Question 30 Answer and Explanation _ACT June 2015 Form 73C English Section

Passage II

Ghost Signs

[1]

Seeing remnants of outdoor advertisements from a bygone era, they are called “ghost signs.” I search for them on city streets, in town squares, and along country roads. Some are weather-beaten billboards; others are faded murals painted years ago on the sides of old buildings. Whatever words remain Fruiterer... Apothecary ... Gramophones ... Pan-Handle Coffee—are often barely legible, pale fragments of yesterday’s consumer culture should strike me as silly or sad. After all, there they are: advertising products and businesses that no longer exist. Yet, they themselves survive without apology, with instead, their simple claims and complex colors. The contrast draws me in every time.

[2]

I collect ghost signs. Not the signs themselves, but photos of them. Driving home from school one chilly October evening, my collection got its start. I had made the same drive countless times before, but I had never noticed the sign.

[3]

Then there it was, an ad for “Joe’s Café,“ perched atop a metal pole, which was upright under a cape of kudzu vines. Maybe it was the way the setting sun’s illumination of the yellowing plastic. Maybe it was the small hole, a clue to vandalism or of a hailstorm. Instead, something about the sign touched me. I pulled over. In the twilight, I got out of the car, snapped a picture with my phone, and sent it to some friends. I vowed to return with my camera to better capture the forlorn, luminous beauty of my discovery. Since that dusky evening, I have been happily haunted by ghost signs.

[4]

Once in a while, I take a friend with me on my searches. People who know of my fascination will point me to where they think they have seen a ghost sign. Favorite finds include an ad for sliced bread, one for a ‘‘modern” motel, and yet another for fountain pen repair services. As fun as it is to have company, my best hunts have been solitude trips. I appreciate the beauty of ghost signs more when I like the signs, am alone.

Questions 29 and 30 ask about the preceding passage as a whole.

30. Suppose the writer‘s primary purpose had been to describe starting and enjoying a new hobby. Would this essay accomplish that purpose?

F. Yes, because it presents the event that led to the narrator becoming interested in finding ghost signs and taking photographs of them.

G. Yes, because it describes the narrator’s experience of learning from a friend where to find ghost signs and how much fun the search itself can be.

H. No, because it uses negative terms such as lonely and forlorn to describe the narrator’s experience of collecting ghost signs.

J. No, because it instead describes two hobbies—photography and collecting ghost signs—and does not indicate which one gave the narrator more pleasure.

Answer and Explanation

Your Answer is

Correct Answer is F

Explanation

The best answer is F because the essay describes the narrator's hobby of photographing ghost signs and how her hobby got started after she saw the sign for Joe's Café.