ACT Preparation / Unit 17 ACT 1609 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
The Effect of a Word or Phrase
The idea
A question about why an author chose a word or phrase is answered in three steps. First, reread the phrase in its sentence and paragraph. Second, compare it with a plain alternative, and ask what the author's choice adds: a feeling, a judgment, an image, an emphasis. Third, choose the answer that names that added effect as it connects to the passage's point.
In practice
Worked example: an invented passage describes a factory town after its factory closed: "The streets did not empty; they exhaled." The plain alternative is "the streets emptied." Exhaled adds a slow release, as though the town let out a held breath, suggesting relief mixed with loss rather than sudden abandonment. A choice saying the phrase shows the town was crowded misreads it; one saying it presents the change as gradual and almost bodily fits.
Where people slip
Effect questions ask what the words do, not what they mean in a dictionary. Compare with the plain version to hear the difference.
Your place on the trail
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