Free ACT (American College Test) Exam Questions and Answers

Passage adapted from a contemporary novel. Marisol's grandmother kept her kitchen austere: one pot on the stove, two chairs at the table, and a window with no curtain. Visitors expected warmth from a woman who baked for the whole block, but the room offered none of the clutter that usually signals welcome. Marisol had learned to read the bare shelves differently. Each empty space meant that something had been given away. As it is used in the passage, the word austere most nearly means:

• AA. small and cramped
• BB. sparse and plain
• CC. rigid and severe
• DD. dim and neglected

A shop owner recorded the number of customers who visited on 7 different days: 14, 9, 21, 9, 17, 12, and 30. What is the median number of customers for these 7 days?

• AA. 9
• BB. 12
• CC. 14
• DD. 16

The function f is defined as follows: f(x) = 3x - 1 if x < 2 f(x) = x^2 + 1 if x >= 2 What is the value of f(-1) + f(3)?

• AA. 4
• BB. 6
• CC. 10
• DD. 12

In the xy-plane, the graph of the quadratic function y = f(x) has x-intercepts at (-2, 0) and (4, 0) and a y-intercept at (0, -16). What is the minimum value of f(x)?

• AA. -18
• BB. -16
• CC. -9
• DD. -8

The city museum's new exhibit on regional pottery [is currently on display at this present time] in the east gallery. The bracketed portion is the underlined portion. Which choice most effectively expresses the idea without redundancy?

• AA. NO CHANGE
• BB. is being displayed at the present
• CC. is on display
• DD. is now displayed currently

What is the value of 27^(2/3) ÷ 4^(−1/2) ?

• AA. 4.5
• BB. 9
• CC. 13.5
• DD. 18

Passage adapted from Priya Raman, "Counting Nests on Marlow Island." Some residents of Marlow Island blame the decline in gull nests since 2021 on a harsh winter. But nest counts held steady through the two previous winters, which were also severe, and the drop began in the very year that foxes were first seen on the island. "The timing points to the foxes," I wrote in my field notes, though a controlled study would be needed to confirm it. Table: Nests counted on Marlow Island Year | Nests | Foxes seen on island 2019 | 142 | No 2020 | 138 | No 2021 | 97 | Yes 2022 | 81 | Yes 2023 | 84 | Yes Which statement about the table most directly supports Raman's view that foxes caused the decline?

• AA. The count was lower in 2020 than in 2019, a year in which no foxes were seen on the island.
• BB. The count fell in every year from 2019 through 2023, whether or not foxes were seen on the island.
• CC. The count fell by roughly 30% from 2020 to 2021, the first year in which foxes were seen on the island.
• DD. The count was higher in 2023 than in 2022, even though foxes were still seen on the island.

What value of x satisfies the equation 2x + 3 = 4x − 9 ?

• AA. 3
• BB. 4
• CC. 6
• DD. 12

A candle is 20 cm tall when lit and burns down at a constant rate of 0.8 cm per hour. The height h, in centimeters, after t hours is modeled by h = 20 − 0.8t. Marcus wants the candle to be at least 6 cm tall when he puts it out. According to the model, what is the greatest whole number of hours the candle can burn?

• AA. 7
• BB. 17
• CC. 18
• DD. 25

Passage adapted from Elena Ruiz, "The Salt Ledger" (a novel). Every morning Tomas climbed the lighthouse stairs, counted the hundred and twelve steps, and wiped the lens with a chamois cloth that had belonged to his father. The lens did not need wiping. No ship had passed the point in six years, and the harbor authority had sent no letter in three. Still, he wiped, slowly, in the same circles, as though the glass might at any moment be called on to prove itself. When he finished, he wrote "Lens clear" in the log, in handwriting so careful that it looked like someone else's. The last sentence of the passage mainly serves to suggest that Tomas:

• AA. has grown careless about his duties now that the harbor sees so little traffic
• BB. treats an unneeded routine as a task that deserves great care and formality
• CC. hopes the harbor authority will notice the quality of his record keeping
• DD. is trying to copy his father's handwriting from the older entries in the log