ACT Preparation / Unit 5 ACT 0417 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Should the Sentence Be Deleted?
The idea
To decide whether a sentence should be deleted, ask what the paragraph would lose. Step one: state the paragraph's main point. Step two: read the paragraph without the sentence. Step three: if the point is now less supported, less clear, or missing a needed link, keep the sentence and name what it supplies; if nothing is lost, delete it and name why it did not belong.
In practice
Worked example: a paragraph claims that new crosswalk signals cut waiting time. Its third sentence reads "Pedestrians now wait an average of forty seconds instead of ninety." Without it, the claim has no evidence, so the sentence stays: it supplies the figure that proves the point. Its fifth sentence reads "The signals are made in Ohio." Without it, nothing about waiting time is lost, so it goes: it concerns where the signals were made, not their effect.
Where people slip
Deleting the evidence sentence leaves the claim unsupported. Before deleting, find what the sentence proves.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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