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Best Illustration Questions

Transcript

This lesson is about the questions on the test that ask you to find, for lack of a better term, the best description for something, or the best descriptor for a particular situation, for a particular noun. So an example of a question like that would be this one. As we reached the summit, we could see for miles, and my companions jubilantly pointed as the sun dipped below the horizon.

Then, you'll see a question that looks something like this, pertaining to underlined portion. Given that all of the following choices are true, it usually always says that, so you don't think that you have to decide about the content. Which of the following provides the most dramatic illustration of the sunset? Now, your first tip is to always pay attention to the specific language used in the question here.

So, if it said, the most boring illustration, I'd probably never would say that, but that would be really different. We wouldn't wanna pick an entirely different answer than the most dramatic illustration. If it said the most sentimental, the most beautiful, it would be different. So, here we want the most dramatic illustration.

So let's take a look at our answer choices. So, first, we have no change, the sun dipped below the horizon. Hm, it's okay, doesn't seem particularly dramatic to me. B, the brilliant oranges, reds, and purples of the setting sun spilled across the horizon. That's a way more dramatic than a, so I'm gonna go ahead and eliminate a.

C, we barely caught the sunset. Now, this one, you wanna be careful about because it would be really easy to rationalize in your head that, that sounds pretty dramatic. They were running up the hill and they barely caught it, that's, that's dramatic. But it is not a dramatic illustration of the sunset and you are over thinking it for the test.

The ACT never wants you to overthink things that much. So, I'm gonna go ahead and eliminate that one, because it's not providing a dramatic illustration of the sunset. So, be careful not to rationalize in your head how that could potentially be a dramatic situation. D, the sun, which we had last seen early that morning, dipped below the horizon.

Okay, so this has more detail than the original choice a but, hm, it's not really more dramatic. And so, definitely, our most dramatic option here is b. And so, two tips for these types of questions that ask you to find the best description. Pay attention to the exact language used in the question.

If it says dramatic, that's different than sentimental, it's different than melancholic, it's different than beautiful, it's, it's just different. So, pay attention to what the specific word is that's used in the question and make sure you are finding the answer choice that best does that. Okay, beaten that one enough. Second, you want to pick the most detailed answer choice, the one with the most specific adjectives, the most sensory detail.

So, this is the advice I've always provided students on this one. Which one really helps you see a situation or hear a situation or smell a situation, if that's applicable. And that is almost always the right answer on the test, so watch out for that specific clue. And you should be just fine and all ready to tackle these best description questions.

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