mins while taking the ACT without writing will last for 2 hrs 55 mins.

Format for the different types of questions on the act

The format is generally straightforward and are grouped based on their respective subject areas. For the math question, the paper is divided into two sections. The first section on the left side of the page has all the questions while the right side of the page is kept for figuring. There’s also another aspect of the different types of questions on the act you should know. The English, Reading, and science subject areas have only 4 multiple choice questions while the math subject area has 5 multiple choice questions.

You have to take note of this when ticking the answers in the answer sheet. Supposing you are filling choice D, you shouldn’t just think it is the last bubble and proceed to fill because you may be filling option E. So, you have to be very careful here in order to avoid ticking the wrong options.

This also means that your chances of getting the right answer will be slimmer if you decide to guess in a particular question. In other types of questions on the act with four options, your chance of getting the correct answer is 25%. However, your chance of picking the right option in the math subject area is 20%.

The difference is not much and should not hamper your guessing ability. However, it is important to prepare effectively for any subject in order to reduce the likelihood of guessing. Even when you are guessing in the questions you don’t have much cue to their answers, you have to eliminate the odd choices as much as possible before trying to guess between the most suitable options.

There is no doubt that effective preparation is key to excel in the different types of questions on the act. For the math subject, there are both basic and word problems directed at testing the quantitative and aptitude skills of students. The basic problems are usually easier than the word problems because you have to translate the words to mathematical equations before solving them. But some basic problems on difficult topics can be more difficult than some simple word problems.