ACT Preparation / Unit 16 ACT 1526 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
A Comparison Question
The idea
A comparison question is answered in three steps. First, identify the two things being compared and where each is described. Second, list what the passage says about each on the point the question raises. Third, choose the answer that is true of both sides as the passage presents them, rejecting choices true of only one side.
In practice
Worked example: an invented passage describes two farmers. Ruth plants early and risks frost to sell first; Dev plants late and accepts lower prices for a safer crop. Asked what the two share, the choices are: both plant early; both avoid risk; both weigh risk against reward; both sell at low prices. Only the third is true of both: each trades one against the other, in opposite directions.
Where people slip
A wrong choice can take a fact about one side and attach it to both. Check each choice against both descriptions, not one.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
Unlocks
- Nothing yet depends on this.
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