You’re always supposed to give the right answer to an ACT or SAT question, right?
Ha – not always!
The NOT question
Once or twice in the Math section and once or twice in the Reading and Writing sections, the SAT switches things up. Instead of asking for which answer is RIGHT, they ask you for which answer is WRONG.
And, after, giving the correct answer 200 times in a row, it’s incredibly easy to blow by the NOT or EXCEPT wording and choose the correct answer. This is just one more example of how the tests are tricky in unexpected ways. And how “silly” unforced errors result in losing too many points.
Here’s a couple of examples from the 2017-2018 ACT Practice Test which also uses this trick.
This next example is a particularly insidious. It’s the last question in the Science section, which is the last section of the test. So after looking for the right answer for 212 questions, you now need to switch gears and look for the wrong answer (probably while you are running out of time in the very last minute of the test)
Here’s the solution
Every time you see NOT or EXCEPT in the question, circle it with your pencil. That gives your brain another shot at realizing you are looking for a WRONG answer.
Every time you see NOT or EXCEPT in the question, circle it with your pencil. That gives your brain another shot at realizing you are looking for a WRONG answer.Want weekly test tips and strategies?
Subscribe to get my latest content by email.