Question 55 Answer and Explanation _ACT OG5 Form 67A English Section

Passage IV

Nancy Drew in the Twenty-First Century

I thought the Nancy Drew mystery series had went out of style. I was sure that girls growing up today would have more up-to-date role models and my generation’s favorite sleuth would of been retired to the library’s dusty, back rooms. I was wrong.

Nancy Drew, the teenaged heroine of heaps of young adult mystery novels, is alive and well and still on the job. I know because my niece, Liana, and her friends were reading that all summer long. By the time Liana went back to school and had followed Nancy Drew on a safari to solve The Spider Sapphire Mystery and had explored Incan ruins for clues to The Secret of the Crossword Cipher. With Nancy’s help, Liana had read about different places and various cultures all over the world.

When I was a girl in the 1960s, my friends and I loved Nancy Drew. (55) We loved her loyal companions, her bravado, and there was a love for her freedom to do what she wanted. We also loved how smart she was and now pretty, how confident and successful. We were surprised and delighted that eighteen-year-old Nancy was so accomplished at so many things. She was able to solve crimes, win golf tournaments, kick bad guys in the shins, and impress her father’s distinguished clients. She did it all—and without scuffing her shoes or losing her supportive boyfriend, Ned.

Liana and her friends don’t seem to care that Nancy is pretty or popular. They laugh, mockingly I think, at Nancy’s friend Bess, who squeals at spiders. They prefer her other girlfriend George, the judo expert and computer whiz. They skip over the long descriptions of outfits and fashion accessories. According to Liana, they just want to get on with the story.

Perhaps I am overly optimistic, but I’d like to believe that Liana’s generation doesn’t love Nancy Drew because she’s a successful girl detective. They don’t need to be reminded that girls can be successful they know that. What these girls need and love are the stories themselves: those exciting adventure tales spiced with mystery.

55. At this point, the writer is thinking about adding the following true statement:

One of a number of series that have featured the young female detective, the Nancy Drew Mystery Story series was begun in 1930 and now totals 173 books.

Should the writer make this addition here?

A. Yes, because it supports statements about the longevity and popularity of this series.

B. Yes, because it helps to explain why the narrator “loved Nancy Drew.”

C. No, because it distracts the reader from the main focus of this paragraph.

D. No ,because it fails to include relevant information about the author of the series.

Answer and Explanation

Your Answer is

Correct Answer is C

Explanation

The added sentence "As a series of stories featuring young female detectives, the Nancy Drew series began in 1930 and now has 173 volumes", this sentence is to introduce information related to Nancy Drew's works, and this paragraph is in Introducing our fondness for her, doesn't fit the center. Reason C is correct.