The ACT Test - Structure

A Microscope in the Kitchen

I grew up with buckets, shovels, and nets  1  waiting by the back door; hip-waders hanging in the closet; tide table charts covering the refrigerator door; and a microscope    2  was sitting on the kitchen table.  3  Having studied, my mother is a marine biologist.   4  Our household might have been described as uncooperative.Our meals weren’t always served in the expected order of breakfast, lunch, and supper. Everything was subservient to the disposal of the tides. When the tide was low, Mom could be found down on the mudflats. When the tide was high, she would be standing on the inlet bridge with her plankton net.

 Q.1 : Which of the following provides the best punctuation for underlined portion number 1?

1. NO CHANGE
2. waiting, by the back door
3. waiting by the back door
4. waiting by the back door

 Q.2 : Which of the following is the best verb form for underlined portion number 2?

1. NO CHANGE
2. would sit
3. sitting
4. sat

 Q.3 : What is the clearest, most concise wording for the sentence in underlined portion number 3?

1. NO CHANGE
2. As my mother’s interest is science, she is
3. My mother’s occupation is that of
4. My mother is

 Q.4 : Which choice would most effectively introduce the rest of this paragraph, after underlined sentence number 4?

1. NO CHANGE
2. There seemed to be no explanation for why Mom ran our household the way she did.
3. Our household didn’t run according to a typical schedule.
4. Mom ran our household in a most spectacular manner.

In the figure below ∠H ≃∠F; E, G and I are collinear; and G is midpoint of FH. To prove that HI ≃ FE given the conditions stated above, which of the following is a logical order for the 5 steps in the table below?

1. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
2. 1, 2, 3, 5, 4
3. 1, 2, 4, 3, 5
4. 1, 4, 2, 3, 5
5. 1, 5, 4, 2, 3

4. Each of the variables t, w, x, y and z represents a different positive real number. Given the equations below, which of the 4 vaiables t, w, x, y and z necessarily has the greatest value?

1.23 w = t1.01 x = t
0.99 y = t
0.23 z = t

1. w
2. x
3. y
4. z
5. Cannot be determined from the given information

Passage 1: (LITERARY NARRATIVE: This passage is adapted from the novel The Men of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor (©1998 by Gloria Naylor)

Clifford Jackson, or Abshu, as he preferred to be known in the streets, had committed himself several years ago to use his talents as a playwright to broaden the horizons for the young, gifted, and black—which was how he saw every child milling around that dark street. As head of the community center he went after every existing grant on the city and state level to bring them puppet shows with the message to avoid drugs and stay in school; and plays in the park such as actors   rapping their way through Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Abshu believed there was something in Shakespeare for everyone, even the young of Brewster Place, and if he broadened their horizons just a little bit, there might be enough room for some of them to slip through and see what the world had waiting. No, it would not be a perfect world, but definitely one with more room than they had now.

The kids who hung around the community center liked Abshu, because he never preached and it was clear that when they spoke he listened; so he could zero in on the kid who had a real problem. It might be an offhand remark while shooting a game of pool or a one- on-one out on the basketball court, but he had a way of making them feel special with just a word or two. Abshu wished that his own family could have stayed together. There were four of them who ended up...

Q. 1 : The point of view from which the passage is told can best be described as that of:

1. a man looking back on the best years of his life as director of a community center in a strife-ridden neighborhood.
2. a narrator describing his experiences as they happen, starting with childhood and continuing through his adult years as an advocate for troubled children.
3. an unidentified narrator describing a man who devoted his life to neighborhood children years after his own difficult childhood.
4. an admiring relative of a man whose generosity with children was widely respected in the neighborhood where he turned around a declining community center.

Q. 2 : It can reasonably be inferred from the passage that which of the following is a cherished dream that Abshu expects to make a reality in his lifetime?

1. Establishing himself financially so as to be able to bring his original family back under one roof
2. Seeing the children at the community center shift their interest from sports to the dramatic arts
3. Building on the success of the community center by opening other centers like it throughout the state
4. Expanding for some, if not all, of the children the vision they have of themselves and their futures

Q. 3 : It can reasonably be inferred from the passage that Abshu and the Masons would agree with which of the following statements about the best way to raise a child?

1. For a child to be happy, he or she must develop a firm basis in religion at an early age.
2. For a child to be fulfilled, he or she must be exposed to great works of art and literature that contain universal themes.
3. For a child to thrive and be a responsible member of society, he or she must develop a sense of discipline.
4. For a child to achieve greatness, he or she must attach importance to the community and not to the self.

Passage 5: LITERARY NARRATIVE: Passage A is adapted from the essay “In Orbit” by Brenda Miller (©2011 by Brenda Miller). Passage B is adapted from the essay “On July 20th, 1969…” by Robert Silverberg (©2009 by Robert Silverberg).

Passage A by Brenda Miller

July 20, 1969: I’m running in a wide circle at the far end of the cul-de-sac, around and around until I settle in the dust under a thorny bush, but then my name floats into the game, calling me back as dusk descends on the neighborhood. Other names unfurl like ribbons, doors opening and closing— Bobby, Brenda, Laura! —and none of us kids even says goodbye, we just disperse, our small band so easily dissolved. I leave my perfect hiding place—knees scratched, my hair smelling of sap—to go back inside, where it’s too hot and smells of stuffed cabbage, the television on to the evening news. Father, mother, brothers—we’re all angled toward the...

Questions 1-3 ask about Passage A.

Q. 1 : The last paragraph of Passage A (lines 37–49) marks a shift in the passage from:

1. a description of events leading up to a sudden action by the narrator to a reflection on the intentions and meanings behind that action.
2. an overview of a family dilemma to an explanation of how the narrator solved that dilemma.
3. an example of the narrator’s typical response to family events to an analysis of the narrator’s personality.
4. a chronology of a historical event to a summary of the narrator’s circumstances at the time.

Q. 2 :  In Passage A, the narrator’s descriptions of Armstrong suggest that she sees him as ultimately:

1. self-confident and triumphant.
2. isolated and alone.
3. awe-inspiring and heroic.
4. stiff and ceremonial.

Passage 5: LITERARY NARRATIVE: Passage A is adapted from the essay “In Orbit” by Brenda Miller (©2011 by Brenda Miller). Passage B is adapted from the essay “On July 20th, 1969…” by Robert Silverberg (©2009 by Robert Silverberg).

Passage B by Robert Silverberg

Moon Landing Day- we gathered before the television set to watch Apollo’s final approach to the lunar surface. (And who ever imagined that we would watch the event as it happened, on television, in our homes?) “Two thousand feet,” Aldrin said, and Houston said, “Eagle looking great. You’re GO.” With the incredible crawl-line at the bottom of the screen saying something like LIVE TRANSMISSION FROM THE MOON. Followed by long anxious moments as the landing vehicle drifted over the barren surface, moving between craters and a boulder field- I am looking at the MOON, I told myself, I am looking at the MOON- and then came the great plume of dust as...

Questions 7-9 ask about Passage B.

Q. 7 : Which of the following statements provides the most accurate comparison of the tone of each passage?

1. Passage A is fondly nostalgic, while Passage B is impersonal and scientific.
2. Passage A is optimistic and exuberant, while Passage B is sarcastic and cynical.
3. Both passages begin by conveying some sense of the narrator’s wonder but conclude with a note of disenchantment.
4. Both passages begin by conveying the narrator’s doubt but conclude with some sense of lasting pride.

Q. 8 :  Compared to the narrator of Passage A, the narrator of Passage B provides more information about:

1. Armstrong’s actions after setting foot on the moon’s surface.
2. Armstrong’s qualifications for a moon voyage.
3. the prior accomplishments of the space program.
4. the order of events throughout the moon landing broadcast.

Intelligent Machines

Many of the goods and services we depend on daily are now supplied by intelligent, automated machines rather than human beings. Robots build cars and other goods on assembly lines, where once there were human workers. Many of our phone conversations are now conducted not with people but with sophisticated technologies. We can now buy goods at a variety of stores without the help of a human cashier. Automation is generally seens as a sign of progress, but what is lost when we replace humans with machines? Given the accelerating variety and prevalence of intelligent machines, it is worth examining the implications and meaning of their presence in our lives.

Read and carefully consider these persectives. Each suggests a particular way of thinking about the increasing presence of intelligent machines.

Perspective One:
What we lose with the replacement of people by machines is some part of our own humanity. Even our mundane daily encounters no longer require from us basic courtesy, respect, and tolerance for other people. 

Perspective Two:
Machines are good at low-skill repetitive jobs, and at high-speed., extremely precise jobs.In both cases they work better than humans. This  efficiency leads to a more prosperous and progressive world for everyone. 

Perspective Three:
Intelligent machines challenge our long-standing ideas about what humans are or can be. This is good because it pushes both humans and machines towards new, unimagined possibilities.

Essay Talk

Write a unified, coherent essay in which you evaluate multiple perspectives on the increasing presence of intelligent machines. In your essay, be sure to:

1. analyze and evaluate the perspectives given
2. state and develop your own perspective on the issue
3. explain the relationship between your perspective and those given

Your perspective may be in full agreement with any of the others, in partial agreement, or wholly different. Whatever the case, support your ideas with logical reasoning and detailed, persuasive examples.