■ Use which when introducing clauses that are not essential to the information in the sentence, unless they refer to people. In that case, use who. Mark is in Toronto, which is his favorite city. Rosa, who writes for the school paper, wants to interview me for a story. Practice 11 Circle the correct form of the italicized pronouns in the following sentences. 1. You’re/Your dog is growling at me. 2. He’s/His the one that/who won the prize. 3. Someone left their/his or her lights on. 4. Does anybody know who’s/whose cell phone this is? 5. This is Ellen, which/that/who reminds me of my mother. 6. Where are your/you’re shoes? 7. Neither of the choices sound/sounds good to me. 8. Most of the stamps in the collection is/are gone. 9. He feels more strongly about it than me/I. 10. To who/whom shall I address this letter? Answers 1. Yo ur dog is growling at me. 2. He’s the one who won the prize. 3. Someone left his or her lights on. 4. Does anybody know whose cell phone this is? 5. This is Ellen, who reminds me of my mother. 6. Where are your shoes? 7. Neither of the choices sounds good to me. 8. Most of the stamps in the collection are gone. 9. He feels more strongly about it than I. 10. To whom shall I address this letter? – ACT ENGLISH TEST PRACTICE– 79 Adjectives and Adverbs Adjectives and adverbs help give our sentences color; they describe things and actions. Adjectives describe nouns and pronouns and tell us which one, what kind, and how many. WHICH ONE? WHAT KIND? HOW MANY? that book romance novel several chapters the other class steep expense multiple choices the last song jazzy melody six awards Adverbs, on the other hand, describe verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. They tell us where, when, how, and to what extent. WHERE? WHEN? HOW? TO WHAT EXTENT? The plane flew south. Jude arrived early. She sang beautifully. Anthony is very talented. Put the chair here. She registered late. The system is behaving Eleanor is still extremely ill. erratically. I was walking back Let’s meet again They fought bravely. The gas is dangerously low. to camp. tomorrow. Remember to keep modifiers as close as possible to what they modify. FEWER/LESS, NUMBER/AMOUNT As a rule, use the adjective fewer to modify plural nouns or things that can be counted. Use less for singular nouns that represent a quantity or a degree. Most nouns to which an -s can be added require the adjective fewer. Use less salt this time. Use f ewer eggs this time. I spent less t ime on it than I’d planned. I spent f ewer hours on it than I’d planned. GOOD/BAD, WELL/BADLY These pairs of words—good/well, bad/badly—are often confused. The key to proper usage is to understand their function in the sentence. Good and bad are adjectives; they should only be used to modify nouns and pronouns. Well and badly are adverbs; they should be used to modify verbs. – ACT ENGLISH TEST PRACTICE– 80 The coffee is good, but I didn’t do so well with the rest of breakfast. I had a g ood time and did very well for a beginner. COMPARISONS An important function of adjectives and adverbs is comparisons. When you are comparing two things, use the comparative form (-er) of the modifier. If you are comparing more than two things, use the superlative form (-est) of the modifier. To create the comparative form, either: 1. add -er to the modifier, or 2. place the word more or less before the modifier. In general, add -er to short modifiers (one or two syllables). Use more or less with modifiers of more than two syllables. cheaper less expensive smarter more intelligent To create the superlative form, either: 1. add -est to the modifier, or 2. place the word most or least before the modifier. Again, as a general rule, add -est to short modifiers (one or two syllables). Use most or least with mod- ifiers that are more than two syllables. Wanda is mor e experienced than I, but I am the most familiar with the software. Ahmed is clearly the smar test student in the class. This is the most e xpensive but also the most practical solution. He is the w isest man I know. DOUBLE COMPARISONS AND DOUBLE NEGATIVES Be sure to avoid double comparisons. Don’t use both -er/-est and more/less or most/least together. Incorrect: This is the most longest I’ve ever had to wait in line. Correct: This is the long est I’ve ever had to wait in line. – ACT ENGLISH TEST PRACTICE– 81 Incorrect: Xavier is more happier now. Correct: Xavier is hap pier now. Likewise, be sure to avoid double negatives. When a negative word such as no or not is added to a state- ment that is already negative, a double negative—and potential confusion—results. Hardly and barely are also negative words. Remember, one negative is all you need. Incorrect: He doesn’t have no idea what she’s talking about. Correct: He doesn ’t have any idea what she’s talking about. He has no idea what she’s talking about. Incorrect: I can’t hardly wait to see you. Correct: I can har dly wait to see you. I can ’t wait to see you. Incorrect: They don’t want no trouble. Correct: They don ’ t want any trouble. Practice 12 Choose the correct word in the italicized pairs below. 1. I have a large number/amount of tickets to sell. 2. There are fewer/less people outside now. 3. I am feeling good/well today. 4. He has been behaving bad/badly since his parents got divorced. 5. I can’t find no/any reason to say no. 6. This is the most friendly/friendliest town in America. Answers 1. I have a large number of tickets to sell. 2. There are fewer people outside now. 3. I am feeling well today. 4. He has been behaving badly since his parents got divorced. 5. I can’t find any reason to say no. 6. This is the friendliest town in America. – ACT ENGLISH TEST PRACTICE– 82 Rhetorical Skills Rhetorical skills refers to the series of techniques writers use to create text that is clear, engaging, and appro- priate for its audience and purpose. From beginning to end, writing is a process of making decisions about technique. How should you introduce your topic? What is the best way to conclude your essay? What is the most effective way to organize your ideas? What word or image can you use to convey a particular thought? The rhetorical skills questions on the ACT English Test cover three areas: general writing strategies, organization, and style. General Writing Strategies General writing strategies are those basic techniques writers use to develop a readable and engaging text. The strategies covered on the ACT include your ability to: ■ write in a way that is appropriate for audience and purpose ■ provide appropriate and sufficient support ■ craft effective introductions and conclusions ■ use effective transitions ■ revise for more effective writing A UDIENCE AND P URPOSE Effective writing has at its core a constant awareness of and attention to audience and purpose.Good writ- ers are always thinking about their readers: Who are they? What do they know about the subject? What prej- udices or preconceived notions might they have? What will keep their attention? Good writers are also always thinking about purpose. Is their goal to teach a lesson? Provide informa- tion? Entertain? Answer a question? Convince or persuade? These two core elements—audience and purpose—drive just about every decision a writer makes, beginning with the topic the writer chooses. If your audience is a college admissions officer, for example, then you must write with that reader in mind, and you will choose your topic, style, and approach accordingly.You will follow the directions carefully, keep a tight focus, provide details and specific examples, and write in a formal but not stilted style. On the other hand, if you are writing a letter to a friend to tell her about your latest camping trip, you will likely use an informal style, and you may digress frequently, use slang, use too many exclamation points, and have grammar and usage errors that you would be sure to avoid in your col- lege application essay. On the ACT English Test, some of the questions will ask you to judge how well a passage responds to its audience and fulfills its purpose. You may be asked, for example, to select text that is most appropriate for the audience or determine what purpose the writer is trying to achieve. To answer these questions correctly, you will need to be able to infer from the clues in the passage both its intended audience and its main purpose. – ACT ENGLISH TEST PRACTICE– 83 DETERMINING AUDIENCE Knowing your audience will help you make a couple of key writing decisions, including choosing appropri- ate words, level of formality, and level of detail—three matters of style we will discuss in more detail shortly. If, for example, you are writing about voice recognition software and your audience is composed of speech technology experts, then you will be able to use jargon (technical or specialized language) comfort- ably. If you are writing for a general audience, however, you will need to avoid jargon and write in general terms that all readers will be able to understand. Level of formality provides another clue to the writer’s audience. The degree of formality tells you what kind of relationship the writer has to his or her audience. If the text uses slang, for example, you can infer that the writer has a casual, informal relationship with the reader; he is probably not writing for a general audience. The level of detail and specificity in a text also tells you something about the writer’s intended audi- ence. It gives you a sense of how much readers know (or are expected to know) about the topic. For exam- ple, in the “Batman” passage you read in the pre-test, the writer provides very basic information about the superhero. Clearly, he’s not writing for Batman buffs who would already know the history of the Batman char- acter. By opening with “Pow! Bam! Zap!”, the writer is assuming that most readers have at some point seen the show or read a Batman comic strip, since Batman is such a well-known character in our culture. On the ACT English Test, you can use this awareness of audience to answer questions about word choice and other stylistic issues. It can also help you answer questions about what kind of information should be added to or deleted from a text. You will see examples of these kinds of questions shortly in the following sections. D ETERMINING PURPOSE As you read passages on the ACT English Test, it is important to get a clear sense of the writer’s purpose. What seems to be the writer’s main goal? This will help you answer questions like the following, which refers to a passage about voice recognition technology: The writer plans to add a fifth paragraph. Which of the following would be her best choice? a. a paragraph about the history of voice recognition technology b. a paragraph about the cost of voice recognition software c. a paragraph comparing features of current voice recognition programs d. a paragraph with statistics and testimonials about the accuracy of voice recognition programs The best paragraph to insert depends entirely upon the writer’s purpose in the passage. If, based on the content and style of the passage, you conclude that the writer’s goal is to convince readers that voice recog- nition software really works, then d is the best choice; it’s the paragraph that best supports the writer’s pur- pose. If, on the other hand, the passage aims to help readers pick the best voice recognition software for them, then c would be the best choice. – ACT ENGLISH TEST PRACTICE– 84 . the stamps in the collection are gone. 9. He feels more strongly about it than I. 10. To whom shall I address this letter? – ACT ENGLISH TEST PRACTICE– 79 Adjectives and Adverbs Adjectives and. nouns and pronouns. Well and badly are adverbs; they should be used to modify verbs. – ACT ENGLISH TEST PRACTICE– 80 The coffee is good, but I didn’t do so well with the rest of breakfast. I. ever had to wait in line. Correct: This is the long est I’ve ever had to wait in line. – ACT ENGLISH TEST PRACTICE– 81 Incorrect: Xavier is more happier now. Correct: Xavier is hap pier now. Likewise,