The document provides tips for preparing for and taking the ACT test. It recommends being well rested, knowing test details in advance, avoiding anxious test takers, keeping a positive attitude, focusing on one question at a time, relaxing if feeling nervous, bringing required materials, guessing on all questions, pacing yourself, answering all questions in order, flagging uncertain answers for review, and using strategies like checking for grammatical inconsistencies and being cautious about changing answers. The overall goal is to reduce test anxiety and perform your best on the ACT.

1. ACT TestACT Test
TakingTaking
Senior Focus

2. Preparing for the test
Be rested and comfortable. If you take a
test when you are hungry or tired, you
won't perform well.
Know what to expect. Learn ahead of time
the kind of test you will be taking, where
and when it will be held, and what
materials to bring. Arrive on time to avoid
last-minute pressure.

3. Avoid worried test-takers.
Extreme nervousness,
called test anxiety, will
interfere with your work.
Remember, test anxiety is
contagious and unproductive.
Preparing for the test
(continued):

4. Reducing Test Anxiety:
•Keep a positive
attitude. Decide to do
your best, and don't
blame yourself for
what you don't know.

5. Concentrate on the test. Don't worry
about your ability, the behavior of
other people, the number of questions,
or even short memory lapses. Pay
close attention to one question at a
time. This kind of concentration
reduces anxiety.
Reducing Test Anxiety
(continued):

6. Relax. If you are too nervous to
think or read carefully, try to
slow down physically. Change
your mood by taking several
slow, deep breaths. Then start
to work.
Reducing Test Anxiety
(continued):

7. The Test Day
Bring the following items:
1.Your admission ticket
2. A driver’s license or picture I.D.
3.Four sharpened No. 2 lead pencils
with erasers
4.A wristwatch (watches with
built-in calculators are not
permitted, but Mickey Mouse
watches are acceptable.)

8. During the Test:
No matter how poorly you guess, any
difference will always be in the positive.
You can’t hurt your score by guessing.
When you’re guessing, do so quickly. A
fast guess is just as good as a slow guess.
Never for any reason, leave any blanks on
the ACT. If you leave blanks on this test,
you are throwing away points.

9. During the test
(continued):
All of the ACT subtests are timed.
At the start of each session,write
down the time that it will end.

10. Answer all questions in order without
skipping or jumping around. Identify
doubtful answers by marking in the
margin and recheck these as time permits
after all questions have been answered.
Do not linger too long on any one
question. Mark your best guess and move
on, returning later if you have sufficient
time.
Test Taking Strategies

11. Reread all questions containing
negative wording such as "not" or
"least". Be especially alert for the use
of double or even triple negatives
within a sentence, as these must be read
very carefully to assure full
understanding.
Test Taking Strategies
Continued:

12. Be alert for grammatical
inconsistencies between the questions
stem and the answer choices on
multiple-choice questions. A choice is
almost always wrong if it and the stem
do not make a grammatically correct
sentence.
Test Taking Strategies
Continued:

13. Be cautious about changing your
answer to a question without a
good reason. Your first "guess" is
more likely to be correct than are
subsequent "guesses", so be sure to
have a sound reason for changing
our answer.
Test Taking Strategies
Continued:

14. Let’s
Continue to
ACT Up!!!!!!
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