ACT Preparation / Unit 16 ACT 1517 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
A Detail Question
The idea
A detail question is answered in three steps. First, pick the key word or phrase from the question that will appear in the passage, such as a name, a date or a technical term. Second, scan for it, then read the full sentence around it, plus one before and one after. Third, choose the answer that restates those lines accurately, and reject any that changes a number, a name, a relationship, or a qualifier such as some or most.
In practice
Worked example: the question asks when the bridge's first crack was found. Scanning for "crack" finds: "Inspectors noted a hairline crack in 1990, two years before the first load test failed." The answer is 1990. A choice of 1992 takes the year of the load test, not the crack: a wrong pairing built from the passage's own numbers.
Where people slip
Qualifiers change meaning. If the passage says some engineers doubted the design, a choice saying the engineers doubted it overstates the text.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
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