The following section deals with the three nonfiction passages. First, we’ll give you a sample Social Science passage (the one that directly follows Prose Fiction on the test), and then a rundown of the questions that may be asked on it. As these questions are similar to the questions asked on the other two sections, Humanities and Natural Science, we will use our sample Social Science passage as a template for the others, explaining to you exactly how to answer general question types found on all three passages. Following the Social Science section, we will discuss the specifics of the Humanities and Natural Science passages, using sample passages and questions.

In many ways, you can think of the Social Science passage as the standard nonfiction passage on the Reading Test because it can cover all of the question types and because it represents a middle ground between the Humanities and Natural Science passages. In this section, you’ll read a sample Social Science passage and learn about all the possible question types associated with Social Science:

These questions types are also found on the Humanities and Natural Science passages, so the descriptions we give of them here also apply to those passages.

Below, we’ll give you a rundown of the questions you’ll likely encounter on the Social Science passage. All of the questions below pertain to the above passage on Malcolm X.

Specific detail questions on the nonfiction passages are as straightforward as they are on the fiction passage. They ask you to identify a specific detail or piece of evidence from the passage. For example,

If you read the section dealing with specific detail for Prose Fiction, you probably have a pretty good idea of how to answer this question. Getting the right answer is really a matter of careful reading, but you can use the question to help you eliminate answers that are clearly wrong. For instance, because the question asks you for criticisms of Malcolm X, it is probably a safe bet to eliminate choices C and D, which give positive interpretations of his career. Choosing the right answer from choices A and B is really a matter of understanding the material. If you read the passage with some care, you probably remember that Malcolm X used choice A as a criticism for black leaders whom he considered panderers to white supremacists. In the last paragraph of the passage, the writer notes that some white people “held him up as an example of rage gone wild”—a pretty clear criticism of Malcolm X; thus B is the correct answer to the question.

You may remember that inference questions ask for implied information. The answers to inference questions won’t be stated explicitly in the nonfiction passages; instead, you must ferret out the answer from the evidence provided by the passage. For example,

You should look to the last paragraph, where Malcolm X’s assassination is described. Ask yourself what this paragraph focuses on. The paragraph mentions that Malcolm X broke with the Nation of Islam (choice A) and that he visited Mecca (choice C). You can safely eliminate choice B because his controversial “Chickens Coming Home to Roost” speech occurred well before his break with the Nation of Islam; moreover, the author explicitly states the Nation of Islam’s response to the speech in line 33-34. Now you must choose between the remaining three answer choices: A, C, and D. If you can’t figure out the correct answer, consider which answer choices make sense and which one best answers the question. Choice C, which points to Malcolm X’s trip to Mecca, would probably not make sense as an answer choice, as this pilgrimage is a central element of the Islamic faith. Like choice C, choice D also does not seem to offer the proper detail. The passage offers no connection at all between Malcolm X’s autobiography and his assassination. Choice A, meanwhile, fits the bill: Malcolm X not only split from the Nation of Islam, but also began to preach a message opposed to the group’s—a message of unity and nonviolence rather than of separate nations and cultures. Choice A is the correct answer to the question because it best describes why the Nation of Islam would assassinate Malcolm X.

On the nonfiction passages, you’ll encounter quite a few main idea questions. Some of the questions will deal with the passage as a whole, while others will deal with sections of the passage. In both cases, these questions will ask you to identify the main ideas or arguments presented within the passage.

Here’s an example of a main idea question:

This question refers you to a specific paragraph and asks you for that paragraph’s main point. For questions that direct you to a specific section, you should glance back at that section to ensure that you don’t confuse it with another. If you don’t glance back, you may mistake the paragraph for the one before or the one after and choose the wrong answer, such as A (which deals with the second paragraph) or C (which deals with the fourth). Also make sure that you understand the point of the whole paragraph. If you read just the first couple sentences, you may think the correct answer to this question is B. But the rest of the paragraph goes on to talk about Malcolm X’s impact despite that controversial side of him, and ultimately the point of the paragraph is D. Choice D is the best answer because it incorporates both aspects of the paragraph: the first part of it, which discusses his controversial method; and the second part, which talks about why he was an important civil rights figure.

Many main point questions will cover the entire passage. These questions will generally be posed in one of the following three ways:

Here’s where having read the passage carefully (but quickly) will work to your advantage. You should be able to answer general questions like these without referring back to the passage if you did a good job of reading the first time. Reading with an eye to answering specific questions may be an effective strategy for most questions, but you will inevitably encounter general questions like these on the Reading Test. If you choose the strategy of reading for answers, you will have to reread the passage in order to answer these questions. Ultimately, you’ll waste more time than you’ll save.

Another kind of main idea question asks you to identify the main purpose of the passage—in other words, to determine why the author wrote it. For example:

You should be able to answer this question without referring back to the passage because it deals with the general theme and argument. When you come to a question like this, ask yourself what the author has accomplished with the passage. If you form your answer before looking at the answer choices, you’re less likely to be swayed by a wrong but convincing answer choice. The author of this passage describes both negative and positive aspects of Malcolm X’s career. For example, the author mentions his early rage and unwillingness to integrate, but balances that with X’s crucial representation of African-Americans. Choice C seems the best answer to the question, but you can always double-check by eliminating the other answer choices. Choice A is wrong because the author states in line 47-48 that X’s “participation in the civil rights movement was actually fairly slim.” Choice B is also wrong; the author never mentions an overlooked event in his life. Choice D is wrong even though the author suggests the Nation of Islam’s culpability in X’s death; this suggestion is not the focus of the entire passage, and it is only briefly mentioned in the last paragraph. So you can safely select choice C as the best answer.

As with their Prose Fiction counterparts, cause-effect questions on the nonfiction passages will ask you to identify either the cause or the effect of a particular situation. You are more likely to see these questions on Social Science and Natural Science passages than on Humanities passages because the “science” passages often describe sequences of events.

Cue words in the question will let you know whether you must identify the cause or the effect of the relationship. Words such as “because” warn you that the question seeks the cause of an event, while words such as “resulted in,” “led to,” and “caused” let you know you’ll need to identify the effect of a situation.

Here’s an example of a nonfiction cause-effect question:

As with almost all questions on the ACT Reading Test, answering this question correctly requires a careful reading of the passage. From the cue word “because,” you know that the question asks you for the “cause” half of the relationship. If you’re unable to answer this question without referring back to the passage, you should at least have an idea of where to look. The second paragraph deals with Malcolm X’s increasing fame. There are a couple of sentences within this paragraph that clearly indicate A as the correct answer to this question: “it was not until his famous ‘Chickens Coming Home to Roost’ speech on December 1, 1963, that he truly blasted his way into the consciousness of most Americans” and “[t]he speech . . . brought Malcolm X to the forefront of the civil rights struggle.”

Point-of-view questions on the nonfiction passages differ somewhat from those on the Prose Fiction passage. As opposed to the fiction point-of-view questions, which ask you to identify the point of view of the narrator (a fictional invention), the nonfiction point-of-view questions ask you to identify how the writer (a real person) views his or her subject. As you read a passage, consider whether the writer’s argument seems to support or attack the passage’s subject, and pay attention to the language the writer uses. The writer’s tone (is it angry? is it sympathetic?) will be a good indication of his or her feelings about the subject.

Here’s an example of a point-of-view question:

The relatively objective tone of this particular Social Science passage makes this point of view question difficult—more difficult, at least, than answering a point-of-view question for a passage written by an obviously biased author. Still, you should be able to pinpoint the author’s tone even here, especially with assistance from the answer choices. In this passage, the author pretty clearly does not feel negatively about Malcolm X, although she may disagree with some of his tactics, so you can eliminate choices A and C, which indicate negative sentiments. Now you are left with a positive feeling (choice D) and a mixed one (choice B). Which one more accurately describes the author’s feelings for Malcolm X? While the author is fairly objective in her writing, her attitude cannot be described as mixed or ambivalent. Although she does mix praise for Malcolm X with some condemnation, her overall tone is one of respect, so the best answer is D.

As you can see in the example above, the answer choices for a point of view question can seem similar to one another, but there are always crucial differences. For example, words like “anger” and “disapproval” both express negative sentiments. If “anger” and “disapproval” were the two most promising answer choices for a question, you would have to know more than whether the writer approves or disapproves of the subject. You would have to identify the degree of passion in the writer’s negativity. If the writer cares deeply about the subject, then “anger” may be the correct answer. If the writer is intellectually opposed to the subject, then “disapproval” may be correct.

As the name implies, comparison questions ask you to make comparisons, usually between different viewpoints or data. Comparisons can be tricky questions to handle because you need to assimilate information on both sides of the comparison and then see how the sides compare. You’ll see these types of questions more frequently on the Social Science and Natural Science passages than on the Humanities passage because the “Science” passages usually contain a lot of factual information. You probably won’t encounter more than a couple of these questions on the entire test.

The question will contain cue words or phrases that indicate it’s a comparison question. “Compares” and “analogy” are two words that frequently appear in comparison questions.

Here’s an example of a comparison question:

Two key points in the passage can help you answer this question: lines 11-15 and lines 20-22. If you refer to those sections, you’ll be able to select choice A as the best answer to the question. You can also go through the list and eliminate incorrect answers. Choice B is incorrect because the author explicitly states that X’s role in the civil rights movement was limited. Choice C is incorrect because the author never connects King to the Nation of Islam (to which King did not belong). Choice D doesn’t work because the author never discusses King’s influence on future leaders.

Vocabulary questions ask you to decipher the meaning of a word given its context. Usually, these words will have multiple meanings, so you must decide the function of the word in the specific context.

You will immediately recognize these questions from their formulaic phrasing. They provide you with a line number along with an italicized word or short phrase in quotation marks, and then they ask you to provide the meaning of the word in context. For example,

To answer this particular vocabulary question (a rather difficult one), you must also know what the answer choices mean. This is where having a good vocabulary will help you on the ACT. In line 37, the author discusses how X’s language was “angry and inflammatory.” In the surrounding lines, you get a sense that X’s speech was designed to provoke anger and disorder. Thus the correct answer to this question is D because “agitating” provides that sense of provocation. If you cannot figure out the answer directly, you should try to eliminate the other choices. Choice A, “revolutionary,” is related to “inflammatory,” but it is incorrect. You can think of it as a subset of inflammatory: revolutionary speech tends to be inflammatory, but inflammatory speech is not always revolutionary. “Revolutionary” contains a political connotation that “inflammatory” and “agitating” lack, so it is not as good an answer as D. Choice B, “flammable,” applies to physical objects and means that something is capable of being lit on fire. While you may be tempted to choose this answer because both the tested word and the answer choice contain the root “flam,” there is a crucial difference between their definitions. Choice C, “violent,” is incorrect because it lacks the element of provocation present in “inflammatory.”

The Humanities passage will generally deal with a topic of cultural interest. You can think of it as a “softer” version of the Social Science passage, which tends to have more of an analytical and political angle. Still, the general approach to answering Social Science questions should apply to Humanities questions.

As we stated above, your approach to questions on the Humanities passage should be essentially the same as your approach to Social Science questions. For that reason, in this section we’ll skip most of the commentary on the question types and go straight to the examples.

To start with, we’ll give you a rundown of the types of questions that appear most frequently on the Humanities passage, in decreasing order:

Specific detail questions on the Humanities passage are exactly the same as on the rest of the test. Because you should already have a good grasp of how to answer these questions, we’ll just give you some examples of questions that could accompany the passage above.

As you already know, the best way to answer these questions is to read the passage carefully enough the first time around that you either know the answer, or can quickly find the answer in the passage. If you made marginal notes and underlines during your preliminary reading, you will be able to refer easily to the relevant sections of the passage for these questions.

The correct answers to these questions are B and H, respectively.

By now, you should have a good idea of how to answer inference questions. An inference question on this sample Humanities passage could look like this:

This inference question is slightly complicated because Rip Van Winkle is mentioned in the last paragraph of the passage, but you need to refer to the third paragraph in order to answer the question. In the third paragraph, the author describes the types of characters he is unable to play and the type of character that he would like to play. The inference you must make to answer this question is that Rip Van Winkle represents an ideal character for the author and therefore must fit the description in Paragraph 3: “a myth.” The correct answer to this question is D.

The Humanities passage often contains a number of vocabulary questions, so be on the lookout. Vocabulary questions on the passage above could look like this:

These vocabulary questions deal with words that have multiple meanings. They ask you to decide which meaning best suits the context. When you see vocabulary questions like these, go to the indicated line number without even looking at the answers. Read the relevant sentence, ignoring the tested word and coming up with a different word to fill its place. This new word will be a synonym for the tested word. If you can’t come up with a word by looking at the individual sentence, read the sentences around it as well. Once you have your synonym, go back to the question and compare your synonym to the answers. When you’ve found a match, you have your answer. If you’re at a loss for words when using this strategy, you can substitute the answer choices (as long as you know what they mean) into the sentence to see whether they make sense.

If you employ the strategy above, you should see that choices A and J, respectively, make the most sense in the sentences and thus are correct.

Main idea questions tend to accompany Humanities passages that are more analytical or journalistic in tone than the sample passage above. With anecdotal passages like this, it’s unlikely that you’ll be asked to identify the main point of the passage or of a paragraph—the anecdote itself is usually the point. If you do face a main idea question, use the same strategy that we covered under the “Social Science” passage.

Though some Humanities passages may be accompanied by more than one comparison question, this particular passage is not very fact-heavy, so it likely would not have any comparison questions. If a comparison question did appear with this sample passage, it might look like this:

The comparison in this paragraph is actually a metaphor, in which the author doesn’t explicitly say that art is like something, but says that it is something that it clearly isn’t. You don’t need to know this literary term or any other to answer this question. The first sentence of the paragraph (“Art has always been my sweetheart”) should make the answer to this comparison question pretty clear. The correct answer is B.

On the continuum of Reading Test passages, the Prose Fiction passage would be on one extreme, the Social Science and Humanities passages in the middle, and the Natural Science passage at the other extreme end. The Natural Science passage is heavy on scientific facts, argument, cause-effect logic, and details.

Since Natural Science passages contain so many facts, many of the questions on this passage will test whether you know these facts. These questions will come in many guises besides the standard specific detail format. For example, some questions will ask you to build on information in the passage by making you identify cause-effect relationships or comparisons. Here’s a breakdown of the question types commonly asked on the Natural Science passage, in order of decreasing frequency:

Despite the scientific jargon that permeates this passage, in answering the questions you should treat the passage as you would the two other nonfiction passages. In this section, we’ll give you examples of questions that could be asked on the sample passage above, so you can start getting familiar with the Natural Science section.

Specific Detail, the most common question type on the ACT Reading Test, is also a biggie on the Natural Science passage. For the passage above, you could see questions like these:

As we’ve said many times by now, the best method for answering these questions correctly is simply to refer back to the passage. If you’ve made marginal notes and underlines, you’ll have an easier time referring back to the passage and getting the right answer.

The correct answer (choice A) to the first question is conveniently located in the first three lines of the passage. For the second question, look to paragraph 5, where the author discusses the example of the giraffe. The first sentence of paragraph 5 reveals choice G to be correct. When answering the third question, you should refer to the discussion of Leclerc. In the first mention of him (in paragraph 3), you’ll discover that choice D is the correct answer to the question.

Inference questions on the Natural Science passage are the same as they are elsewhere on the test. For example,

The answer to this question is in the first sentence of the last paragraph: “An extension of Lamarck’s ideas of inheritance that has stood the test of time, however, is the idea that evolutionary change takes place gradually and constantly.” The phrase “stood the test of time” indicates that this particular aspect of Lamarck’s work is still relevant today. Thus the correct answer to this question is D.

Cause-effect questions appear pretty frequently on Natural Science passages because of the nature of their topics. Most Natural Science passages, including the sample one above, discuss cause-effect relationships that appear in nature. For example,

This particular cause-effect question also tests your understanding of one of the main points of the passage, as the main point happens to be a cause-effect relationship. If you understood the passage, you should be able to identify the correct answer as B. Choice A deals specifically with Lamarck’s example of giraffes, while the question calls for a general explanation for all animals. Choice C is the belief of creationism, and Choice D would not be discovered until after Lamarck’s time.

You will probably see one comparison question with the Natural Science passage. As we stated before, comparison questions usually accompany passages that contain a lot of factual information, and the Natural Science passage fits the bill.

To answer this question, ask yourself what the giraffe’s elongated neck can be compared to. In paragraph 5, the author names both the giraffe’s neck and the water bird’s toes as examples of the concept of use, so the best answer is C. To make sure, you can eliminate the other answers. Choice A deals with the concept of disuse, so it is not analogous to the giraffe’s neck. Choice B is never discussed in the passage. Choice D is not an analogous situation; it is a separate aspect of Lamarck’s theory.

Main idea questions are always pretty straightforward. The tricky part is making sure that you read carefully enough to understand the main point of the passage or of a paragraph within it. Try this example:

If you read the passage carefully, you should be able to eliminate choices C and D, as they are clearly not the main focus of the passage. You may get stuck trying to decide between choices A and B, but you should remember that the question asks for the passage’s main point, and not for Lamarck’s main point. Remembering that, you should be able to identify the correct answer, A.

You will not see many vocabulary questions accompanying the Natural Science passage. The vocabulary questions that do appear on this passage may ask you to identify an unfamiliar scientific word from its context. You can employ the strategies described for vocabulary questions on the Humanities and Social Science passages to answer vocabulary questions here.

Point-of-view questions are extremely rare on the Natural Science passage. If you see one, it will most likely ask you to identify the point of view of the passage’s author. For example,

The author of this sample passage does not seem to hold strong views on -Lamarck, but it is still possible to eliminate wrong answers here and correctly answer the question. Choices A and B are incorrect because there is little focus on them in the passage: both creationism and Leclerc are mentioned, but only briefly. Choice C looks like the right choice because the author states in the last paragraph that this aspect of Lamarck’s theory “has stood the test of time.” You can make sure that Choice C is correct by eliminating D, which Lamarck, not the author, believes.