Detail Questions: "According to the Passage"

American Diploma › ACT English and Reading — Complete Course

What this question type tests

Detail questions check whether you can find a specific piece of information in the passage and recognize it when it is said in different words. They are part of Key Ideas and Details, the largest reporting category on ACT Reading (44–52% of the scored questions). Detail questions appear with every passage type, and they are usually the fastest points on the test, because the answer is written in the passage. The only skill is finding it and matching it correctly.

The answer to a detail question is never "what you remember" and never "what is true in real life". It is what the passage says, in the place the question points to.

The method: Locate → Read around → Predict → Match

1. Locate. If the stem names a paragraph, a line or a quotation, go there. If not, pick a search word from the stem: a name, a number, a capitalized word, or an unusual term ("stilts", "learning walk"). Your paragraph labels tell you where to look; then scan for the search word.
2. Read around. Read the sentence before, the sentence with the search word, and the sentence after. Answers are often in the next sentence, especially after a colon or after "however". With a line reference, start a little above the lines and finish a little below them.
3. Predict. Say the answer in a few words of your own: "walked past the nest", "errors add up". This protects you from choices that only sound familiar.
4. Match the meaning, not the words. The correct choice usually paraphrases the text: *walked past* becomes *walked beyond*; *died in the heat* becomes *killed by the heat*. A choice that repeats the passage's exact words is often a trap, because the writers attach those words to the wrong idea.
5. Prove it. Before you choose, put your finger on the sentence that proves your answer. If you cannot, keep looking or eliminate.

How paraphrase works

The test writers change the words of the passage in a few standard ways. If you know them, the right answer jumps out.

Notice what the traps change: who does something, how much (some/all, small/large), when, or which way the relationship goes. One changed word is enough to make a choice wrong.

Line and paragraph references

• A paragraph reference limits the search, not the answer's words. The answer still paraphrases the sentence; it does not copy it.
• The answer may be just outside the lines. A quoted phrase is often explained in the next sentence. Always read one sentence further.
• Wrong-place traps. Choices often contain facts that ARE in the passage, but in a different paragraph. True + wrong place = wrong answer. ✗ In the ant passage, "recognizes stones near the nest" is true, but it is not what path integration does.
• Two groups, swapped. When a passage describes two groups (long legs and short legs, before and after, supporters and critics), a trap gives one group's result to the other. Underline which result belongs to which group.

Worked examples

Read this short natural science excerpt (shorter than a real ACT passage, so we can focus on the method). Then study each question.

[1] Sea turtles lay their eggs in sandy nests on beaches, and about two months later the hatchlings dig their way to the surface, usually at night. They then face the most dangerous journey of their lives: a crawl of a few meters, sometimes much more, across open sand to the water. [2] For a long time it was assumed that the young turtles found the sea by smell or by the sound of the waves. Experiments showed otherwise. Hatchlings move toward the brightest, lowest part of the horizon, which on a natural beach is almost always the open sea, where light from the moon and stars reflects off the water. Dark, tall shapes such as dunes and vegetation, which usually lie inland, push them in the opposite direction. [3] This guidance system worked well for millions of years. Along brightly lit coasts today, however, the brightest horizon may be a hotel or a road. Hatchlings that crawl toward these lights can die of exhaustion, be caught by predators or be crushed by traffic. Some coastal towns now require shielded lights or switch off beach lighting during the nesting season.

Worked example 1 — "According to the passage"

Question: According to the passage, hatchlings on a natural beach find the sea by:

• A) following the smell of salt water.
• B) listening for the sound of the waves.
• C) heading toward the brightest, lowest part of the horizon.
• D) following the adult turtles back to the water.

Answer: C. Search word: "find the sea" → paragraph 2. Read around: "Experiments showed otherwise. Hatchlings move toward the brightest, lowest part of the horizon." C paraphrases this.

• A is wrong — Words from the passage, wrong meaning: smell was what people ASSUMED, and "experiments showed otherwise."
• B is wrong — Same trap: the sound of the waves is the rejected idea. Reading only one sentence would catch you.
• D is wrong — Outside knowledge: adult turtles are never mentioned.

Worked example 2 — paragraph reference

Question: According to paragraph 2, dunes and vegetation affect hatchlings by:

• A) reflecting light from the moon and stars.
• B) hiding the hatchlings from predators.
• C) making the hatchlings crawl faster.
• D) steering the hatchlings away from the land.

Answer: D. "Dark, tall shapes such as dunes and vegetation … push them in the opposite direction" — opposite to the dark, inland shapes means toward the sea, away from the land. D is the paraphrase.

• A is wrong — Wrong relationship: the reflection belongs to the sea, not to the dunes.
• B is wrong — Predators appear in paragraph 3 and are linked to artificial lights, not to dunes.
• C is wrong — Not stated: speed is never discussed.

Worked example 3 — detail from a list

Question: The passage states that some coastal towns have responded to the problem of artificial light by:

• A) banning hotels near nesting beaches.
• B) shielding lights or switching off beach lighting in the nesting season.
• C) moving turtle nests to dark beaches.
• D) switching off all the lights in the town at night.

Answer: B. Last sentence: "require shielded lights or switch off beach lighting during the nesting season." B keeps both parts and the time limit.

• A is wrong — Too extreme and invented: hotels are named as a light source, not banned.
• C is wrong — Outside knowledge: sounds sensible, but the passage never says it.
• D is wrong — Exact words, changed size: the text says BEACH lighting during the nesting SEASON, not all lights in the town.

Worked example 4 — cause in a detail question

Question: According to the passage, hatchlings on brightly lit coasts are in danger because they:

• A) crawl toward lights on land instead of toward the sea.
• B) cannot see the dunes in the bright light.
• C) hatch during the day instead of at night.
• D) are attracted by the noise of traffic.

Answer: A. Paragraph 3: "the brightest horizon may be a hotel or a road", and hatchlings that "crawl toward these lights" die. A states the cause the passage gives.

• B is wrong — Invented: nothing says light hides the dunes.
• C is wrong — Contradicted: hatchlings come out "usually at night"; nothing says lighting changes this.
• D is wrong — Wrong relationship: traffic is a danger they meet, not what attracts them.

Practice

Now try a full natural science passage (about 720 words) with 9 questions, almost all of them detail questions. It is untimed, but aim for about 10 minutes. Locate, read around, predict, and match the paraphrase.

All pages in this course

ACT English

• The Enhanced ACT: Complete Overview
• How to Attack ACT English
• ACT Commas: Every Correct Use and Every Trap
• ACT Semicolons: Joining Sentences and the List Rule
• ACT Colons: Lists, Explanations and the Traps
• ACT Dashes: Pairs, Single Dashes and Choosing the Right Mark
• ACT Apostrophes: Possession, Contractions and Plurals
• ACT Unnecessary Punctuation: When No Mark Is Correct
• Sentence Fragments
• Run-ons and Comma Splices
• Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers
• Parallel Structure
• Faulty Comparisons
• Unnecessary Shifts: Tense, Point of View, Voice and Mood
• ACT Subject–Verb Agreement: Find the True Subject
• ACT Pronoun Case: I or Me, Who or Whom
• ACT Pronoun Agreement and Clear Reference
• ACT Verb Tense and Verb Forms
• Adjectives vs Adverbs
• Comparatives and Superlatives
• Idioms and Prepositions
• Commonly Confused Words
• Transitions: Choosing the Right Linking Word
• Organisation: Sentence Placement, Paragraph Order, Introductions and Conclusions
• Add or Delete: Should the Writer Make This Change?
• Writer's Goal: Choosing Content That Meets a Purpose
• Concision and Redundancy
• Word Choice and Tone
• ACT English — Practice Test 1
• ACT English — Practice Test 2

ACT Reading

• The Enhanced ACT: Complete Overview
• ACT Reading Strategy: Read Fast, Answer Smart
• Main Idea and Summary Questions
• Detail Questions: "According to the Passage"
• Relationships: Sequence, Cause–Effect and Comparison
• Inference Questions: "It Can Reasonably Be Inferred"
• Words and Phrases in Context
• Purpose, Function and Text Structure
• Point of View, Tone and Perspective
• Paired Passages: Comparing Two Authors
• Passages with Charts, Tables and Graphs
• Evaluating Arguments: Claims, Evidence and Reasoning
• ACT Reading — Practice Test 1
• ACT Reading — Practice Test 2