Text placement (sentence)

A common (and often tricky) question on the ACT looks like this:

The author wants to place the following true sentence in the passage. At what point would this sentence best be placed?

This chapter helps you handle these questions by focusing on the clues the ACT gives you.

This kind of question is called a text placement question. More specifically, it’s a text placement (sentence) question. In a text placement (sentence) question, you’re asked to place a sentence in the best spot within a paragraph.

The ACT is checking whether you can create a logical flow of ideas within the passage. That may sound complicated, but there’s good news: the sentence will almost always contain direct clues that connect it to the sentences around it.

So you’re not only asking, Where does this sentence make the most sense? You’re also asking, What specific words in the sentence connect to words or ideas in the surrounding sentences?

Text placement (sentence) example

Let’s look at an example.

Read this paragraph:

[A] The first - and as yet only - available 3D-printed medicine is Spritam, made by Aprecia Pharmaceuticals. [B] Spritam was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2015 to control seizures brought on by epilepsy. [C] The printer lays down thin sheets of powdered medication, and droplets of water-based fluid bind. [D] This approach squeezes in more of the active ingredients than standard manufacturing, which compresses the drug and other components by stamping the preparation into a mold using a machine called a tablet press.

Where would the following true sentence best be placed?

These layer together at a microscopic level.

A. Point A
B. Point B
C. Point C
D. Point D

Notice the key clue in the sentence you’re placing.

The sentence begins with “These layer.” That tells you two important things:

• “These” must refer to something already mentioned.
• The idea of “layers” must have been introduced very recently (often in the sentence right before).

In the paragraph, the word “layer” isn’t used directly, and it often won’t be. But sentence [C] mentions “thin sheets,” which is another way of describing layers.

Based on those clues, you can narrow down where the sentence belongs.

How to answer text placement (sentence) questions

These questions can feel difficult at first, but one approach will solve most of them. Keep these two checks in mind:

1. Check for a logical flow of ideas
2. Also check for specific, direct clues referencing things that must have been talked about already.

Lastly, make sure you’ve read the chapter on Text placement (paragraph). That way, you’ll be ready for both types of text placement questions on test day.