Charts and Tables

• Read a graphic in order: title, axis or column labels, and units first, then the numbers
• Answer a read-a-value or describe-the-trend question from the graphic alone
• Decide whether the graphic supports, extends, or contradicts a specific statement in the passage
• Choose the answer that matches both the text and the graphic, and reject choices that are true in one but not asked about

Visual and quantitative information is the third skill in the Integration of Knowledge and Ideas reporting category (the Arguments and Paired Passages lesson teaches the other two). A Reading passage may come with a simple chart, graph, or table. Read the graphic in a fixed order: the title (what is being measured), the axis or column labels (which groups or years), the units (percent, thousands, dollars), and only then the numbers. Three kinds of question follow. (1) Read a value: find the row and column the question names and report the number with its units. (2) Describe a trend: say in your own words whether the values rise, fall, level off, or peak, then match a choice. (3) Connect to the text: decide whether the graphic supports a statement in the passage (the numbers agree with it), extends it (the graphic adds a detail the passage does not give), or contradicts it. For these, find the exact sentence in the passage first, then check the graphic against it. The ACT prints two figure stems on its table and chart passages: 'As it relates to the passage, one main function of the table is to' (what the table lets a reader check or see), and 'Based on the passage and the table, does the information in the table support the claim in lines 40-42?', whose choices pair Yes or No with a reason. Decide yes or no from the numbers, then pick the choice whose reason cites the numbers that bear on that exact claim; a choice with the right yes or no and the wrong numbers is wrong. The right answer must match both the text and the graphic. Common traps: a choice that reads the correct row but the wrong column, a choice that confuses a percent with a count, a choice that states a cause when the graphic shows only a pattern, and a choice that is true according to the graphic but does not answer the question asked. No outside knowledge and no calculation beyond simple comparison is needed.

• Read the title, labels, and units before any numbers.
• Point to the exact cell or bar that answers the question before you look at the choices.
• For 'supports the passage' questions, find the sentence in the passage first, then check the graphic against it.
• Watch for percent versus count. A bigger percent does not always mean a bigger number of people.