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You can use the ACT Reading Question of the Day to get into the habit of thinking about ACT Reading content on a daily basis when studying for the ACT. Varsity Tutors' ACT Reading Questions of the Day are drawn from each topic and question type covered on the Reading section of the ACT.
Question of the Day: ACT Reading
This is an excerpt from Self Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1841)
Man is timid and apologetic; he is no longer upright; he dares not say "I think," "I am," but quotes some saint or sage. He is ashamed before the blade of grass or the blowing rose. These roses under my window make no reference to former roses or to better ones; they are for what they are; they exist with God today. There is no time to them. There is simply the rose; it is perfect in every moment of its existence. Before a leaf-bud has burst, its whole life acts; in the full-blown flower there is no more; in the leafless root there is no less. Its nature is satisfied, and it satisfies nature, in all moments alike. But man postpones, or remembers; he does not live in the present, but with a reverted eye laments the past, or, heedless of the riches that surround him, stands on tiptoe to foresee the future. He cannot be happy and strong until he too lives with nature in the present, above time.
This should be plain enough. Yet see what strong intellects dare not yet hear God himself, unless he speak the phraseology of I know not what David, or Jeremiah, or Paul. We shall not always set so great a price on a few texts, on a few lives. We are like children who repeat by rote the sentences of grandames and tutors, and, as they grow older, of the men and talents and characters they chance to see—painfully recollecting the exact words they spoke; afterwards, when they come into the point of view which those had who uttered those saying, they understand them, and are willing to let the words go; for, at any time, they can use words as good when occasion comes. If we live truly, we shall see truly. It is as easy for the strong man to be strong, as it is for the weak to be weak. When we have new perception, we shall gladly disburden the memory of its hoarded treasures as old rubbish. When a man lives with God, his voice shall be as sweet as the murmur of the brook and the rustle of the corn.
What does the author suggest about time in this passage?
That it haunts us unless we get the best of it
That it will follow us until we die
None of the other answers
That it is a complex and useful thing
That is cannot be dwelled upon; one must simply live
Studying for different subjects on the ACT can sometimes require different methods. Preparing for the ACT Reading portion, for example, requires different skills than many of the other parts of the test. One way to help prepare you for the reading portion of the ACT is to use Varsity Tutors’ Learning Tools Reading Question of the Day. By using the Question of the Day, you will receive a daily question to help you not only prepare for specific concepts that you will encounter on the ACT, but also prepare you for the method of the reading portion of the test, which to some is quite different from any other part of the test. Whether you need ACT Reading tutoring in New York, ACT Reading tutoring in Chicago, or ACT Reading tutoring in Los Angeles, working one-on-one with an expert may be just the boost your studies need.
The Learning Tools Reading Question of the Day will provide you with a different passage to read each day. Each passage will vary in length as well as difficulty. At the end of the passage, you will be asked a question based on the text that you have just read, as well as given a number of different possible answers. Based on the reading that you have just done, you will select your answer. At this point, you will be told whether or not you were correct, as well as several statistics. The statistics include the time it took for you to read the passage and answer your question, the percentage of those that answered the question correctly, as well as the percentile that you fall into based on the statistics. The statistics will accumulate each day, allowing you to compare yourself to others that are also preparing for the test and give you an idea of how you rank. Varsity Tutors also offers resources like a free ACT prep book to help with your self-paced study, or you may want to consider an ACT Reading tutor.
One of the most important statistics for many is the amount of time it took for you to read the passage and answer the question. Given that the ACT is a timed test, the amount of time it takes for you to answer a question can be a very important aspect. With the help of the Learning Tools Question of the Day, you can keep track of the time of each question on a daily basis, continually working to both read the passages and answer the questions more quickly.
Along with the statistics provided in the Learning Tools Question of the Day, you will also be provided with a full explanation of why the answer you have given is right or wrong, as well as an area where you can read more on the general concept associated with each day’s question. Often times, you will be provided with many other examples of each general concept, which will allow you to spend as much time as you like on concepts that may be more difficult to you than others, better preparing you for the ACT Reading portion. In addition to the ACT Reading Question of the Day and ACT Reading tutoring, you may also want to consider taking some of our ACT Reading practice tests.
The reading portion of the ACT can be challenging for many, since it takes a different skill set to properly answer the questions. Along with reading comprehension, the reading section will require speed, English comprehension, and deductive reasoning. With the help of the Learning Tools ACT Reading Question of the Day, you will get a daily opportunity to improve these skills, as well as learn the reasoning behind the concepts that will be tested by the ACT.
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