ACT Reading flashcards
ACT Reading · Build recall with a focused review session.
32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.
- Main idea
- The central claim that the entire passage supports. It must account for all paragraphs, not just the opening or closing section.
- Supporting detail
- A specific fact, example, or statistic that backs one part of the passage. It is narrower than the main idea and cannot replace it.
- Scope match
- The rule that a correct answer's who, when, how much, and where must exactly match the passage. Broader or narrower choices are wrong.
- Valid inference
- A conclusion that must follow from stated evidence. If an answer is merely plausible or probable rather than necessary, it is incorrect.
- Explicit causation
- A relationship stated with words like because, led to, or as a result. Two facts appearing together do not by themselves establish cause.
- Chronological versus presented order
- Sequence questions may ask for the order events appear in the text, which can differ from the order they actually happened.
- Summary answer
- The choice naming the topic plus the author's main point about it, while omitting examples, statistics, and minor supporting details.
- Locatable evidence
- The specific lines or paragraph where a detail answer is stated or directly implied. No locatable evidence means the choice is unsupported.
- Vocabulary in context
- Choosing a word's meaning by substituting each option into the sentence and keeping the one that preserves the sentence's logic.
- Connotation
- The emotional or evaluative shading a word carries beyond its literal meaning. Tone questions depend on connotation and intensity.
- Author's purpose
- The function of a named sentence or paragraph, such as to describe, contrast, criticize, or illustrate, not the passage's overall topic.
- Text structure
- How a paragraph relates to the whole passage: as an example, counterargument, cause, comparison, or transition between ideas.
- Transition signals
- Words like however, therefore, similarly, and in fact that reveal the logical relationship between adjacent sentences or paragraphs.
- Point of view
- The narrative perspective: first person uses I or we; third-person limited stays within one character's perceptions; omniscient reports multiple minds.
- Figurative language
- Language transferring qualities through comparison, as in simile, metaphor, or personification. Identify the device, then the quality transferred.
- Tone intensity
- The strength of an author's attitude. Amused is milder than scornful; objective means the language carries no evaluation at all.
- Loaded word
- A word whose connotation reveals the author's attitude, such as scheme versus plan or stubborn versus determined.
- Paired-passage relationship
- The connection between two authors' claims: agreement, disagreement, or partial overlap. Classify it before answering comparison questions.
- Point of conflict
- The specific cause, value, or prediction on which two authors disagree, rather than a general assumption of total opposition.
- Cross-passage evidence
- Data or claims in one passage used to support or challenge the other author's position. The answer must show how the evidence bears on the claim.
- Analogy structure
- The underlying relationship in a comparison, matched as A is to B as C is to D. The topic changes; the relationship stays the same.
- Graph reading order
- Read axis labels and units before interpreting a figure, then cite a value consistent with both the figure and the passage's claim.
- Concession marker
- Words like but, yet, or still that follow a counterargument and signal where the author's own view is actually stated.
- Strengthen versus weaken
- A question type requiring an answer that changes the likelihood the claim is true, not one that merely restates the claim.
- Partial-overlap answer
- A choice describing one passage accurately while misstating the other. Verify both halves of every paired-passage answer.
- Absolute language trap
- Answer choices containing all, never, only, or proves are usually wrong unless the passage states that absolute explicitly.
- True but irrelevant
- Evidence that is accurate yet does not support the specific claim in the question stem. It is a common distractor in evidence questions.
- Response structure
- How a second author engages the first: rebuttal, extension, or qualification. Identifying it resolves most paired-passage questions.
- Claim-evidence fit
- The requirement that a cited line directly support the claim named in the stem, not merely mention the same topic.
- Figure-passage consistency
- Checking whether a passage's stated claim matches the trend the accompanying figure actually displays before choosing an answer.
- Prediction before choices
- Forming your own answer from the passage first, then eliminating any option that contradicts it, reduces attraction to traps.
- Shared-topic question
- A paired-passage question asking what both authors discuss, answerable only by a choice supported by both passages.