SAT和ACT是申请美国本科的一大依据，因为同为美国高考”，难免会被多方面比较，今天小编就SAT和ACT阅读部分做一个多角度的对比与分析。
阅读在SAT
SAT的阅读部分有52道题，限时65分钟，总共五篇文章，主要考察考生三方面：
其一：找出文中对于问题来说最有利的证据(the use of evidence)，
其二: 对论点的分析(the analysis of argument)，考生需要分析原作者使用的是何种论证方式来证明自己的观点正确；
其三: 对定量信息的分析（the analysis of quantitative information），在图表中找出与文中对应的信息。
从上述三点可以看出SAT中的问题基本都是根据文章内容去拓展的，和原文连接度非常密切，有些文章标有行号，方便读者快速定位，所以不会出现答案和题目各说各的情况（此处控诉一下折磨中国考生多年的一些答案匪夷所思的阅读理解）。
接下来小编就考察的三个方面，列举一些相对照的原题，以便读者更好的理解：
1.
Close at hand is a bridge over the River Thames, an admirable vantage ground for us to make a survey. The river flows beneath; barges pass, laden with timber, bursting with corn; there on one side are the domes and spires of the city; on the other, Westminster and the Houses of Parliament. It is a place to stand on by the hour, dreaming. But not now. now we are pressed for time. Now we here to consider fact; now we must fix eyes upon the procession-the procession of the sons of educated men.
According to the passage,Woolf chooses the setting of the bridge because it .
A: is conductive to a mood of fanciful reflection
B: provides a good view of the procession of the sons of educated men.
C: is within sight of historic episodes to which she alludes.
D: is symbolic of the legacy of past and present sons of educated men.
这一题就是考察其一：找出文中对于问题来说最有利的证据(the use of evidence)”这一条，同时还要求同学有一定的推理能力，推理文章中的段落或句子的含义，也就说，答案并不明确出现在原文，但是充满了暗示。
还有些考察考生对论点的分析(the analysis of argument)，考生需要分析原作者使用的是何种论证方式来证明自己的观点正确的词汇理解，”这一条 ，这类题看上去很难，但是和语文阅读中作者使用的是什么修辞手法”类似，我们其实早就身经百战了，只是这类题多为议论文，只要改成作者使用的是什么论证手法”就行。比如以下的例题：
We suspect that the bees of commercial bee colonies which are fed mono-crops are nutritionally deficient. In particular, we postulate that the problem is a diet deficient in anti-mite toxins: pyrethrums and possibly other nutrients which are inherent in such plants. Without ,at least, intermittent feeding on the pyrethrum producing plants, bee colonies are susceptible to mite infestations which can become fatal either directly or due to a secondary infection of immunocompromised or nutritionally deficient bees. This secondary infection can be viral, bacterial or fungal and may be further weakened when commercially produced insecticides are introduced into their hives by bee keeps in an effort to fight mite infestation, we further postulate that the proper dosage necessary to prevent mite infestation may be better left to the bees, who may seek out or avoid pyrethrum containing plants depending on the amount necessary to defend against mites and the amount already consumed by the bees, which in higher doses could be potentially toxic to them.
How do the words can”,may”,andcould” in the third paragraph help establish the tone of the paragraph?
A: they create an optimistic tone that makes clear the authors are hopeful about the effects of their research on colony collapse disorder.
B: they create a dubious tone that makes clear the authors do not have confidence in the usefulness of the research described.
C: they create a tentative tone that makes clear the authors suspect but do nor know that their hypothesis is correct.
D: they create a critical tone that makes clear the authors are skeptical of claims that pyrethrums are inherent in mono-crops.
作者在此处用Can may 和could 的目的是什么，这是一种什么论证手段，那从题目中可以看出，这些词作者是用来假设的，也澄清了结果尚未得到科学的证实。
或者直接问作者为什么用这个词的，比如：
The sentence in which difficult” appears indicated that the author considers the word to be .
A: an exaggeration
B: an estimate
C: an understatement
D: a contradiction
E: a preconception
也有要求定量分析的数表题，其三: 对定量信息的分析（the analysis of quantitative information），在图表中找出与文中对应的信息”：
In the graph, which isotherm displays an increase in depth below the surface during the period 19:12 to 20:24?
A 9℃
B 10℃
C 11℃
D 13℃
阅读在ACT
ACT阅读有40道题，限时35分钟。中国的高考中，英语阅读部分形式多样，单篇、双篇、长篇、短篇，都有涉及，语文阅读甚至还考察文言文，但是美国高考ACT阅读部分只考一种，就是单篇。总共是四篇长度几乎一致的文章，内容题材多年来也固定不变：
一篇小说（Prose Fiction）
一篇社会科学（Social Science）
一篇人文（Humanities）
一篇自然科学（Natural Science）
出现顺序也非常固定，先来一篇比较长的小说，然后社科，人文和自然科学。
由于阅读量非常之大，很多考生都无法全部完成，这时候就需要考生注意训练自己的略读技巧。
ACT阅读部分每篇文章固定出10个题目，题目考察的是考生对文章的快速检索能力和推理能力，ACT很多题中没有行号，要想快速定位就得要求考生对文本做到大致的熟悉。
以下题为例：
Government is so technical that even career civil servants cannot explain what is happening. In 1978 I attended a seminar on federal estate and gift tax, where the Internal Revenue Service lawyers responsible for this area frankly confessed that they did not understand the Tax Reform Act of 1976.
The author uses the description of the tax seminar in 1978 tomake the point that some governmental issues are:
A. so technical that not even career civil servants can understand them.
B. so technical that only career civil servants can understand them.
C. more technical than they used to be before the passage of the Tax Reform Act.
D. too technical for anyone other than an Internal Revenue Service tax lawyer to understand.
这类题就是很经典的例子题，题目会询问作者提出例子的目的是什么，这里就需要考生快速定位到原文提出的例子处，检索前后有无答案。
综上所述，SAT和ACT虽然同为美国的高考，但是阅读部分还是有很大的差异的。
1.题目类型：SAT题目类型不固定，形式也多变，既有单双篇，也有长短篇，但是ACT题目类型是固定不变的，形式也为单篇，总共四篇，一篇小说（Prose Fiction）、一篇社会科学（Social Science）、一篇人文（Humanities）和一篇自然科学（Natural Science）。
2.文章难度，由于ACT文章非常固定，方便考生日常更有针对性的积累和锻炼，而且ACT文章长难句较ACT而言更少，所以目前公认的是ACT阅读部分难度低于SAT，苦战SAT无果的同学也可以试试转战ACT。
根据数据显示，北美英语母语者虽然理科部分的得分比不过亚洲考生，但是文科成绩一向是居高不下，可见阅读题最终考察的还是语言能力的掌握，考试固然有技巧，但是实实在在的提升自身语言能力才是正道，保证自己的语言能力能让留学生活和学习顺顺利利，才是考试的目的和宗旨。
