ACT: The Language of the Test: The Language of the Test, List 10

A table is a set of facts or numbers displayed in columns and rows. Think of the tables you have to complete when writing a lab report; that's the type of table you will most likely need to make sense of on the ACT.

In reading passages on the ACT, you may need to identify the function (or purpose) a certain paragraph serves in the passage as a whole. For example, the paragraph may provide support for the main claim of the argument, or it may provide a counterargument to be later refuted. You may also see the word function on the ACT Math Test.

Something significant is important or meaningful. It's a word to cue you to take notice.

When something is hypothetical, it is not real or hasn't actually happened. A hypothetical situation is one that you imagine, but that hasn't actually happened yet. In a scientific context, the opposite of hypothetical is empirical, meaning real and testable.

A principle is a statement that is accepted as true and used for a purpose, sometimes to make an argument more convincing. A scientist must adhere to scientific principles when performing an experiment.

A stance is an attitude or a position on an issue of some kind. Stances can be political or personal. On the ACT Reading Test, you may need to identify the stances, or opinions, expressed in various reading passages.

To mention is to reference or bring up something. When you mention something you won't necessarily be going into great detail, but you are talking about it. Knowing the answer to why something was mentioned can be very helpful when answering questions on the reading passages.

Evoke means "to call to mind" and is often used when something triggers an emotional response in a person. When something is evoked, it is brought to the forefront of the reader's mind or emotions. A tragic narrative may evoke feelings of pity, while a story about childhood evokes nostalgia.

On standardized test, you will often be asked to find patterns: patterns in the way an argument develops or in the types of evidence supporting a claim. On the Science Test and Math Test, you may be asked to evaluate patterns in sets of data.

When we call something supplementary, we mean it is playing a supporting role. Supplementary evidence goes along with the main piece of evidence but it is not the star of the show. A visual aid, like a graph or chart, that is paired with a passage is supplementary material.

To portray is to describe using words, in writing or verbally. To portray someone is to describe them in such a way that the reader is left with a general sense based on specific incidents or details. When you are analyzing literary narratives, you might need to evaluate how an author has portrayed a character.

Empirical means "based on fact, observation and testing," and its opposite is hypothetical or theoretical (which means "thought about but not real or tested"). If something is without empirical support, it means it is not a fact (yet).

A flag is a piece of cloth, but to people who respect it, it is symbolic of so much more: it means freedom and hope. Symbolic language is the use of one thing (a symbol) to stand for something else (usually an abstract concept). Symbolic language occurs frequently in literary writing.

When you back a statement up with evidence, you substantiate your claim. Reading passages can be filled with claims, some of which will be substantiated with evidence and some of which will not be, and the ACT questions can ask you to tell the difference and to identify the statements that serve to substantiate a certain claim.

To speak figuratively is to replace the strict meaning of a word or passage with a metaphorical meaning. For example, a path could figuratively represent an important choice in your life. The opposite of figurative is literal, where you would be talking about a real path. Literary texts frequently make use of figurative language, but you can find it in all types of writing.