How to answer it
- Summarize each passage’s claim in a phrase.
- Find exactly where they overlap.
- Choose the relationship the evidence shows: supports, contradicts or limits.
Worked example
An original question in the ACT format, already answered.
Passage A argues that reading on paper helps readers remember specific details.
Passage B describes a study in which students who read on screens remembered main ideas as well as paper readers but recalled fewer specific details.
Passage B’s findings would most likely:
- Acontradict Passage A entirely.
- Bsupport Passage A’s claim about details.
- Cshow that screens are better for reading.
- Dbe irrelevant to Passage A.
Answer: B. Passage B found paper readers recalled more details, which supports Passage A’s specific claim. The finding about main ideas doesn’t contradict it.
The most common trap
Treating a partial agreement as a contradiction. Match the evidence to the exact claim.
Practice it
Hourly Prep’s daily sets mix integration of knowledge and ideas with the rest of ACT Reading, and send more of it your way when it’s a weak spot. See how the ACT prep plan works, or browse the other ACT skill guides.