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Question

Difficulty: EasyMeeting Specific Rhetorical Goals

Passage Excerpt:
During a freezing winter trip to New York City in 1903, Mary Anderson observed a trolley driver struggle to see through the falling sleet. At the time, [underlined portion]. Anderson immediately began sketching a solution: a rubber blade attached to a lever inside the cab, allowing the driver to clear the window without being exposed to the elements.

Which choice most vividly emphasizes the harsh weather conditions that the trolley drivers had to endure?

  1. A
    drivers had to open their windows, they wiped the glass clean with a rag
  2. drivers had to stand in the biting wind and freezing rain to scrape ice off the windshieldsAnswer
  3. C
    drivers frequently complained about their long shifts and the lack of proper heaters in the cabins
  4. D
    drivers had to perform these tedious manual tasks while keeping their eyes on the road

Answer

The choice describing drivers standing in the biting wind and freezing rain to scrape ice off the windshields is correct because it uses strong descriptive language to convey the harshness of the weather, fulfilling the specified rhetorical goal.
The option that mentions drivers standing in the biting wind and freezing rain to scrape ice off the windshields is correct because it uses descriptive vocabulary ('biting wind,' 'freezing rain') to illustrate the severe weather conditions directly, thereby satisfying the prompt's goal.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the prompt to determine the exact rhetorical goal.
The goal is to find the choice that most vividly emphasizes the harsh weather conditions that the trolley drivers faced.
Identifying the target criteria helps narrow down the acceptable choices.
2
Evaluate the choices for grammatical correctness.
The option containing a comma splice ('drivers had to open their windows, they wiped...') is grammatically incorrect and must be eliminated.
An answer choice on the ACT English exam must be grammatically correct to be the right answer.
3
Compare the remaining grammatically correct options against the rhetorical goal.
The options focusing on shift length or multitasking do not describe the weather. Only the option describing the 'biting wind and freezing rain' details the harsh weather conditions.
Selecting the option that contains specific sensory details of severe weather satisfies the precise rhetorical criteria.

Key Concept

Meeting Specific Rhetorical Goals
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Topics

Meeting Specific Rhetorical Goals

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