Category Archives: ACT

ACT Question of the Day Explained – February 19, 2014 – Algebra, Linear Equations

Today’s ACT question of the day is secretly asking if you know the meaning of y = mx + b.  We have to figure out which graph looks like y = 3x +1. Yes, you could graph that on your calculator, but if your graph’s scale doesn’t match the scale of the graphs in the test booklet, you might not find the answer that way. Continue reading

ACT Question of the Day Explained – February 17, 2014 – Science

Today’s ACT question of the day comes from the same science passage we saw about a week ago.

We are given a table of sediment concentrations at various depths that’s something like this:

Depth
(cm)
Temperature
(oC)
pH Concentration in sediment (ppm)
SO42– S2– CO2 Fe3+ Fe2+ O2
 0  4 7.0 7.0 0.0 1.0 4.0 0.5 2.0
 5  5 6.5 5.0 2.0 1.5 3.0 1.5 1.0
10  7 6.0 3.5 3.5 2.0 2.0 2.0 0.0
15  9 5.5 3.3 3.8 3.0 0.8 3.8 0.0
20 10 5.0 3.0 4.0 1.0 0.5 4.0 0.0

The test maker would like us to tell them which ion and dissolved gas will not be helpful in determining whether a sample was taken from either 15 or 20cm. Continue reading

ACT Question of the Day Explained – February 14, 2014 – English

Today’s ACT question of the day is another English question from the passage about radio. The writer has decided to add a sentence to the passage, and we have to choose where it will fit best.

The sentence:

Nowadays, no matter where you are, it’s hard to be far from a radio.

This sounds like the kind of sentence that either opens or concludes a passage as a whole – it’s broad, it ties the subject back to the present, and it serves somewhat to summarize the passage.

Continue reading