Kaplan ACT 2006 with CD-ROM - Kaplan - Paperback - Includes CD-ROM

Chapter One: Introduction to the ACT Three Keys to ACT Success What Is the ACT? Overview of the ACT ACT FAQs ACT Registration Overview Before you plunge into studying for the ACT, let's take a step back and look at the big picture. What's the ACT all about? How can you prepare for it? How's it scored? This chapter will answer these questions and more.The ACT is an opportunity, not a barrier. In fact, you should be grateful that you have to take it. Really. Because a strong ACT score is one credential that doesn't depend on things you can't control. It doesn't depend on how good or bad your high school is. It doesn't depend on how many academic luminaries you know, or how rich and famous your family is, or whether any of your teachers are gullible enough to swear in a letter of recommendation that you're the greatest scientific mind since Isaac Newton. No, your ACT score depends on only you.Granted, the ACT is a tough exam. It's probably one of the toughest exams you'll ever take. But you should be grateful for that too. Really. If the ACT were easy, everyone would do well. A good score wouldn't mean much. But because it's such a bear of a test, the ACT can be your single best opportunity to show what you can do, to prove to colleges that you are the candidate of choice -- for admission, for advanced placement, for scholarships.It's important, though, that you take the test in the right spirit. Don't be timid in the face of the ACT. Don't let it bully you. You've got to take control of the test. Our mission in this book is to show you exactly how to do that.It helps to think of the ACT challenge as a contest -- not only between you and the test, but also between you and that other person trying to get your spot in college. The ACT, after all, is meant to provide a way for all college applicants to compete on an even playing field. How do you compete successfully in a fair academic fight? You train -- harder and smarter than the next person. First, you learn whatever knowledge and skills you need to know. But then, just as important, you learn how to show what you know, in ways that the test is designed to reward. You learn how to be a savvy test taker.THREE KEYS TO ACT SUCCESSThere are three basic commandments for achieving ACT success. Following any of these by itself will improve your score. Following all three together will make you nothing less than awesome.1. Thou Shalt Learn the TestThe ACT is very predictable. You'd think the test makers would get bored after a while, but they don't. The same kinds of questions, testing the same skills and concepts, appear every time the ACT is given.Because the test specifications rarely change, you should know in advance what to expect on every section. Just a little familiarity can make an enormous difference on the ACT. Here are a few ways in which learning the test will boost your score: You'll learn the directions. Why waste valuable time reading directions when you can have them down pat beforehand? You need every second during the test to answer questions and get points. You'll learn the difficulty range of questions. It's a fact that a typical ACT test taker gets only about half the questions right. Knowing this will stop you from panicking when you hit an impossible science passage or trigonometry question. Relax! You can skip many tough questions on the ACT and still get a great score! And once you know that the questions aren't arranged in order of difficulty, you'll know that just beyond that awful question will be one, two, or even three easy questions that you can score on with no sweat at all. You'll learn how to get extra points by guessing. Unlike some other standardized tests, the ACT has no wrong-answer penalty. Knowing that simpleKaplan Publishing Staff is the author of 'Kaplan ACT 2006 with CD-ROM - Kaplan - Paperback - Includes CD-ROM' with ISBN 9780743265744 and ISBN 0743265742.