ACT Preparation / Unit 18 ACT 1720 review, 2 to 3 minutes
A Natural-Science Passage With a Chart
The idea
Integration questions ask how a passage argues and how it connects with other sources. A claim needs evidence that is relevant, sufficient and credible; facts can be checked, and opinions cannot; and a gap in reasoning is an unstated step. Paired passages are compared claim to claim. A graphic can support, extend or limit a passage's claim, at its own scale.
In practice
Worked passage, invented for the course, with an invented table: "Gardeners in the valley have noticed that their first frost now arrives later in the fall. The table records the date of the first fall frost at the valley's weather station: October 2 in 1980, October 9 in 2000, and October 15 in 2020. Some growers argue that the change will let them plant a second crop of greens. That may be true in warm years, but a later average frost still allows an early frost in any single year, and a grower who plants late risks losing the crop." Question one: what does the table show? The first frost moved 13 days later over forty years, supporting the gardeners' observation. Question two: is "the change will let them plant a second crop" a fact or an opinion? It is a prediction and a judgment, so an opinion. Question three: what limit does the author place on it? A later average does not rule out an early frost in any one year. Question four: the table covers one station, so it supports the claim for the valley, not for the region beyond it.
Where people slip
Three habits carry forward. Measure a claim's reach before judging its support. Keep the author's view separate from the views the passage reports, such as the growers'. And read a graphic's scale and coverage exactly. This ends the reading section; the next unit begins science, with reading scientific data.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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