Neither the passages nor the questions on the Reading Test are ordered by difficulty. Different students find different passages of the Reading Test difficult. Some people can’t make heads or tails of Prose Fiction, while others get bogged down by the slew of facts in the Natural Science passage. Similarly, different students have difficulty with different types of questions on the Reading Test. Some students may find it difficult to remember facts, while others may become confused drawing inferences.

Beating yourself silly trying to master all the Reading Test passages and questions is not necessarily the best method of preparation. In an ideal world, you’d know how to answer all the questions correctly. But in ACT world, being aware of your abilities and using that awareness strategically will get you as far as you need to go.