Before a student dismisses this post (and the YouTube video I created here) about "verbose questions" based on the title alone, read this:
I guarantee multiple questions that test your ability to spot verbosity on your next ACT, and I guarantee that most students will get them incorrect.
These questions are so common that I paired them with questions of redundancy and put them into Step 2 in my ACT English book (Step 2 means 2nd most important). Just trust me: they're common.
Verbose simply means overly wordy, and here's the rule: if an idea can be communicated with fewer words, the option with fewer words is better.
For example, think about this sentence:
Yesterday, my mother drove around town tediously visiting various sites (such as the grocery store, the retail store, and the post office) to accomplish a multiplicity of tasks necessary for her everyday life.
Let's imagine that you have to choose between the sentence above, or this one:
Yesterday, my mother ran errands.
Which one is better? Well, as far as the ACT is concerned, the second one is better. It communicates the same idea in fewer words, which means it is correct.
Unfortunately, too many students have no idea these kinds of questions are not only common on the ACT, but frequent. And, in my experience, they might even think the longer answer is better because it is longer and sounds smarter and more complex.
If you're struggling here, besides my ACT book previously mentioned and linked, work through previously administered ACT tests and come to a greater understanding of your missed problems.
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If you want some free ACT prep cheat sheets that lay it all out in a few pages, then click here!
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