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T Test Prep : Sample Tests
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A-/G--4-1.s
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SAMPLE ENGLISH TEST QUESTIONS
Click on the letter choices to determine if you have
the correct answer and for question explanations.
(An actual ACT Assessment English Test contains 75 questions
to be answered in 45 minutes.)
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DIRECTIONS: In the passage that
follows, certain words and phrases are
underlined and numbered. In the righthand column, you will find alternatives
for the underlined part. In most cases, you
are to choose the one that best expresses
the idea, makes the statement appropriate
for standard written English, or is worded
most consistently with the style and tone
of the passage as a whole. If you think the
original version is best, choose "NO
CHANGE." In some cases, you will find
in the right-hand column a question about
the underlined part. You are to choose the
best answer to the question.
You will also find questions about a
section of the passage, or about the
passage as a whole. These questions do
not refer to an underlined portion of the
passage, but rather are identified by a
number or numbers in a box.
For each question, choose the alternative
you consider best and fill in the
corresponding oval on your answer
document. Read the passage through once
before you begin to answer the questions
that accompany it. For many of the
questions, you must read several
sentences beyond the question to
determine the answer. Be sure that you
have read far enough ahead each time you
choose an alternative.
Bessie Coleman: In Flight
f1 1
After the final performance of one last
practice landing, the French instructor nodded to
the
young African-American woman at the controls
and
a
1.A. NO CHANGE
B. one finally ultimate
C. one final
D. one last final
jumped down to the ground. Bessie Coleman was
on
her own now. She lined 1-2a the nose of the open
2.F. NO CHANGE
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• ACT Test Prep : Sample Tests
G. off
H. along
J. OMIT the underlined portion.
cockpit biplane on the runway's center marks
'' he
gave
the engine full throttle, and took off into history.
3.A. NO CHANGE
B. mark,
C. mark, Coleman
D. mark that
[2]
It was a long journey from the American
Southwest she'd been
4
born in 1893, to these French
skies.
The year in vhich she va.s born V83 about a century ago.
5
There hadn't been much of a future for her in
Oklahoma
then. After both semesters of the tvo-semester year
6
at Langston Industrial College, Coleman headed
for
Chicago to see what could be done to realize a
dream.
4.F. NO CHANGE
G. Southwest that she'd been
H. Southwest, where she'd been
J. Southwest, she was
S.A. NO CHANGE
B. It is now just about a century
since the year of her birth.
C. Just about a century has
passed since the year of her
birth.
D. OMIT the underlined
portion.
6.F. NO CHANGE
G. a year
H. a year like two full semesters
J. one year filled with two
semesters
Ever since she saw her first airplane when she was
a little girl, Coleman had known that someday,
somehow,
she would fly.
[3]
Try as she might, however, Coleman could
not obtain flying lessons anywhere in the city.
Then
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• f Au Te*t Prep : Sample Tests
she sought aid from Robert S. Abbott of the
Chicago
Weekly Defender. The newspaperman got in touch
7.A. NO CHANGE
B. Abbott:
C. Abbott, whose
D. Abbott;
with a flight school in France that was willing to
teach this determined young woman to fly.
[4]
had as one of her
[1] While therre She
8
instructors Anthony Fokker, the famous aircraft
'
designer. [2] Bessie Coleman took a quick course
in
French,
should she settle
9
her affairs, and sailed for
Europe. [3] Coping with a 4
d -iclY- foreign language
and flying in capricious, unstable machines held
together with baling wire was daunting, but
Coleman
persevered.
[5]
8.F. NO CHANGE
G. they're
H. there,
J. there, she had as
9.A. NO CHANGE
B. as if to settle
C. to settle
D. settled
10.F. NO CHANGE
G. (Place after with)
H. (Place after flying)
J. (Place after in)
11.Which of the following
sequences of sentences will
make Paragraph 4 most
logical?
On June 15, 1921, Bessie
A. NO CHANGE
B. 1, 3, 2
C. 2, 1, 3
D. 3, 2, 1
Coleman, earned an international pilot's license,
12
issued by the International Aeronautical
Federation.
Not only was she the first black woman to win her
pilot's wings, she was the first American woman
to
12.F. NO CHANGE
G. Coleman earned an
international pilot's license
H. Coleman, earned an
international pilot's license
J. Coleman earned an
international pilot's license;
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AcT Test Prep : Sample Tests
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hold this coveted license.
[6]
She was ready for a triumphant return to the
United States to barnstorm and lect' Proof that if
the will is
attained.
strong enough
for
one's dream can be
13.A. NO CHANGE
B. lecture and proof
C. lecture, proof
D. lecture proof,
14.F. NO CHANGE
G. stronger than
H. strongly enough,
J. strong enough,
Q uest ion 15 asks about the preceding passage
as a whole.
The writer intends to add the following sentence to the essay in order to provide a
comparison that would help underline the challenges that Bessie Coleman faced:
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Her dream of becoming the world's first black woman pilot seemed as
remote in Chicago as it had been in Oklahoma.
In order to accomplish this purpose, it would be most logical and appropriate to place
this sentence after the:
15.A. first sentence in Paragraph
2.
B. first sentence in Paragraph
3.
C. last sentence in Paragraph
3.
D. first sentence in Paragraph
5.
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ACT Assessment Sample Question Answer Key and
Question Explanations
Set 1: English — /16/5
(A/6-s--/e,s
Bessie Coleman: In Flight
1. The best answer is C, which concisely conveys the idea that the practice landing
referred to was the last one in a series. In contrast, the other choices are redundant.
Choice A belabors the point that "the final performance" was indeed the "last"
performance (and confusingly suggests that there was more than one performance of a
single landing). Choice B pointlessly repeats the notion of finality in the redundant phrase
"finally ultimate" (and confusingly suggests that all the landings strove to be ultimate, but
only the last landing succeeded). Choice D is simply redundant because the words last
and final in the sentence are synonymous.
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2. The best answer is F. It offers the only idiomatically acceptable wording. The verb
phrase line up is often used to mean "align." Choices G and H are clearly wrong here. We
would never hear someone say that "she lined off the nose of the . . . biplane on the
runway's center mark" or that "she lined along the nose of the . . . biplane on the runway's
center mark." Choice J, which proposes deleting the underlined portion, also sounds
improbable: "She lined the nose of the . . . biplane on the runway's center mark." This
sentence suggests that Bessie Coleman is doing something with the nose of the plane, but
whatever it is, it doesn't make sense in terms of the rest of the information in the
sentence.
3. The best answer is B. This sentence presents a series of three verb phrases—three
things that Bessie Coleman did. The subject for all three of the verb phrases is the
pronoun She at the beginning of the sentence. The third verb phrase in the series ("took
off into history") has no subject, so it would be inconsistent and illogical to state the
subject of the second verb phrase in the series, as Choices A and C propose. Choice D
proposes that, rather than being the second in the series of verb phrases, this should be a
subordinate adjective clause describing the preceding noun, but there's no logical support
for saying, "the runway's center mark . . . gave the engine full throttle."
4. The best answer is H. It provides the relative pronoun and the punctuation that
effectively relates this subordinate adjective clause to the main clause of this sentence.
The main clause is as follows: "It was a long journey from the American Southwest to
these French skies." The subordinate clause is describing or defining the American
Southwest: "where she'd been born in 1893." Since this clause occurs in the middle of the
main clause and is not essential or restrictive information, it must be set off from the
main clause. Choices F and G fail to do so. Choice J does set the phrase off with commas
but fails to provide a pronoun that would effectively relate this clause to the main clause.
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5. The best answer is D. The most appropriate decision is to delete the information—
presented in Choices A, B, and C in different phrasings—that Bessie Coleman was born
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about a century ago. This information is a mere digression in terms of the focus or
development of this essay. It sidetracks the readers. Besides, it provides information that
readers could easily infer on their own, since they are told in the previous sentence that
Coleman was born in 1893.
6. The best answer is G. It is the only choice that doesn't propose irrelevant or redundant
information. Choices F, H, and J all propose unnecessarily long-winded and wordy ways
of saying that Coleman headed for Chicago after a year at Langston Industrial College. It
is just not important for readers to know that a year at Langston consisted of two
semesters of schooling.
7. The best answer is A. No punctuation is needed here between the noun ("Robert S.
Abbott") and the prepositional phrase describing that noun ("of the Chicago Weekly
Defender"). The use here of the colon (Choice B) or the semicolon (Choice D) is not
called for. Choice C incorrectly proposes setting this prepositional phrase off from the
main clause and introducing it with the relative pronoun that expresses possession
(whose).
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8. The best answer is J. It proposes the correct form of the adverb (there) and ensures
that the main clause is a complete sentence. Choices F and G are both wrong because
they propose using the contracted form of they are. Although they're sounds like there, it
has a different meaning, which would not make sense in the context of this sentence.
Choice H proposes the correct adverb but also proposes deleting "she had as," which
would create a sentence fragment: "While there, one of her instructors Anthony Fokker,
the famous aircraft designer."
9. The best answer is D. It logically presents this sentence as a series of three verb
phrases, all in the simple past tense. Choices A, B, and C all incorrectly attempt to relate
the second phrase in this series to the first phrase. There is no information in this essay
nor any logic to support the idea that "Bessie Coleman took a quick course in French, to
settle her affairs" (Choice C) or "took a quick course in French, as if to settle her affairs"
(Choice B). Likewise, the sense of probability or expectation or futurity that might be
expressed by "should she settle her affairs" has no logical support in the context of this
essay.
10. The best answer is H. This question asks the test-taker to decide the best placement
of the word daily in the sentence. This word has the flexibility to serve as either an
adverb or an adjective. Here, the most logical and appropriate place for this word would
be after the word flying. In this arrangement, the word daily serves as an adverb
modifying the verb preceding it: "Coping with a foreign language and flying daily in
capricious, unstable machines held together with baling wire was daunting, but Coleman
persevered." None of the other proposed placements make sense in the context of this
sentence: Choice F would have daily functioning as an adjective ("a daily foreign
language"). Choice G would seem to have the word functioning as an adverb, but it's hard
to tell what the adverb would be describing ("Coping with daily a foreign language").
Choice J would have daily functioning as an adverb defining an adjective ("in daily
capricious, unstable machines").
11. The best answer is C. It is the only choice that places Sentence 2 as the first sentence
in the paragraph. Sentence 2 should logically precede Sentences 1 and 3 because, while
Sentences 1 and 3 describe Bessie Coleman's experiences in Europe, Sentence 2 tells
readers that she sailed for Europe (and describes the things she did prior to making the
trip). Choices A and D are wrong because they keep Sentence 2 in the second position,
and Choice B is wrong because it puts Sentence 2 in the final position.
12. The best answer is G. It offers the correct punctuation decisions for this sentence.
Choices F and H are incorrect because they propose putting a comma between the subject
("Bessie Coleman") and the predicate or verb phrase ("earned an international pilot's
license"). Choice J is incorrect because it proposes putting a semicolon between the direct
object noun ("an international pilot's license") and the subordinate clause defining that
noun ("issued by the International Aeronautical Federation"). It might help to realize that,
between the words license and issued, the words that were are not expressed but are
understood or implied.
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13. The best answer is C. This is a difficult question in a rather complex sentence. The
clause beginning with proof serves as an appositive, a phrase that describes or defines a
preceding noun. Appositives are set off from the main clause with commas and, in most
cases, immediately follow the noun they are describing. Here, the appositive occurs at the
end of the sentence but describes the subject at the beginning of the sentence (She). "She
was ready for a triumphant return to the United States to barnstorm and lecture, proof that
. . . one's dream can be attained." The punctuation decisions offered by Choices A and D
would both produce an illogical phrasing because they propose that proof should serve as
the direct object of the verb lecture ("She was ready . . . to barnstorm and lecture proof
. ."). Choice B is equally illogical because it proposes that proof could function as a verb
("She was ready . . . to barnstorm and lecture and proof that . . . one's dream can be
attained.")
14. The best answer is J. It effectively coordinates the various elements of this noun
clause, which is functioning as an appositive for the subject of the main clause of this
sentence. The entire noun clause should read: "proof that if the will is strong enough,
one's dream can be attained." You will see that within this noun clause, which is already
serving a secondary role in terms of the main clause of the sentence, there is a main
clause ("one's dream can be attained") and a subordinate clause related to that main
clause by the conjunction if ("the will is strong enough"). Choice H is wrong because it
proposes an adverb (strongly) where a predicate adjective is required. Choices F and G
are both wrong because they coordinate these clauses in ways that don't make sense and
that make clause fragments: "if the will is strong enough for one's dream can be attained"
(Choice F) and "if the will is stronger than one's dream can be attained" (Choice G).
15. The best answer is B, which provides the intended comparison by placing the
sentence in the most logical location. Choice B underlines or emphasizes the challenges
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Coleman faced by comparing her hopes and expectations with the reality she met in
Chicago. On the contrary, Choice A spoils the logical sequence that Choice B establishes,
because the end of the first sentence in Paragraph 2—"these French skies"—does not
support the intended comparison. Choices C and D delay making the comparison until
too late in the essay. In Choice C, the comparison is weakened because, by the end of
Paragraph 3, Coleman is already on her way toward flight school. In Choice D, a
comparison intended to "underline the challenges" no longer is pertinent, because
Coleman has already met the challenges.