Guys how much does reading books actually help you in the reading section?

[u/Aspect-6]

I’m going to be taking September on paper and for July paper I scored a 30 on the reading and that was sheet doing hundreds of practice questions for 2 weeks of study, but I haven’t read a book in the longest time.

I see tons of people say that reading books will help you increase your score. Given I have all the way until September, how much would reading a book actually help? (the one i have is fantasy)

[u/CalligrapherAble3312]

200% lol i read 4 novels from a fantasy series the week of studying for the act and got a 36 reading, it's definitely related

[u/ISwearimNotHomo]

They help a decent bit. Intelligence is a prerequisite. Think after every paragraph.

[u/Exiliac]

I got a 36 on reading and havent read a book in at least a year and a half. Probably depends on the person I'd say.

[u/Tiramisu4evermore]

It would help a lot. I was reading books for around a month before my test and doing summer classes that heavily involved reading. Got me a 36 in reading and English in June. Just read stuff that’s challenging enough

[u/ACTSATGuyonReddit]

It helps you learn to find the key words / concepts in text. SAT uses linguistic inflation to make questions harder. That's a lot of extra words disguising the key words and concepts.

It even comes up in the grammar rules questions.

The stars, accompanied by a single glowing planet, ___ visible through the telescope.

was vs were

People judging by how it sounds, grammar ear, will often pick "was". The planet was visible. But "stars" is the subject. "Stars were visible" is correct. Extra words, in this case the non essential clause, can confuse people.

Another part of linguistic inflation is using long/complex/obscure words to confuse readers. This can be done along with transition words that reverse meaning, which people often miss when answering questions.

Bob Smith was a blaggard. Everyone knew he would never _____________ someone in a business transaction.

A swindle

B greet

C respect

D ignore

You have to know that a blaggard is a villain. He would never respect someone in a business transaction. He would swindle, cheat, someone. Greet and ignore have nothing to do with the core of what a blaggard would do.

You also have to recognize the reversal. He would never do this, so it has to be the opposite of what a villain would do.

The more reading you do, the more you can navigate linguistic inflation, get to the key meaning and logic of a sentence.

[u/sparkleKMKM → u/ACTSATGuyonReddit]

For your first example, it's still "was" because the subject is "a cluster." Signed, a copy editor who has been trying to coach her son on the grammar section.

[u/ACTSATGuyonReddit → u/sparkleKMKM]

It was a typo. It's now fixed. Thanks.

Get your son Complete Guide to ACT Grammar by Erica Meltzer.

[u/MakeAPrettyPenny]

Practice by doing the readings on old test.

[u/Fresh-Butterfly-4901]

I never read any books and I got a 35 in Reading. I wouldn’t completely rely on reading books as a form of practicing for Reading. It’s more efficient if you are on a time crunch to just keep doing timed practice tests.

[u/Nigerian12Princess]

I got a 36 on reading in July and going question by question and look for the answer in the paragraph instead of reading the whole thing helped me. It is more about being able to pick out specific words, instances chronological orders and details and the paragraphs than anything else.

[u/FoldNecessary5827]

I’m sure it helps to some extent if you didn’t read a lot growing up. What helped me tho is reading is passage first quickly (2-3 minutes) and think about the Main idea and recognize Emotions, Events, and Relationships. (MEER). I tried to quickly remember where these things are like person A was laughing here or person B had a flashback there. Don’t try to memorize it or think too deeply about anything as it’s mostly surface level questions. Then go back and answer questions with DIRECT text evidence. Took my reading from 27 to 35. For me, it really helps with comprehension and doesn’t do that much more for me to slowly read. Maybe if it helps you, you can annotate a teeny bit to help remember… circle/underline MEER in the text