American Diploma · ACT · English: Organisation, Relevance and Style

Add or Delete: Should the Writer Make This Change?

How to answer "Should the writer make this addition/deletion?" with the yes/no + reason method, the paragraph's focus and the four reason patterns.

American Diploma › ACT English and Reading — Complete Course

What this question type tests

Add-or-delete questions belong to Production of Writing, the reporting category that is 38–43% of the ACT English score. They test topic development: does a sentence (or part of one) help the paragraph do its job? Grammar is not the point. The sentence in the question is almost always correct English; you are judging whether it belongs.

The stems look like this (in our own words):

Type	Typical stem	What you do
Addition	"At this point, the writer is considering adding the following sentence: … Should the writer make this addition here?"	Decide Yes or No, then choose the true reason.
Deletion	"The writer is considering deleting the underlined sentence. Should the sentence be kept or deleted?"	Decide Kept or Deleted, then choose the true reason.
Deleting part of a sentence	"The writer is considering deleting the underlined portion (ending the sentence with a period)."	Same method on a phrase or clause.
What would be lost	"If the writer deleted this sentence, the paragraph would primarily lose …"	Say what the sentence does; choose the choice that describes it.

An addition is marked by a number at a point in the passage with nothing underlined; a deletion is marked by an underlined sentence. Every choice has two parts — a decision (Yes/No, Kept/Deleted) and a reason. Two choices share each decision, so the reason decides the answer as often as the decision does.

السؤال الحقيقي: الجملة دي بتخدم الفقرة؟

مفيش جرامر في النوع ده. حدد فكرة الفقرة الأول في كلمتين، وبعدين اسأل: الجملة دي بتدعم الفكرة دي ولا بتبعدنا عنها؟ وبعد ما تقرر Yes أو No، السبب هو اللي بيحدد الإجابة.

The yes/no + reason method

Name the focus. In five or six words, say what the paragraph is about ("how drip irrigation saves water," "the writer's first tournament"). Read the sentence before AND the sentence after the point.
Read the sentence in question and say what it does: gives an example? explains? adds a side detail? says something again?
Decide. Supports or explains the focus → Yes/Kept. Off-topic or repeated → No/Deleted. Cross out the two choices on the wrong side.
Test the two reasons that are left. A correct reason must be (a) accurate — it describes the sentence truthfully — and (b) the real reason — it explains why the sentence helps or hurts the paragraph.
Check the word "here." A sentence can be relevant to the essay but wrong at this point, because it breaks the link between two sentences that belong together.

Often you can answer by testing reasons alone: if a reason says "because it gives the exact year" and the sentence has no year, cross it out — whatever its Yes or No.

The four reason patterns

Almost every correct reason on these questions is one of four patterns — two for keeping, two for deleting.

Pattern	Decision	What the sentence really does	Trap version of the reason
1. Supports	Yes / Kept	gives an example, evidence or a specific detail for the claim just made	It is an example — but of a different idea, or the "claim" named in the reason is wrong.
2. Explains	Yes / Kept	explains how or why, defines a term the reader needs, fills a gap between two steps, or sets up what comes next	The sentence does not explain anything; it only adds a fact.
3. Off-topic	No / Deleted	shifts to a side topic or an unrelated detail, however interesting	The focus named in the reason is wrong, or the sentence is actually on topic.
4. Repeats	No / Deleted	says again what has already been said, in other words	Nothing like it appears earlier — a "fake repetition."

Two rarer reasons also appear: contradicts (the sentence says the opposite of something in the essay) and wrong place (it belongs somewhere else). Treat them with suspicion: a choice claiming a contradiction is usually a trap unless you can point to the two sentences that disagree.

Relevance: the paragraph's focus decides

A sentence is relevant only to the paragraph's focus, not to the general subject. A fact about Egypt is not relevant just because the essay is set in Egypt.

Focus: how Mona's career grew at the radio station.
✓ Within a year, she was presenting her own music programme. (supports the focus — a career step)
✗ The city is known for its long seafront promenade. (true, but about the city — off-topic)
Focus: why drip irrigation saves water.
✓ On one farm, a field needed a third less water after the switch. (supports — evidence)
✗ The first plastic pipes were made in the nineteenth century. (about plastic — off-topic)
✗ Drip lines put water right at the roots. (if this was already said — repeats)

"Interesting" is never a reason. A choice like "Kept, because it adds an interesting detail" is almost always wrong. The ACT rewards focus, not extra facts.

Deleting part of a sentence

Sometimes only a phrase is underlined, for example a clause after a comma. Use the same test on the phrase: does it support or explain the sentence's point, or is it a side detail? Also ask what the sentence would lose. If the phrase carries the key information ("about the weight of a ten-year-old child" helps the reader picture 32 kilograms), keep it.

"The paragraph would primarily lose …"

This stem asks you to describe the sentence's job, not to judge it. Say in your own words what the sentence does, then match. Wrong choices describe something the sentence does not do, or describe only a small part of it.

السبب لازم يكون صح

هيفضل عندك اختيارين بعد ما تقرر Yes أو No. اسأل: السبب ده بيوصف الجملة صح؟ هي فعلاً بتدي مثال؟ فعلاً بتكرر؟ فعلاً بتناقض؟ لو السبب مش حقيقي يبقى الاختيار غلط حتى لو القرار صح. وكلمة interesting عمرها ما تكون سبب.

Worked examples

Worked example 1 — add a sentence

Passage: The Aswan High Dam changed farming along the Nile. Before it was built, the river flooded every summer and left a layer of rich mud on the fields. After the dam was completed, the floods stopped. [?] Farmers had to start buying chemical fertilisers. At point [?], the writer is considering adding: "Without the yearly flood, the fields no longer received fresh mud."

Should the writer make this addition here?

A) Yes, because it explains the link between the end of the floods and the farmers' need for fertiliser.
B) Yes, because it gives the exact year the dam was finished.
C) No, because it repeats the information in the previous sentence.
D) No, because it shifts the focus from farming to the history of the dam.

Answer: A

A) ✓ Correct: Pattern 2 (explains): floods stopped → no new mud → fertiliser needed. True, and the real reason.
B) ✗ Wrong: Inaccurate reason: the sentence contains no year.
C) ✗ Wrong: Fake repetition: the previous sentence says the floods stopped, not that the mud stopped arriving — the new sentence adds a step.
D) ✗ Wrong: It stays on farming; nothing about the dam's history.

Worked example 2 — delete an off-topic sentence

Passage: Mona's first job was at a small radio station in Alexandria. She read the weather report at six every morning. __The city is known for its long seafront promenade.__ Within a year, she was presenting her own music programme.

The writer is considering deleting the underlined sentence. Should the sentence be kept or deleted?

A) Kept, because it describes where Mona worked.
B) Kept, because it explains why Mona became a presenter.
C) Deleted, because it interrupts the account of Mona's career with an unrelated detail.
D) Deleted, because it contradicts the information about the radio station.

Answer: C

A) ✗ Wrong: Half-right: it describes the city, not the station or her work.
B) ✗ Wrong: Inaccurate: the promenade has nothing to do with her promotion.
C) ✓ Correct: Pattern 3 (off-topic): the paragraph traces her career step by step; the seafront breaks the sequence.
D) ✗ Wrong: Fake contradiction — the sentence is irrelevant, not opposite.

Worked example 3 — delete a repeated idea

Passage: Volunteers at the animal shelter in Giza walk the dogs twice a day. __In other words, every dog is taken out two times each day.__ They also clean the cages and keep a record of each animal's meals.

The writer is considering deleting the underlined sentence. Should the sentence be kept or deleted?

A) Kept, because it gives the exact times of the walks.
B) Kept, because it introduces the volunteers' second task.
C) Deleted, because it repeats information already given in the previous sentence.
D) Deleted, because it shifts the focus from the volunteers to the dogs.

Answer: C

A) ✗ Wrong: Inaccurate: no times are given — "two times each day" is only a number.
B) ✗ Wrong: Inaccurate: the second task (cleaning) is in the next sentence.
C) ✓ Correct: Pattern 4 (repeats): "two times each day" is "twice a day" again, and "In other words" even announces the repetition.
D) ✗ Wrong: The sentence is still about the volunteers' walks — not a shift of focus.

Worked example 4 — what would be lost

Passage: Wildlife officers on the Red Sea coast count the dugongs that feed on sea grass near the shore. __The animals are shy and can stay underwater for several minutes at a time.__ For this reason, officers now use small drones to spot them from above.

If the writer deleted the underlined sentence, the paragraph would primarily lose:

A) a description of the sea grass the dugongs eat.
B) an explanation of why the dugongs are hard to count, which sets up the use of drones.
C) a comparison between dugongs and other sea animals.
D) evidence that the number of dugongs is falling.

Answer: B

A) ✗ Wrong: The sentence says nothing about the sea grass.
B) ✓ Correct: It gives the reason counting is hard, and "For this reason" in the next sentence depends on it.
C) ✗ Wrong: No other animal is mentioned.
D) ✗ Wrong: Nothing about numbers rising or falling.

Classic traps

Right decision, wrong reason: "Yes" is correct, but the reason describes the sentence wrongly. Always check the reason.
"Interesting" is not a reason: a fascinating off-topic fact should still go.
Half-right reason: part of the sentence is relevant, but the reason is about the part that is not.
Fake repetition: a sentence that explains or adds a step is not a repeat.
Fake contradiction: unless you can point to the opposite statement, there is none.
Wrong focus: the reason names a focus the paragraph does not have ("the history of the dam").
Forgetting "here": a relevant sentence can still break the link between two sentences that belong together.

Fast strategy for test day

Say the paragraph's focus in a few words before reading the choices.
Decide Yes/No first and cross out two choices.
Test the last two reasons: Is it accurate? Is it the real reason?
Match the reason to one of the four patterns: supports, explains, off-topic, repeats.
If you are stuck, cross out any reason with a fact the sentence does not contain.

Practice

Read the two essays and answer the 10 questions. A number in brackets marks either an underlined sentence or a point where the writer is considering adding a sentence.

Remember

First name the paragraph's focus; a sentence belongs only if it supports or explains that focus.
Decide Yes/No, then pick the reason that is accurate AND is the real reason.
Four patterns: supports and explains → keep; off-topic and repeats → delete.
"Interesting" is never a reason; contradiction must be real.
"Here" matters — check the sentences on both sides.

All pages in this course

ACT English

ACT Reading