There is no shortage of ACT test preparation books on the market. Almost all of these books, with the exception of the book from the test makers, have one very serious shortcoming: they attempt to create ACT type test questions. More often than not, these questions are not accurate representations of the real exam. Many of these books have irrelevant and inaccurate material and often have questions that do not have the correct level of difficulty. Making real ACT questions requires enormous resources that only the test makers have. This book makes no attempt to make up simulated questions, but instead focuses on an analysis of real ACT questions for one complete real ACT examination- dissecting the test, in other words. This complete real ACT test is available free of charge from the test maker. This analysis is performed by authors who have actually taken the ACT and have obtained high scores. In addition, the analysis of the test is from a student's perspective rather than from a teacher's or a test maker's perspectives. This unique perspective enables the authors to share insights not found in any other books. Using this book will give the reader a deep and accurate understanding of the skills and knowledge necessary for success on the real ACT test. This is the first step in maximizing one's score. In addition to performing a detailed analysis of the official practice test, the authors have also evaluated other real ACT tests that are publically available and have identified the most important knowledge and thinking skills that are tested frequently on the ACT. These concepts are summarized for efficient review. Knowing the essential concepts is only the beginning; doing well on theACT requires you to apply these concepts in ways that are often quite different from what is expected in school. In our opinion, the most effective preparation should include practice and analysis of real ACT questions. The next chapter includes a complete and detailed ACT test preparation plan that goes beyond this book and provides specific information about how to obtain three free real ACT tests. AUTHORS: RAJIV RAJU is a student at Barrington High School (IL). He wrote the Mathematics, Science and Reading sections of this book. He wrote this book to create an inexpensive resource to prepare for the ACT. Using strategies summarized in this book he scored 35 or higher on all four sections of the ACT. SILPA RAJU is also a student at Barrington High School (IL). She wrote the English and Writing sections of this book. She has not yet taken the ACT in high school. However, she did take the ACT in the 7th grade to qualify for summer programs and scored a 33 on the English component of the ACT at that time. More recently she scored a 770 on the Writing component of the SAT reasoning test, which tests many of the same concepts as the ACT English test.