ACT Preparation / Unit 6 ACT 0514 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Where Does the Paragraph Belong?
The idea
When a question asks where a paragraph should go, work in three steps. First, name the passage's overall pattern: time order, general to specific, or problem then solution. Second, read the paragraph's first and last sentences for links: what it refers back to, and what it sets up. Third, place it where its backward link has already been introduced and its forward link is answered next.
In practice
Worked example: an invented passage on a town's new bike-share program has four paragraphs: the traffic problem; how the program works; the first year's ridership; and plans to expand. A misplaced paragraph opens "Before any bikes could be rented, the town had to choose station sites." It looks back to the decision to start a program and forward to the program running, so it belongs between the problem and how the program works.
Where people slip
A paragraph's opening sentence often carries the clearest evidence of its place. Read it as a transition first and as content second.
Your place on the trail
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Unlocks
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